TRANSCRIPTION:
David Fair: This is 89 one WEMU, and we are celebrating 60 years of broadcasting from the campus of Eastern Michigan University. It was December of 1965 that WEMU first took to the airwaves, but it was quite a different station than it is today. I'm David Fair, and throughout 2025, we're going to talk with a variety of people who were instrumental in building WEMU into the community resource you hear today. There is an origin story, and it's fascinating! So today, we're going to go back to the beginning for some reflections and ruminations with Dick Jacques. Dick was there at the beginning and, before leaving WEMU, served as station manager for about nine years' time. Dick, it is very nice to meet you by phone and thank you for making time today and agreeing to take us back in time!
Dick Jacques: Thanks! It's nice to be back on WEMU!
David Fair: Well, it was in December of '65 that WEMU first crackled to life. Am I correct that you were a graduate student at the time and helped getting the station up and running?
Dick Jacques: Well, actually, when we first signed on, I was an undergrad. I was a junior at the time. I transferred Eastern as a junior, and WEMU was literally a pile of boxes on the floor.
David Fair: And back then, it was in Quirk Hall, right?
Dick Jacques: It was in Quirk. It was under the speech department, and we were a 10-watt educational FM station.
David Fair: I was going to ask about that. What was the original mission in launching a campus radio station?
Dick Jacques: Well, it was kind of a mixed background. Pern Weber in the AD department actually initiated as her work to get the original application done. And the license was issued. The school moved the operation to the speech department and hired Bill Swisher from WUOM at the University of Michigan to be our first station manager. He was across in the speech department and directed the operations of the station part -time. During that fall of '65, he recruited a bunch of students. I happened to have from background with WOAK a public-school station, and freelanced stuff at Highland Park Community College. I got involved right away and was more on the technical plan at that point and worked with Jim McKechran, who was our first contract chief engineer. He actually assembled the parts of WEMU. We just had a studio down in the by the stage in the Quirk building that was used for teaching broadcasting courses and for the students' carrier current station. So, we kind of usurped three hours a night initially for WEMU to be on the air.
David Fair: Truly humble beginning!
Dick Jacques: Oh, yes sir! We just kind of sandwiched in between classes during the day except for Monday nights, where we recorded everything ahead of time, and WHUR, the carrier current station taking over the studio at 8:00, but it was a very humble beginning.
David Fair: And if I were to have tuned in from one of my dorm rooms back in 1965 for those couple of hours, what kind of programming would I have heard?
Dick Jacques: We were 100% classical music at that time, intermixed with some pre -recorded.... well, it was before National Public Radio at that time, so it was Association for Educational Radio. I can't remember the exact name of the organization back then, but it was educational radio, not public. And we had interspersed public information type programs in amongst the classical.
David Fair: This is 89 one WEMU, and our 60th anniversary conversation with Dick Jacques continues. Dick is taking us through the foundational days of WEMU from when it started in 1965 and through his departure in 1981. When WEMU moved from the Department of Speech and Dramatic Arts, it was placed under the purview of the Vice President for University Relations. Coinciding with that move in 1972, you were elevated to station manager. What was the vision for programming as you had seven years behind you and more to look forward to?
Dick Jacques: Well, at that time, we had in the interim built some new studios. We got a new addition to the Quirk building, and we'd already started to change to more of a... well we were still primarily classical but were inching into jazz and some other areas but really getting heavy into local news and information. And then, when we started to think about joining National Public Radio. actually, before that, WEMU along with WHA in wisconsin, Michigan State, University of Michigan, we did a lot of networking, so it could be done, but we were doing it by off-year radio house. So, if we initiated something up in Wisconsin then U of M's Grand Rapids station picked it up and rebroadcast it. Flint and U of M Ann Arbor picked it up and rebroadcast it. We picked it up from U of M Ann Arbor and re -broadcasted on WEMU. So, we kind of pioneered that whole public radio networking thing.
David Fair: I was going to say that's quite advanced for the time!
Dick Jacques: It was. And we're trying to prove that it could be done along with other groups of stations around the country doing similar things to convince Congress that public radio stations could work together and that there should be some sort of an organization that provided that network background for us.
David Fair: And how were you funded at that time?
Dick Jacques: At that time, the station with 100% university budget
David Fair: That is a luxury that no longer exists virtually anywhere.
Dick Jacques: Oh no! I remember the end of that very well, certainly after we get everything settled in the Quirk building. As you mentioned, we were moved under university relations with Gary Hawke. I became station manager, and we moved into the King building at that point and took over the fourth floor of King Hall, which formerly was the women's dorm.
David Fair: And that's exactly where we are today.
Dick Jacques: Yup. We remodeled that fourth floor and then start looking to become an NPR member. We looked to increase the power of the station and did a lot of negotiating with their friends in Ann Arbor over spectrum space because we were in originally at 88.1.
David Fair: Right.
Dick Jacques: Which was the extreme low of the FM band, and directly adjacent to Channel 6's audio. And Channel 6 was very big in Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor didn't want to admit they were part of the metropolitan Detroit area.
David Fair: That's a conversation still going on today.
Dick Jacques: Surprise, surprise! So, we've talked for a long time because, in order for us to move 89.1 and implement a directional antenna which was unheard of at the time, we had to move University of Michigan's second FM station. And they were reluctant to move because of possible interference with Channel 6. So, we did a lot of things to negate that.
David Fair: And, ultimately, got it done.
Dick Jacques: Yup, we finally got it done. We became an NPR member. And then, there was a change in the board of directors and a change in the president of the university. And they came up and wanted to cut WEMU's budget. I went before the board and convinced them that, "Okay, we'll do fundraisers to raise the difference, but don't cut our budget until after we have a chance to do that, so we don't have to impact the quality of the station." In the meantime, Art Timko had been doing a lot of research, listening to what was available in the area, because we were looking to break the standard public radio image at that point because there were six classical radio outlets around. And with Art's research, we decided that jazz was young for the niche. And so, we changed our format to jazz. We conducted our first fundraiser in '81. That's when i retired. I've lost track now. But I had committed to the board that they're going to cut our budget by $5,000. I committed to the board that we'd raise $5 ,000. The president of the university at the time said, "If you raise $5,000, I'll match it. We'll give you $10,000 instead of five to work with." So, we held that first fundraiser in '81. And my last official act as station manager before taking early retirement was to walk into the president's office and tell him we raised $43,000.
David Fair: That's overwhelming success!
Dick Jacques: Yes, it was! It was thanks to Art Timko and the whole staff at that time. They did a fantastic job with that fundraiser!
David Fair: We are talking with former station manager at WEMU, Dick Jacques, as we celebrate 60 years of broadcasting from the campus of Eastern Michigan University. Dick has been sharing the station's origin story with us. Well, after 50 years in King Hall, Dick, WEMU is finally about to make another move. Thanks to the support of the EMU Board of Regents and President James Smith, WEMU will move to a newer and better suited location on campus. Of course, it is also made possible with the ongoing loyal support of WEMU listeners and donors. You mentioned the first-ever fundraiser raised $43,000. What did station fundraising look like during your tenure? Was it a community event or was it entirely staffed by members of the WEMU team?
Dick Jacques: We were pleasantly surprised. Originally, we were staffing it by the staff from the station. But we had a lot of very loyal listeners come in or call us during that fundraiser to donate things as incentives to give, to come in and make pictures--sort of make recorded pictures. So, it became more of a community event than we ever dreamed it would initially.
David Fair: After leaving WEMU in 1981, I'm told you worked at General Motors until your retirement, and all along the way have worked as a member of the Ski Patrol in Northern Michigan. In fact, I understand not so long ago you earned your 60-year pin for Ski Patrol. Is that right?
Dick Jacques: That's correct! Last year, I finished my 60th year as an active member of the National Ski Patrol, and I certainly enjoy that relationship with the skiing public and being able to give back to the community through that activity.
David Fair: I'm so glad you've made that last little statement there, because I'm curious. First of all, congratulations on that milestone! But you worked at WEMU. You worked at General Motors. You've been a 60-year member of the National Ski Patrol--three seemingly very different professions. But is there any commonality in the experiences you had in those arenas?
Dick Jacques: While I was with GM, and they transitioned me over to EDS when they bought EDS, this commonality became computing. One of my last things that while I was station manager at WEMU, we computerized the record library. I talked with University Computing and convinced them that this was something that would really help us. And even though we were a very low priority, they took it on to train some of their programmers and systems design work. And I had had all the computing there was to offer back in my undergrad program at Eastern. And there were two courses, and i took them both. I always had an interest in computing but chasing ones and zeros around the computer in those early days was not near as interesting as being part of WEMU. So, I got into broadcasting for a while.
David Fair: Well, we're most certainly glad that you did! I'm not sure how much you've been able to follow the growth of WEMU over the decades, but we know and understand that the successes we enjoy today were built on the foundation that you and your colleagues six decades ago set forth, and we are most grateful!
Dick Jacques: Well, it was a lot of fun! I'm very proud of what we accomplished back then! I still, in my travels, run into people from the southeastern Michigan area that are WEMU fans. And it's a great thing to have been a part of that way back in that time frame and to know that the foundation we've laid has become such a community resource and continues to be today.
David Fair: Well, I've truly enjoyed talking with you! And, again, I thank you for helping create a working home for the countless staff members for an entire community! We are all very grateful, Dick!
Dick Jacques: Thank you very much! And it's been a pleasure and, as I say, a major feather that I pull out every now and then and think back to where we started and where it's come. And congratulations to everybody that's carried on that tradition! I know it hasn't been easy all the time, but it's a valuable community resource and something that should continue on for a long time.
David Fair: That is Dick Jacques. He's one of the founding fathers of WEMU and served as station manager from 1972 to 1981. He joined us today to provide reflections and ruminations as we celebrate 60 years of broadcasting from the campus of Eastern Michigan University. Throughout 2025, we'll celebrate on all of our programs with special conversations and music presentations. And we're going to have some community events along the way to make sure we celebrate with the most important part of WEMU. And that, of course, is you! I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one WEMU FM Ypsilanti.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on X (Twitter)
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
