 On February 22, 1972, Paul Smiths applied for a construction permit to build a 10-watt non-commercial educational FM station on 89.1 MHz at the college, which was granted by the Federal Communications Commission on June 27.WPSA signed on for the first time on January 12, 1973; the station initially operated from the basement of Cooler Dorm, a campus dormitory that was a former meat market.By 1980, the station's operations had relocated to the student council room in Rec Hall.