From November 14th-15th, WALT 1610 hosted their first ever WALT-a-thon. For twenty-nine straight hours, WALT ran a constant radio broadcast that aimed to raise proceeds for three charities: Lula Bell’s, BeLoved Asheville, and Roof Above. The nonstop radio event featured special guests and student organizations, concluding with a celebration with Davidson Local at Summit Outpost (Nummit).

The idea of WALT-a-thon began with WALT Secretary Abby True ‘25. “I started thinking about doing a twenty-four hour thon when I was first on WALT’s E-Board,” she said. “WALT was really active with student music and social events, but not as much with the actual radio, so I wanted the radio to have more listeners, and I also wanted to use the radio as incentive to support a charitable cause. I pitched it for the first time this year, and the general idea was to have community members and fun special guests on the radio for twenty-four hours. […] It ultimately turned into twenty-nine hours.”

Throughout WALT-a-thon, WALT incorporated a wide variety of special guests. Notable participants from Davidson included Mayor Rusty Knox, Professor of History Dr. John Wertheimer with the Davidson Local professor band, Frank Dominguez from WDAV Classical Public Radio, and Chair & Professor of Film, Media, and Digital Studies Dr. Mark Sample. Additionally, WALT streamed Live Thursday performances from the Davidson Delilahs, Generals, and Nuances.

The event even allowed students absent from campus to participate. Henry Wilcox ‘26 and Sofia Cimballa ‘26 called in from their study abroad programs, and former WALT presidents joined a Zoom meeting to have a “presidential debate” with the current presidents, Grace McGuire ‘25 and Annabel Semans ‘26. “As far as I know it was the first time in a while since non-students used the space,” Semans stated. “It definitely inspired us to have more non-students on air, as some of the guests really enjoyed this and it makes for great programming. It’s definitely a future expansion to look out for.” True added that “the idea of having a radio station and its resources at our disposal was something that was really put into perspective by the adults’ earnestness and sincerity.”

When it came to maintaining the broadcast overnight, WALT took many precautions to ensure the event ran smoothly for all twenty-nine hours. “Every hour there were two members of WALT E-Board who acted as a support team, facilitating transitions and helping DJs throughout the broadcast. And prior to the entire thon, we sent out an instructional video on how to use everything in the studio,” Semans described. True along with Michael Allen ‘27, one of WALT’s studio managers, stayed in the Alvarez College Union overnight to supervise the broadcast. “I was in Union for far too many hours,” True said.

The marathon ended with an event co-hosted with Union Board at Nummit involving a performance from Davidson Local, as well as a taco truck, lawn games, fire pits, and an African drumming ensemble performance outside. The event was primarily geared toward commemorating all the work that had gone into WALT-a-thon, ending the twenty-nine hours on a high note. “As much as the event was meant to continue fundraising, it was also meant to be a quality, community-oriented celebration in honor of everything that had happened,” Semans shared.

WALT’s fundraiser raised a total of $3,615. There was also extra profit from merchandise and Summit itself, which is to be evenly distributed between Lula Bell’s, BeLoved Asheville, and Roof Above.

Along with the charitable success generated from the event, WALT-a-thon also highlighted the importance of radio as a means of community involvement. “I love radio, that’s why I’m in WALT,” McGuire stated. “But it’s a forgotten medium—no one listens to radio like we did growing up. However, it reinforces an idea of community through being able to listen to someone else’s voice and music curated by them. Using that opportunity to have people share their favorite songs and what is important to them while streaming is becoming more prevalent. Everything from WALT-a-thon circles back to the community aspect.”

It is evident that McGuire’s sentiment is not unfounded, as WALT continues to expand its campus presence and find both charitable and social success through events like WALT-a-thon.

Jayson Rivera ‘27 is an intended English major and Music minor from Middletown, DE and can be reached for comment at [email protected].