Auburn University WEGL 91.1 FM radio station held its 45th anniversary reunion this weekend.
Dave Gamble, the reunion organizer and WEGL station manager from 1972–74, said the reunion was a big deal for all former WEGL members.
“We tried to have a 40th anniversary, but it got too hard,” Gamble said. “But there were a number of us who worked at the station that wanted to get together again.”
The reunion consisted of an extensive tour of the Student Media suite and campus, lunch at the alumni center and a dinner at the Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center.
Some of the reunion members hadn’t seen each other in over 40 years. Much of the time was spent catching up and reminiscing.
Gamble said much has changed since he worked at WEGL.
“The No.1 change is the technology in terms of size of equipment,” Gamble said. “And when we first started out, we were a 10-watt station, and now we are at 3,000 watts.”
When Rob Rainey, the first news director of WEGL, attended Auburn University in the '70s, the station covered mostly local news stories and campus events. The station itself didn’t even exist until 1971 and was built in Haley Center.
“We literally built the studio when we were trying to get on air,” Rainey said. “We went in with 2-by-4s, plywood and hammer and nails.”
Don Moseley, the news director of WEGL in 1973, said he feels WEGL was more of a social organization in his time than it is now.
“You knew then that if you walked in the office there would always be at least a half a dozen of us in there,” Moseley said. “You’d have to have someone writing and recording and planning. Now, students have all these bells and whistles so they aren’t forced to spend as much time together.”
During Moseley and Rainey’s time, they were fortunate enough to have a few celebrity appearances.
“I remember when Muhammad Ali came to speak on campus my senior year,” Moseley said. “My job was to introduce him [on air] and then to wrap things up because he had to be done at 5:30. So at 5:25 I went to tell him he had time for one more question, and he literally picked me up by my shirt and said, ‘Boy, don’t you ever tell me how long I have.’”
Along with Ali, Rainey was able to interview feminist icon Gloria Steinem when she came to campus in 1971. After an interview in which Rainey discussed with Steinem the campus curfew for women, Steinem expressed sentiments on the sexism in the curfew.
“Next thing I know the president of the University is calling me up asking if I encouraged women to protest the curfew,” Rainey said. “I said, ‘No, sir,’ and he said, 'Well, there is a large group of women sitting in the Quad refusing to go inside.’”
The reunion provided such happiness for the WEGL alumni that Gamble said he is hoping to organize a 50th anniversary reunion as well.
“The alumni association had a list of everyone who worked at the station,” Gamble said. “We have some people that have been very successful in the broadcast industry. It’s been fun letting everyone tell a little bit about what they are doing now.”
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