Radio of Clark University has had a journey that would make even Odysseus proud. Due to the lack of institutional memory in a four-year college, much of the station's tale has been lost, forgotten or blurred. The facts of history have dissolved into myth. Past heroes now are ancient relics-- spirits that left behind clues of their reign and conquests within a tiny studio on the second floor of the Higgins University Center. From 8 track tape, handicam recordings of Spree Day 1991, bills from former decades, and oral tradition told by urban griots, the current staff of ROCU is able to piece together some resemblance of our lineage.

The station begins somewhere in the 1970's. The "Wormtown" punk scene was at its peak. Thousands of counter-culture enthusiasts would come from far and wide, flocking to Main South for the promise of salvation. The station at this time was a catalyst for the scene under a different, now unknown name. However, just as ambition lead to Napoleon's eventual downfall, dark times similarly lay ahead for the industrious Clark Radio. The station eventually decided to cut ties from the university in the hope of becoming an independent organization. As the sun set on the Wormtown Punk scene, the glory days of the now non-Clark affiliated station likewise drifted to an end.

Though the date of reestablishment for Clark's station is hazy, due to the enormous amounts of hair-metal and synth pop in the station's catalogues, it is believed to have occurred sometime in the late 1980's. Clark culture once again enjoyed relative prosperity and a rule of the airwaves. It also enjoyed a new mildly clever acronym still used to this very day. The second dynasty had been established, but this time a formidable foe loomed in distant Washington. The FCC.

In the mid 1990's two DJ's, possessed by Eros, or some deranged Dionysian passion, did something forbidden by federal communication protocol. It is a tale similar to forbidden Shakespearian love-- A reminder that the highest of pleasures can often lead to the most horrid of pains. Traces of the devastation still linger present day like wreckage of a ship washed ashore. Broadcasting license revoked and the internet not yet invented, the station had nowhere to turn. It closed its doors.

Enter the new millennium. Young, optimistic, and enthusiastic mercenaries walk in to the frame. From the ashes they intend to rise to soaring heights. The year is 2007 and the climate seems ripe for a permanent and wonderful radio culture. The new faces of ROCU have emerged and after many trials and much determination they have established a modern breed of radio that is here to stay.

Determined not to lose the station's original spirit, they have elected to make this incarnation of ROCU as free as possible. Streaming, independent, non-profit, diverse, and grassroots, ROCU is back and ready to be a force of its own nature. The present is a time where the music industry faces tremendous sea change, but the station does not fear this uncertainty or the growing power of the monotonous corporate Moloch that the industry has become. In times of darkness let it be known that Radio of Clark University will strive to be a beacon of hope for any creative person who feels they have become lost in the modern world. If you have been cast aside, we will reel you in. If you want a vehicle for your passions we will let you ride us to the Promised Land. Long live Worcester, Clark University, and a radio station trying to make a difference.

Yours in the cause,
Jacob Nathan (President of Radio of Clark University)

ROCU has received Brian K. Yee '93 Award for Student Government Excellence for 2007-08.