Keeping WEGL weird

WEGL station manager Cheeano Cambridge, junior in English, began the semester with a vision of change. He is seeking to expand the listenership of FM 91.1 by streamlining the station's content and expanding the station's community presence. However, his big ideas and aggressive approach have created backlash both within and without the station from those who feel WEGL's traditional college radio identity is being lost.

A new direction:

Cambridge said he is seeking structure in what he felt was a structureless organization.

"You have a person at the top, and then it goes down," Cambridge said. "You can no longer be competitive with other schools without some kind of structure."

Cambridge has proposed a station model organized around "blocks," where listeners can expect to hear the same genre of music for a set period of time each day.

"If you like jazz, you have a certain time to listen to jazz," he said. "If you like alternative, we have a time to listen to that. If you like R&B, if you like country, I think we even have that as well."

Within these blocks, he is pushing for his DJs to play at least one "mainstream" song for every few "up-and-coming" songs. Cambridge said he believes this structure will bring in new listeners to a station dominated by indie music.

Cambridge's push for a more streamlined approach to the station has made waves within WEGL's studio, leading veteran DJs to believe his vision is a clear move toward molding WEGL into a Top-40 station.

In response, a group of DJs have created "Keep WEGL Weird," with the sensational slogan "Top 40 is Tyranny." The group's Facebook page has received more than 800 hits in a week.

"College radio, for me, is the ability of any DJ or any student at the station to come on and express themselves by the music they play," said Alessio Summerfield, sophomore in radio, television and film and a leader of the group.

Summerfield and Isaac Lim, junior in computer science, cohost "Elephant with a Mozart Soul" Tuesday nights on WEGL. They assumed leadership of the KWW movement after Rivers Langely, an alumnus, created the group in response to what he saw as a worrisome change in the direction of the station.

"He (Cambridge) basically said we don't want it to be dark and underground," Lim said. "We need to bring more of the mainstream stuff to compete."

Competition is something Cambridge willingly acknowledged he is trying to address. He said he sees WEGL as an opportunity for students of all majors to receive real radio experience while they are in school.

"We're in college to get a degree and find a job," Cambridge said. "You create a lab so that once you leave here, you can transfer into corporate America more easily."

Cambridge said he wants to improve the professionalism of the station. He no longer wants DJs to simply come in with their MP3 players or laptops, play for an hour and leave.

He believes this format creates a greater probability for incidents such as profanity to occur on air.

Nonetheless, he insisted the station is not headed in a Top-40 direction.

"I think it's the fear of change because people don't like change," Cambridge said. "I don't see what the problem is."

Managerial Shakeup:

While the music changes have spawned the KWW movement, Cambridge has also faced scrutiny from his own staff about the direction of the station.

Patrick Schultz, sophomore in agriculture, began the fall semester as music director for the station.

"The music director is in charge of putting together the overall playlist and setting the genre theme for the station, as well as dealing with outside agencies like record labels," Schultz said.

While Schultz said he was alarmed at Cambridge's rhetoric regarding the music changes, he was pleased Cambridge was looking to push the station in a more professional direction. Cambridge chose to give Schultz more responsibility by allowing him to seek out new opportunities for WEGL to expand its listenership.

"I was inquiring about getting a series of live concerts," Schultz said. "I was looking to get it at a venue like the Independent off campus."

Schultz said Cambridge and station adviser Dafni Greene were not receptive to his ideas, so he e-mailed James Mantooth, director of student development, and Ainsley Carry, vice president of student affairs, about his ideas.

In the e-mail, Schultz asked the two for help in getting his idea for the live shows started.

Cambridge was not happy with Schultz's action, and following a discussion between Schultz, Cambridge and Greene, Schultz said he was removed from his position on WEGL's staff.

"The part that got him in trouble was because he went so far," Cambridge said. "He didn't go through the chain of command. He didn't go through me, through my boss, so I couldn't cover him."

Schultz insisted he was merely doing the job Cambridge asked him to do.

"I'm upset primarily because I got forced out for taking the time and initiative of looking for different ways to promote the station," Schultz said.

Greene said Schultz knew WEGL could not broadcast live from bars due to liability issues.

Sydney Fagen, senior in journalism and promotions director for WEGL, said she feels that Cambridge's push for professionalism is a needed change, but saw the firing of Schultz as a step too far.

"I feel like they were looking for a reason to fire him," Fagen said. "The reason they gave me for firing him was when they were having this meeting, he got up and walked out. That's not a firing offense."

Fagen said some on the staff are concerned about the direction in which Cambridge is moving the station, but said many are now afraid to speak out.

She also said staff member Hayley Cox, sophomore in Spanish, resigned following Schultz's removal and after learning she had not been receiving pay for her position.

Greene declined comment on the firing of Schultz, but said in a student organization like WEGL, everyone has "to be a team player."

Fagen said Cambridge has even brought in new staff members who are in line with his vision.

"It was supposed to be my responsibility to get my assistant, but Chee found one for me," Fagen said. "He hires cute girls. There's like an onslaught of cute girls now at WEGL because Chee hires them."

Regardless of the managerial rollercoaster and the potential musical mutiny, Cambridge is moving ahead with his plans to make WEGL legitimate on a national scale.

The purpose is "to keep WEGL forward," Cambridge said. "To keep WEGL pushing forward to expand our audience, our involvement in the community and expand WEGL on a national basis. We're going to challenge other major universities."

Despite Fagen's concerns, she believes Chee has WEGL's best interest in mind, and that changes in the station come and go every year.

"I don't think it's the end of the world," Fagen said. "It's not the apocalypse. It'll go back. WEGL is an institution. WEGL has been around for a long time, and I think it is going to go back. It always does."