The Catholic University of Puerto Rico entered into broadcasting when it built WEUC,[5] a 1,000-watt AM radio station operating at 1420 kHz, in 1958.[6] The station, which signed on in May, was the island's first Catholic radio station.[7] The station's call letters stood for Emisora Universidad Catolica (Catholic University Station).[8] Bishop James E. McManus, who founded the university, had invited Father Carl Hammond to assist in the design of the buildings on the campus; Hammond, an avid ham radio operator, was instrumental in launching the station.[9]
On May 17, 1979, the Catholic University of Puerto Rico applied to the Federal Communications Commission to build and launch a noncommercial FM station on 88.9 MHz. WEUC-FM was approved by the commission on January 11, 1982, but the station did not sign on the air until May 17, 1984.[10]
The university sold the AM station in 2000 to El Mundo Broadcasting Corporation, owners of WKAQ-AM-WKAQ-FM in San Juan and WUKQ-FM in Mayagüez, for $1.45 million; the sale resulted in the AM frequency becoming a simulcaster of WKAQ.[11] After selling the AM station, the university changed WEUC-FM's call sign to WPUC-FM, reflecting the papal designation of the pontifical title on the university, which had taken place in 1991.
The radio station serves dual purposes: as a communication media with the external community and as an internship for students studying communications.[12] In 2014, the station's main studio was named for Luis Varela (1938[13] - 23 June 2020[14]), whose sports program Trinchera Deportiva aired from WEUC/WPUC since 1961.[15][16]
After Hurricane Maria, WPUC-FM lost 80 percent of its coverage. The translator for Mayagüez, located inside the Maricao State Forest, was returned to service in January 2019.[17]
^"Station Goes on Air". The Catholic Advance. 16 May 1958. p. 10. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
^Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945-2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 97.
^"Priests Of Notre Dame". Rochester Courier-Journal. 7 July 1967. p. 12A. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
^"WEUC-FM"(PDF). Broadcasting Yearbook. 1987. p. B-326. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
^"Transaction Digest"(PDF). RBR. 31 January 2000. p. 14. Retrieved 11 February 2020.