lays out the sale of WRVU-91.1 FM to local NPR affiliate WPLN. Not long after
the Scene broke the story of the sale, VSC board chair Mark Wollaeger finally returned my email — which I'd sent after
CMJ reported that the station's call letters had been changed in FCC records— and consented to an interview, which is presented unedited, except for slight formatting changes, below. In
a separate interview, the board of WRVU Friends and Family offers its views.
Nashville Cream: How do you see WRVU's future now that it is no longer an FM station?
Mark Wollaeger: The future of WRVU is of course yet to be written. Largely it is up to the WRVU staff and DJs, who will have VSC’s financial and moral support in making the transition into a streaming and HD future. Other college internet stations exist — for instance, SCAD (http://www.scadradio.org/)— and we hope that the WRVU student leadership will want to consult with other stations to get advice. It is the board’s hope that WRVU will continue to remain a valuable training experience for Vanderbilt students — that, after all, is our explicit legal charge as a nonprofit, to serve the needs of the Vanderbilt community — and also a community asset. Certainly the deal will enhance the educational benefits for Vanderbilt students: the broadcasting training remains, and now they have opportunities to intern at WPLN.
