WEGL-FM alumni honor radio legend Paul Ellen by supporting campus DJs

When longtime Auburn sportscaster Paul Ellen passed away in June 2026, his “WEGL Family” — fellow alumni who worked at Auburn’s student radio station — knew they had to celebrate his legacy.

“The Auburn Family is real, and so is the WEGL Family,” said Dave Gamble '74, one of the first Auburn students to help put WEGL-FM on the air. “That’s why we’ve celebrated the station’s anniversaries and launched scholarship funds. And now, it's our duty to honor Paul.”

And to do that, the WEGL-FM Auburn Alumni Affiliate has created the Paul Ellen WEGL-FM Affiliate Fund for Excellence to honor the 1975 College of Liberal Arts graduate who spent decades bringing Auburn stories to life through play-by-play, hosting and mentorship.

"A number of us left to pursue careers in the broadcasting industry, but Paul stayed and became part of Auburn,” said Don Moseley ’73. “Auburn was always a part of us, but I think more so for Paul. And what he did for his career was great, but what he did for the university was so much bigger.”

A storied career

A native of Ocala, Florida, Ellen enrolled at Auburn with plans to become a high school teacher. All of that changed when Gamble, who lived across the hall, invited him to a meeting in Haley Center for students interested in working at the newly established campus radio station, WEGL-FM.

“We were still waiting on final approval to go on the air and were going through training sessions, looking for the right person for each role,” Gamble said. “Paul was a natural — he had the brains, the personality, the voice and the impeccable radio timing.”

WEGL-FM, which is currently housed in Student Media, formally went on the air on April 25, 1971, with Ellen working as newscaster, sportscaster and early morning show host. The station would shape the course of his life, launching his broadcasting career and introducing him to Pam Scholder, a fellow station volunteer and his future wife.

“The training ground that WEGL provides is invaluable, and it certainly was for Paul — because he had no idea that this was going to be his career or his calling or that he would meet Pam,” said Moseley. “So much of his life was serendipity. Had he not been living across the hall from Dave, who knows what would have happened?”

Beginning with his time as the voice of the Auburn Tigers from 1979-80, Ellen went on to spend nearly 50 years behind the mic, voicing some of the most memorable moments in Auburn Athletics history. After a play-by-play stint at Southern Mississippi, Ellen returned to the Plains in 1990 and worked for the Auburn Sports Network for the next 35 years.

Offering support

The members of the WEGL-FM Auburn Alumni Affiliate group stay in touch to reconnect, network and support current students. Because they know what it takes to work at the station, the alumni support students beyond the studio — offering mentorship, networking and financial assistance.

“We regularly host Zoom calls where students can update alumni on how the station is doing, introduce the staff and talk about the shows they have on the air,” said Kat Harding '10, '13, the group’s president. "We’ve seen a real increase in sports broadcasting, which has been exciting, but one challenge we kept hearing about is the travel required to get to games.”

Auburn Student Affairs funds regular-season travel for student broadcasters, but the Tigers’ success across sports often creates unexpected postseason opportunities — from tournament games to championship runs — that also need coverage. After hearing travel costs come up as a recurring challenge, WEGL-FM Auburn Alumni Affiliate members decided the fund created in Ellen’s memory would help students get to off-campus postseason sporting events.

“The two most important words in journalism are ‘be there,’” Moseley said. "If you're not there, you really can't do the story. We want our students to be there, and this fund is here to make that happen.”

That support will open doors for students, giving them the chance to gain real-world experience and build skills that can shape their future careers. And whether they kept working in broadcasting or followed a different path, the WEGL alumni say the lessons they learned at the station have stayed with them.

“Being on the radio can be scary at first, but the more you do it, the easier it gets, and the more confidence it gives you,” said Rob Rainey ’72. “WEGL is a place where you can get past the fear of having your voice heard by thousands of people — a place where you can safely make mistakes and learn from them.”

Moseley hopes that all WEGL alumni who can will support the fund, not just to help enhance the student experience, but to honor his friend’s legacy.

“Life is full of possibilities, and Paul’s fund helps open the door for Auburn students to be there, to have an experience, to see for themselves and bring it all back to their listeners,” he said. “In remembering Paul, we can give these students the same kind of opportunities he had.”