The University of Delaware’s radio station, 91.3FM WVUD, has plenty of milestones to celebrate during this 275th year since UD’s founding. Now located on the lower level of the annex in Perkins Student Center, which is celebrating 60 years as the University’s first student center, WVUD signed on in October 1968 under the call sign WHEN. Fifty years later, it seems that “WHEN is [still] now ... you ain’t heard nothing yet.” This summer, the station inducted its 10th class into the Hall of Fame in an annual look back at the myriad ways WVUD has launched Blue Hens onto the national stage.

As station manager Steve Kramarck will tell you, running the radio station is no 9-5 job.

“WVUD has always been an incredible collaboration between local citizens and our own campus community,” he said. “We broadcast 24 hours a day, and it simply isn’t possible to manage that kind of workload solely with students and staff. The end result is that students and volunteers alike come together daily on the creation of new content, polishing a wide range of on- and off-air skills and learning more about themselves as they consider how they might translate these experiences into their other pursuits.”

Throughout each year, WVUD can often be found reporting live from the sidelines of a Blue Hens game, DJing an event in either of the two University Student Centers, and recording an educational segment with UD faculty and administrators — all at the same time.

The Hall of Fame, which includes an annual ceremony and a hall of plaques lining the station, is an attempt to capture those who have made indelible marks on “The Voice of the University of Delaware” as well as detail the most interesting paths forged by WVUD alumni. One surprising new link is between the campus station and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Information School (DINFOS).

At this year’s ceremony, two WVUD alumni were recognized for their contributions to the UD community as well as for their success within the same military journalism track at DINFOS, with four decades between their journeys.

George Mercer, who attended UD in the 1960s, went on to study journalism at DINFOS in preparation for the U.S. Army. His skills were put to use less than two years later, when he departed for Vietnam with the 44th Public Information Detachment. Mercer was awarded two Bronze Star Medals and two Army Commendation Medals for his service, and by the 1980s he was back on campus as a regular volunteer at the station.

"Being a part of the WVUD family for nearly thirty years has been a very important and rewarding part of my life”, Mercer said. “The staff, student and community members, the University support staff, volunteers, and especially the listeners have been wonderful. It really is a family.”

As he learned at the ceremony, WVUD alumnus and fellow Hall of Fame inductee Zack Baddorf followed in his footsteps nearly 40 years later, graduating with honors from both the Basic Military Journalism Course that Mercer completed and the Basic Broadcasting Course. Baddorf got his start in radio volunteering at WVUD as a local high school student, serving as assistant training manager, operations board member, and co-host of a Sunday morning talk show with news commentary and music. Baddorf also founded a radio club at his high school so that other students could connect with the skills and experience offered at WVUD.

Mercer and Baddorf’s fellow DINFOS alumni include the likes of Al Gore, Walter Mondale, Dan Quayle, John Chancellor, and the late Adrian Cronauer whose story inspired the movie, “Good Morning Vietnam!” Besides joining the ranks of some of the most memorable and esteemed on-air personalities in history, however, they are proud to be part of a similarly unique community right here at UD.

Richard Gordon, UD IT legend and a prime example of WVUD’s diverse membership, was also honored at this year’s ceremony. Gordon received WVUD’s Award of Appreciation that evening, in advance of his retirement after 38 years with UD Information Technologies. Among his parting accolades are improvements in campus cybersecurity, progress in community awareness of phishing attacks … and a wildly popular WVUD talk show called Campus Voices that brought some of UD’s most dynamic and knowledgeable experts onto the air for the first time.

“The hole that Richard has left in the station is simply immense,” said WVUD chief engineer Dave Mackenzie. “He brought in students with a mutual understanding that this was preparation for a professional career in the industry, and year after year they’ve risen to the task under his expectations and leadership. To say he will be missed is an understatement.”

With students of all types working alongside staff, faculty, and community volunteers in support of public radio, WVUD has seen its fair share of graduations, retirements and other farewells. If the past 50 years are any indication, however, the station will forever be as energetic and unapologetically quirky as ever — weathering the tides of culture and personality that listeners near and far have come to love, and making good on the promise that “if you hear something you don’t like, just wait an hour or or day for it to change completely.”

Fans can look forward to an entertaining timeline of WVUD’s first 50 years in next month’s University Magazine. To listen online, learn more about The Voice of the University of Delaware, or help preserve these unique opportunities for future Blue Hens, visit www.wvud.org.