KWVA began broadcasting in 1993. But the start of student radio at the University of Oregon began long before. Students and faculty worked together in the operation of KWAX, which was operated out of the UO Department of Speech. It served as an academic laboratory providing daily services for the campus and community from studios in Villard Hall. In the 1970s, KWAX affiliated with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, hired a dedicated professional staff and affiliated with NPR. Two years later, the university cut its academic ties with the station and by the early 1980s there were no students involved at KWAX. KWAX moved off campus and turned into the classical music station that it continues to be today.