Because of the connection to the University of Michigan, it's not hard to understand why the station chose the WUOM call letters, but you might not know that the station almost had different call letters. The Federal Communications Commission originally turned down the University's request for the WUOM call letters because they regarded them as too difficult to pronounce. Director of Broadcasting Waldo Abbot was forced to submit an alternative list of suggested call letter combinations, that included:

WMFM - Michigan Frequency Modulation
WBSM - Broadcasting Service Michigan
WSUM - Wolverine Station University of Michigan
WRVM - Radio Voice of Michigan
WRMK - Religion, Morality, Knowledge

Abbot persevered, and pointed out that WUOM could be pronounced without difficulty if "you gave the W, then a very slight hesitation, and quickly gave the UOM..."

Finally, the FCC gave in, and on May 28, 1947, assigned the call letters, WUOM, to the University.