Plea to alma mater

This is from a letter sent to the PR Veep of my undergrad college regarding his response to the ongoing fight to save the radio station from a takeover by the local PBS affiliate:

Mike Bruckner, a Muhlenberg spokesman, said that while the college is always interested in exploring any new opportunities it can offer its students, he is not sure how a merger between WLVT and WMUH-FM 91.7 would occur.
''As far as I know, ours isn't for sale,'' Bruckner said. ''We're always interested in partnerships, but we're all for focusing the station on students.''


Mr. Bruckner,

I wanted to write privately to thank you for taking this public stance, even if your word is not the bound oath of the college. As one of the "rabblerousers", I can be honest that we are anxious to hear any news other than the usual neutral stance. The conversation on My Muhlenberg is one of alumni who are very passionate about making sure this part of our shared history has another generation.

Since I've graduated, things have definitely changed. Several of my favorite professors have left, while others were granted the tenure they worked so hard to earn. My home from my junior year was leveled to make way for the C.A. expansion and my sorority (I am a founding sister of Phi Mu) struggles to stay alive. WMUH and Phi Mu are the two places left where I can still find my fingerprints, and it is vital to me personally that both are there for my future students to enjoy.

Another thing that has happened was the sudden death of my friend and mentor Mark Klee, known on the air as Mr. Mark. As you joined the campus before his 2001 passing, you may have had the pleasure of listening to his off the wall commentary on the Lehigh Valley and beyond. If not, Joe Swanson would probably be happy to loan you a copy of the finest DJ Allentown ever had. There is a room in the studios that has quietly been dedicated to his memory, and it is a place that I love to visit when I visit campus. To lose the free-form concept of the station in favor of full NPR programming would be to lose what made Mark's gift possible, not to mention to lose the chance that another equally talented but totally different DJ will appear on Muhlenberg's airwaves.

I am writing to you from my heart and asking that you act as an advocate for the voices you have been hearing, if at all possible. We do not write and call because we enjoy pestering our alma mater. We are weighing in at the court of public opinion because we are desperate to keep WMUH as it is. Again, I thank you for taking your public stance. Please let me know if there is any information or background I can give you as you and President Helm (whom I had the pleasure of meeting at my class reunion last year) continue the process of researching your options.