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Oct 15, 2008 9:57 am US/Central
St. Olaf Won't Give Tickets To SaveWCAL Board
NORTHFIELD, Minn. (AP) ―
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St. Olaf sold WCAL-FM to Minnesota Public Radio in 2004, which converted the classic music station to an eclectic format and dubbed it "The Current."
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There are no tickets to the popular St. Olaf Christmas show for the board of a group that opposed the college's sale of the WCAL radio station.
That's the decision from the president of the Lutheran college in Northfield, David Anderson.
The college is renowned for its music program and gives out free Christmas festival tickets, which are highly sought after by students, their families and alumni.
St. Olaf doesn't have enough tickets for everyone, and Anderson has decided and it didn't want them to go to
SaveWCAL board members.
St. Olaf sold WCAL-FM to Minnesota Public Radio in 2004, which converted the classic music station to an eclectic format and dubbed it "The Current."
WCAL opposed the sale and continues to fight it, including going to court in Rice County last month and asking a judge to void the sale.
A week later, a SaveWCAL board member and St. Olaf alum received a personal e-mail from Anderson saying tickets weren't available to the board members.
"This is the antithesis of Christianity, to be told that you can't show up for church because of your strongly held belief," SaveWCAL president Ruth Sylte told the Star Tribune. The board member who wanted tickets asked not to be identified, she said.
Steve Blodgett, St. Olaf's director of marketing and communications, said the college doesn't have enough tickets to go around, and didn't want to give them to a group that has forced the college to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
"My impression is the college and administration have been very, very patient with SaveWCAL and their ongoing litany of actions," Blodgett said. "At what point do you say, 'Enough is enough?"'
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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