Item 142 - Convocation Address by Alfred R. Bader

Radio Station CFRC-FM is Queen's University's own radio station, broadcasting a variety of alternative, non-commercial programming to the campus and surrounding area at FM 101.9. The Station was the first radio broadcaster in Kingston, and is one of the oldest in the country. Its forerunner, an experimental station called 9BT run by the Queen's Wireless Club, came on the air on October 7, 1922, with a summary of a football game between Queen's and the Hamilton Rowing Club. The Station began broadcasting under its current call letters a year later on October 27 1923 with the play-by-play of a Queen's-McGill game. The letters CFRC are said to stand for "Canada's Famous Rugby Champions," a reference to Queen's Grey Cup-winning teams of the early 1920s (football was then called rugby or rugby-football). The Station was a CBC affiliate between 1936 and 1942, and during that time served as Kingston's main electronic source of national and international news. The current structure of the Station dates roughly from 1957, when Margaret Angus was appointed by the University as the first full-time, paid Director of Radio, and the CFRC Radio Club was established. The Radio Club continues today as a group of volunteers from Queen's and Kingston who operate the Station under the direction of the Station Manager, who in turn, reported to the Dean of Student Affairs. In 2003, the Station was brought under the auspices of the Alma Mater Society who now has responsibility for its operations. The Station plays a variety of rock, classical, folk, jazz, blues, and international music, and also broadcasts drama and sporting events. Its power output of 3,000 watts gives CFRC a broadcast radius of about 100 kilometres. The Station has broadcast in stereo since 1989. Among the Station's most venerated alumni are actor Lorne Greene, CBC Radio's Shelagh Rogers, and Globe and Mail columnist Jeffrey Simpson. The Station's history is told in the book, "In the Shadow of the Shield", authored by Arthur Zimmerman, Program Director of CFRC from 1984 to 1988.