XCSB Sues Cleveland State University and Makes Future Streaming Plans

XCSB, the student and community radio group that once operated Cleveland State University’s college radio station WCSB, sued the university Monday, months after CSU transferred operations of the radio frequency to Ideastream Public Media. 

Those who ran the now-defunct college radio station are also setting the stage for a return in a streaming format this spring, assisted by Cleveland nonprofit bookstore Reading Room CLE.

The station, its backers and its general manager’s First Amendment rights were violated by CSU and President Laura Bloomberg by snatching the airwaves because they protested and criticized university leadership on air, according to the lawsuit filed in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. In the suit, XCSB seeks an order to invalidate the operation agreement between CSU and Ideastream.

“Over time, Defendant Bloomberg and the university grew weary of the independent voices at WCSB, their nonconformist attitudes, their complaints about university operations, and their protests against university policy,” says the challengers, who are represented by Cleveland attorney Brian Bardwell. They allege that, in response to those protests, Bloomberg and CSU “began secret deliberations and discussions to sandbag WCSB with a plan to shut (WCSB) down, take over the signal and transfer it to another broadcaster.”

RELATED: WCSB College Radio's Shutdown Is a Profound Loss for Cleveland’s Creative Communities (Commentary)

The transfer, which took place in October, switched the 89.3-FM frequency and station call letters to Ideastream for its JazzNEO station. While the organizations didn’t directly exchange any money, CSU will receive internship and learning opportunities, 1,000 on-air underwriting announcements and a seat on Ideastream’s Board of Trustees, according to a copy of the operating agreement previously released by the university.

CSU said in a statement that it had not yet been served with the lawsuit and would review and respond once it receives it. It declined further comment.

Alison Bomgardner, XCSB’s general manager, also declined to comment on the suit.

However, in an interview Monday, she spoke about the future of the station. XCSB recently partnered with Reading Room CLE, a nonprofit bookstore in Cleveland’s Kamm’s Corners neighborhood, to help with the lawsuit. Simultaneously, it will aid in XCSB’s planned streaming future, in an initiative called XCSB(2B). 

Reading Room CLE will also assist in fundraising for the radio group.

“Our mission is to try to remediate historic inequities, especially along identity lines, race, gender, sexual orientation,” says L.S. Quinn, the bookstore’s executive director. “Community radio is really a way that marginalized populations reach the airwaves, and so it's a loss to everyone if we lose that.”

By partnering with the Reading Room, XCSB can operate legally under its nonprofit umbrella, Quinn says.

Bomgardner says, “it just seemed like the perfect fit for us to move forward, and we are very fortunate to have a community partner like Reading Room behind us, something that supports our messages of free speech and freedom of press, and something that XCSB will continue to promote hopefully for another 50 years in our community.”

The goal, Bomgardner says, is to have XCSB DJs officially streaming by March 1, with an outfitted studio space put together by May. The organization is fundraising for its future, she adds.

Like its former operations at CSU, XCSB will be composed of both community and student programmers, Bomgardner says. XCSB is still, as of early 2026, listed on VikesConnect, CSU’s hub for student organizations.

Though she’s set to graduate from CSU in May, Bomgardner says she aims to stay involved in XCSB — and that the student group has a team coming together for fall 2026.

“I do have some hard feelings about being at Cleveland State University,” Bomgardner says, “but I know that the student group is going to be in the best hands possible, and they’re going to do an amazing job once I’m done.”

WCSB FM 89.3 would have celebrated its 50th anniversary of college radio in May. Now, XCSB plans to still host the celebrations — with a 50th “birthday bash” slated for that month, and its annual Halloween Ball in October.

“We’re still going to celebrate the 50th like it’s our true 50th,” Bomgardner says. “This whole year can’t be an obituary of the 49 years we had at WCSB, but can be an opportunity for us to celebrate what WCSB was, and what XCSB will hopefully fulfill for the next 50 years.”

For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.

Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design.