WGLT History

A service of Illinois State University, WGLT was licensed by the FCC in 1966. Then a student-run radio station, WGLT was heard only in the ISU dorms.

Over the decades support from the University and the community has allowed WGLT to become a full service public radio station, serving a central Illinois audience approaching 25,000 listeners a week, listeners all over the world at WGLT.org, and nearly 150,000 monthly unique website users. An NPR member station, WGLT also offers local news and music programs as well as national programs from American Public Media. Our Executive Director serves on NPR's Board of Directors.

Learn more about history using the interactive timeline below or see these resources:

• WGLT audio in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting
• Milner Library's collection of WGLT annual reports and programs dating back to the 1960s

• WGLT is licensed to Illinois State University, and has been operating over the air as a public service of the University since 1966. Prior to that, WGLT was run by students and was only available to listeners in dormitories.
• Our call letters stand for Gladly Learn and Teach, inspired by the Illinois State University motto: "Gladly we learn and teach".
• The average tenure of staff at WGLT is 10 years, and the station has had only three General Managers/Executive Directors in its history. The combined journalism experience of the WGLT newsroom is 110 years, an average of 18 years per full-time staffer.
• Over the decades, WGLT News has been honored with scores of regional and national awards for excellence by the Associated Press, Kaleidoscope, Public Radio News Directors, Inc and the prestigious Edward R. Murrow awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association.
• WGLT provides multi-platform services, including an online stream. That means you can listen to the WGLT you want, anywhere you are, all over the world. We also offer locally produced podcasts.
• WGLT alumni are employed at NPR and at numerous major market stations, both commercial and non-commercial. One of WGLT’s first program directors runs one of the leading public radio research firms in the nation.
• As an independent public radio station, WGLT is proud that 53% of our operating budget comes from the individuals, families and businesses in the communities we serve. We rely on Illinois State University for 38% of our budget, with the remaining 9% coming from state and federal grants.