Apply to be an HBCU Radio Preservation Fellow
The HBCU Radio Preservation Project—dedicated to honoring and preserving the vibrant history and cultural resource of historically Black college and university (HBCU) radio—is accepting applications for its 2027 HBCU Radio Preservation Project Fellow.
The project recruits recent HBCU graduates for a grad fellow and intern position every year. The one-year fellowship provides early career professionals with the opportunity to learn from experienced audio preservation and oral history practitioners. The fellow will assist with conducting oral history interviews and preservation of materials at radio stations on HBCU campuses. The fellow will also engage in public history programming and the annual HBCU Radio Preservation Symposium.
The application is due November 30. The fellowship begins January 2027. Submit application materials to pjefferscoly@wyso.org.
The HBCU Radio Preservation Project works with 30 HBCU radio stations and institutional archives at HBCUs to preserve the history and cultural legacy of these stations and foster an ethos of preservation. The project encourages others to replicate its model for all college radio stations, tribal stations, rural stations and other public and community stations.
HBCU radio stations, which have been on the air for more than 50 years, documented and continue to tell the rich history and diversity of the Black experience. This primary audio is at risk of being lost due to obsolete formats, deteriorating records and more. Current digital material is also at risk without proper preservation.
Currently, 29 HBCUs have active campus radio stations, five of which are UNCF-member institutions:
- Alabama A&M University: WJAB 90.9 FM
- Alabama State University: WVAS 90.7 FM
- Alcorn State University: WPRL 91.7 FM
- Clark Atlanta University: WCLK 91.9 FM
- Elizabeth City State University: WRVS 89.9 FM
- Fisk University: WFSK 88.1 FM
- Hampton University: WHOV 88.1 FM
- Howard University: WHUR 96.3 FM
- Jackson State University: WJSU 88.5 FM
- Mississippi Valley State University: WVSD 91.7 FM
- Norfolk State University: WNSB 91.1 FM
- North Carolina A&T State University: WNAA 90.1 FM
- North Carolina Central University: WNCU 90.7 FM
- Oakwood University: WJOU 90.1 FM
- Rust College: WURC 88.1 FM
- Savannah State University: WHCJ 90.3 FM
- Shaw University: WSHA 88.9 FM
- South Carolina State University: WSSB 90.3 FM
- Southern University: WSUB 106.1 FM
- Virginia State University: WVST 91.3 FM
- Winston-Salem State University: WSNC 90.5 FM
Shaw University (a UNCF-member institution) has the unique distinction of launching the first HBCU-owned radio station—WSHA 88.9 FM.