WGCS is an

adult album alternative Adult album alternative (also triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format. See pages 9 and 10Mills, Joshua. "A New Radio Music Format: Rock for Prosperous Adults" New York Times, Feb 28 1994, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. Accessed September 4, 2 ...

-formatted

broadcast Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

. The station is licensed to

Goshen, Indiana Goshen ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka ...

and serves Goshen, Elkhart, and

South Bend South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. WGCS is owned by

Goshen College Goshen College is a Private college, private Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana. It was founded in 1894 as the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts, ...

and operated under their Goshen College Broadcasting Corporation licensee.

History

On January 28, 1957, Goshen College applied for a construction permit to build a new noncommercial radio station in Goshen after the class of 1956 made a gift of nearly $2,000 to establish one on the campus. Goshen College had previously operated a carrier current transmitter on the campus beginning in the 1940s; this ended in 1952 when the low-power broadcast was found to be operating with too much power after being heard as far away as Milford, Indiana. With a transmitter previously used at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

, WGCS began broadcasting in 1958. In 1972, the station was transferred to the communications department, allowing Goshen College students to earn credit for working at WGCS. For much of its history, WGCS aired primarily classical music, along with educational and religious programs and specialty music shows. In the late 1970s, WGCS was approved to increase effective radiated power from 390 watts to more than 7,000; stereo broadcasts also began, with both being made possible by more used equipment from another Michigan station,

WAUS WAUS (90.7 Hertz, MHz) is a nonprofit organization, non-commercial FM radio, FM radio station city of license, licensed to Berrien Springs, Michigan, and broadcasting to the Michiana and South Bend metropolitan area. It is owned by Andrews Unive ...

Berrien Springs Berrien Springs is a village in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,800 at the time of the 2010 census. The village is located within Oronoko Charter Township. History Berrien Springs, like Berrien County, is na ...

. As an educational tool, the station occasionally developed its own teaching materials; chief engineer Curt Holsopple wrote a textbook, ''Skills for Radio Broadcasting'', for use in introductory broadcasting courses, in response to the need for a text that was more easily comprehended by Goshen College's international student body. The longtime classical station made major changes in 2003 when Goshen alumnus Jason Samuel was hired as general manager, including a format change to a mix of

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

and adult album alternative and increased sports coverage. Since the format change, the station has been recognized nationally, being the first college station to repeat as winner of the "Best College Station in the Nation" award from the

Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) is an organization with a membership of over one thousand non-profit, education-affiliated radio stations and webcasters. Founded in 1940, IBS is headquartered in New Windsor, New York, with a legal office ...

and also winning awards from the Indiana Association of School Broadcasters, and

Broadcast Education Association The Broadcast Education Association (BEA) is an international academic organization originating and operating mainly out of the United States. The BEA is devoted to multimedia research and teaching, and retains the historical purpose to prepare col ...

. In 2017, WGCS won the Dr. Marjorie Yambor Signature Station Award from the Broadcast Education Association.

References

External links

91-1 The Globe Online
* {{Goshen College 1958 establishments in Indiana Adult album alternative radio stations in the United States Radio stations established in 1958 GCS GCS Goshen College