Board a University of Toledo campus shuttle these days and chances are the bus radio will be tuned to "Star 105.5," if the radio is playing at all.

After receiving a student complaint about a driver playing "at high volume, a far-right Christian political channel," university officials have ordered that radios be locked into one station, with one volume setting.

"Bus drivers will have only on/off option," Steven John Wise, UT's manager of transit services, said in an email memo to superiors that described his recommended solution, which later was approved. "105.5 [radio station WWWM-FM] ... may be [the] best station -- nonoffensive, work place type music, helpful weather info."

Mr. Wise made the recommendation after the student, whose name university officials redacted from copies of the complaint provided to The Blade, complained to UT President Lloyd Jacobs on Jan. 26 about the radio preferences of one particular driver, who was not identified in the complaint.

"As a state university, there is an expectation that we will be free from religious and political views being forced upon us, especially when those views might be discriminatory or offensive," the complainant wrote.

The matter "began with simple Christian music, which seemed inappropriate, but was not terribly overt," because one had to make an effort to listen to the lyrics, the complainant's email said. What crossed the line, it continued, was when the bus became "a mobile proselytizing unit."

"Where the music may have been simply inappropriate, the content of these broadcasts is blatantly offensive, derogatory, and abusive to anyone not in line with the very extreme views of those speaking," the complainant wrote. "Issues such as women's rights, sexual rights, and reproductive rights all come under constant attack. I can only imagine how someone affected deeply by any of these issues might feel being a captive audience to such abuse."

The complaint did not identify the radio station being played on the bus.

Dr. Jacobs responded via email to the complainant later that day: "It sounds like you are correct -- it may be inappropriate," and instructed Chuck Lehnert, the university's vice president of administration, to address the matter.

Bus radios were disconnected the following day, and Mr. Lehnert approved Mr. Wise's response, as Mr. Lehnert explained in a Feb. 10 email back to the complainant.

"As it was communicated that the station playing was loud and distracting and had non-secular overtones, the drivers were educated on the issues of both safety and secular selection of their music choices," Mr. Lehnert wrote.

Restricting radio volume, he wrote, would ensure drivers would hear "audible traffic signaling" and trains at railroad crossings.

"Our passengers are UT students and enjoy and look forward to listening to the AM/FM radio while riding," Mr. Wise wrote in his recommendation. "Our issue is the bus driver used poor judgment in selecting their radio station."

Mr. Wise also proposed placing signs on board buses with a phone number "to give faster and more direct complaint response for any and all complaints."

Matt Rubin, president of the UT student government, said he agrees with the policy.

"It's a safety issue to be able to limit the volume. Some play it really loud, some not at all," Mr. Rubin said. The ideal, he said, is for the driver "to be as least distracted as possible."

As for station selection, "I can understand the controversy," and it would be impossible to please everybody, the student president said. He added that his preference would be for the buses to play WXUT, 88.3 FM, the student radio station, but conceded it doesn't carry traffic and weather reports that many bus riders want.

While a few drivers might object to not being allowed to listen to their choice of radio station, Mr. Rubin said he doubted it would be a major issue. The students who drive campus buses "are the highest-paid student workers on campus" with a lot of training and responsibility, he said, "and I can't imagine wanting to give that up just because they can't listen to their station."

According to Jonathan Strunk, a UT spokesman, administrators had received no complaints or resignations related to the policy as of Friday.

At the University of Michigan, most buses have commercial-band radios "for the convenience of the drivers," said Kim Broekhuizen, a university spokesman.

"The speakers for each are limited to the driver area and neither [speaker] broadcasts to the entire bus," she said. "Our bus drivers may use the radio as long as the volume or content does not interfere with the safe operation of the bus."

Dave Kielmeyer, a spokesman at Bowling Green State University, said that institution's buses have commercial-band radios, and BGSU has no policy governing their use. No issues have ever arisen concerning drivers' radio-station selections, he said.

The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority, meanwhile, does not allow its drivers to listen to commercial radio or "music by any other means while in service," spokesman Steve Atkinson said.

Contact David Patch at: dpatch@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.

First Published February 18, 2012, 5:15 a.m.