WNUR Phoneathon 2026

WNUR 89.3 FM, ‘Chicago’s Sound Experiment,’ is Northwestern University’s non-commercial, student-run radio station. We have been on the air since 1950, with programming ranging from jazz to experimental rock, underground rap, electronic music, talk radio, sports, news, and more. WNUR has served the counter-cultural communities of Northwestern and Chicago for 70 years, and possesses a storied history with a list of alumni including John Corbett, Derrick Carter, Pierre Bouvard, and Darren Rovell. Over the years, the station has repeatedly been recognized for its role in shaping the college radio landscape. Today, the station broadcasts an HD signal accessible to over 3 million listeners throughout the Chicagoland area and millions more online. This is in addition to a plethora of off-radio content, including a suite of podcasts, a magazine, and portfolios of concert photography and in-studio performance recordings.

As an organization, WNUR strives to provide a forum for underrepresented music & audio content by promoting artists, musical genres, news, public affairs issues, and athletic events often overlooked by major media outlets. Moreover, we aim to provide an inclusive space for people to learn and express themselves by exploring and promoting underrepresented content, and in turn sharing that knowledge with others.

Phoneathon ensures that our station, along with its 400+ students and staff, can continue to be a voice and guiding light for underrepresented tastes, and to be a place where generations of Northwestern students can form friendships lasting a lifetime. Thanks to generous donations from past years, we’ve been able to revamp our website (wnur.org), conduct much-needed repairs on our equipment, set up live video streaming capabilities from our studio, relaunch our Freeform block as a home for podcasts, and put on three music events: Rock Show’s Sonic Celluloid,

Streetbeat’s Sunset, and our marquee event, Transference. Without dedicated support from our community of listeners, we would not be able to provide the diverse content that we all love.

Donors will receive items from our limited-edition Phoneathon Collection - designed in collaboration with artists from within WNUR and across Northwestern - as special gifts. Please refer to the descriptions under each tier (Donor, Silver, Gold, Diamond, VIP, All-Access) for details. Thank you!