Grinch comes early for SaveWCAL

Alumni who have been sparring with St. Olaf over the 2004 sale of its classical music station have been denied tickets to the college's famed Christmas concert.

By SARAH LEMAGIE, Star Tribune

Last update: October 15, 2008 - 1:11 AM

How does a music-loving Lutheran college express displeasure with troublesome alumni?

Here's the answer St. Olaf came up with this month: Deny them holiday concert tickets.

David Anderson, president of the Northfield college, drew ire from a group that has fought St. Olaf over the sale of the school's former radio station, WCAL, when he said that board members, including half a dozen St. Olaf graduates, could not have tickets to the college's popular Christmas festival.

St. Olaf and the group, SaveWCAL, have been at odds since the college sold its listener-supported classical music radio station in 2004. Its new owner, Minnesota Public Radio, turned 89.3 FM into an eclectic station called "The Current." In late September, the group filed a petition in Rice County District Court asking it to void the sale and remove the college as trustee of the radio station, arguing that WCAL was a charitable trust that St. Olaf sold improperly.

A week later, a board member and St. Olaf alum who wanted to attend the college's Christmas festival received a personal e-mail from Anderson saying tickets were not available to the SaveWCAL board, according to the group's website.

"This is the antithesis of Christianity, to be told that you can't show up for church because of your strongly held belief," said SaveWCAL president Ruth Sylte. The board member who wanted tickets asked not to be identified, she said.

The college, renowned for its music program, gives out free Christmas festival tickets that are highly coveted by students, their families and alumni. St. Olaf doesn't have enough tickets for everyone, and it didn't want them to go to SaveWCAL board members, who have forced the college to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and used a website for a "campaign of, basically, near-harassment," said Steve Blodgett, St. Olaf's director of marketing and communications.

"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?'"

SaveWCAL has worked hard to distribute accurate information and reach out to the college, Sylte said.

Sarah Lemagie • 952-882-9016