WCRX-FM will move from its longtime first-floor home to a temporary seventh-floor studio over winter break, a shift that will keep the station fully operational while construction begins on the college’s new Center for Student Success.
Matt Cunningham, the faculty advisor for WCRX and associate professor of instruction in the School of Communication and Culture, said the renovation requires clearing the entire footprint, including the studios that anchor the lobby of 33 E. Ida B. Wells Drive building.
“The radio station is kind of in the middle of everything,” he said. “They want to open up the lobby to make it more accessible and student-facing.”
Construction is expected to last eight to nine months, affecting the spring and summer semesters. The redesigned WCRX station is scheduled to open as part of the larger Center for Student Success rollout in Fall 2026.
“We’re all excited about what’s going to come of this,” Cunningham said.
The temporary space on the upper floor was chosen because it can house two studios without disrupting other offices during the temporary relocation. Cunningham said engineers will begin setting up the new rooms and moving equipment the week after the fall semester ends.
“The plan is to have everything ready by the time students return in January,” he said.
Even with a smaller space, Cunningham said WCRX will continue its full programming schedule.
“There’s going to be a crunch at times,” he said. “But students will still have the ability to use what we need to use.”
For student workers at the station, the transition brings a mix of benefits and challenges. Senior communication major Jamelle Mayor, also the music director of WCRX, said the move places WCRX on the same floor as several studio time production rooms, which may help students who need extra recording space.
“It will make life easier for students that need the extra production rooms,” Mayor said, but added that he worries the seventh-floor location will reduce the station’s visibility.
“Being tucked away on the seventh floor poses the threat of limiting mass exposure,” he said.
Mayor suggested adding signage in the lobby and possibly keeping WCRX audio playing on the first floor, to make sure people still know the station is active.
WCRX’s Public Affairs Director Hunter Warner, a senior broadcast journalism major, echoed the concern.
“When you walk in, the first thing you see is the radio station,” he said. On the seventh floor, “it’s going to be smaller, tighter and there’s going to be less sense of community.”
Still, both student workers said they are optimistic about what the redesigned first-floor studio will offer future students.
“Once construction is completed and WCRX gets to move back downstairs, WCRX will get more exposure,” Mayor said.
The relocation is part of a project funded by an Illinois Board of Higher Education capital grant, supported through the Independent Colleges Capital Investment Grant Program, which finances construction and renovation projects at independent colleges.
In 2024, the Chronicle first reported that the college planned to turn the first floor of 33 E. Ida B. Wells Drive into a centralized hub for student support offices, bringing together Academic Advising, Student Persistence and the Academic Center for Tutoring to reduce the “bounce” of students between offices.
The station’s current position in the lobby limited the ability to redesign the floor plan, said Senior Associate Provost Nate Bakkum.
“The current position of WCRX kind of limits things,” he said, noting the new layout will place WCRX in the northwest corner behind the windows facing Ida B. Wells Drive, making student work visible from the street.
Associate Provost for Academic Services Brian Marth said the new center will consolidate student support areas.
“The idea is to pull together several different resources into one physical space to reduce the bounce of students from one office to another,” Marth said.
Copy edited by Mya DeJesus
