Outgoing WRSU General Manager Justin Sontupe (’20) on the field before broadcasting a Rutgers football game vs. Wisconsin at Camp-Randall Stadium in Madison, WI on November 3, 2018.
At Wednesday night’s 5th annual Chancellor’s Student Leadership Gala, outgoing WRSU General Manager and Justin Sontupe (SAS ’20) was honored with the Spirit of Rutgers Award.
The first WRSU Staff member to be honored at the leadership Gala, Sontupe was nominated by Broadcast Administrator Mike Pavlichko (RC ’00).
The Spirit of Rutgers Award “recognizes an individual or student organization that represents the values, traditions, and mission of Rutgers through their outstanding engagement, enthusiasm, spirit, and commitment to the campus community.”
That person demonstrates “evidence in having made significant contributions to the community as a positive ambassador to the university while working to increase pride among their peers.”
Sontupe is a three-year member of WRSU, serving as Sports Director for the 2018-19 school year, and General Manager for the school year about to come to a close.
As one of the top members of the sports department, Sontupe called Scarlet Knights football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, wrestling, lacrosse and baseball. He covered home and road games, and was instrumental in bringing the Sports department to new heights.
What earned him the award, however, was his infectious enthusiasm for everything Rutgers. To know Justin is to know he bleeds Scarlet, and makes everyone around him feel the same way.
Sontupe also was highlighted by “Rutgers Today” in a feature on outstanding grads in the class of 2020. You can read the story here.
Soleima and Hip Hop Director Seyi Aladejobi chatted it up last week about the positives of Quarantine, what’s shaped her as an artist, and how the idea of self-control and power influenced her newest album, “Powerslide”.
On WRSU’s 72nd Birthday – Sunday, April 26, 2020 – alumni from the 1960s to the present day took to the airwaves – safely from quarantine, of course – to mark the occasion.
Some of them sang, some shared memories, some pretended they were still on the air. We loved hearing from all of them!
Missed it? Check it out right here!!!
Special thanks to WRSU Production Director Nala Pena for putting together this montage!
You want treasures from the archives of WRSU? We’ve got em!
More than 15 hours of past broadcasts ranging from music to history and sports to world figures will hit the airwaves Sunday, April 26th, the day WRSU first signed on in 1948.
Check out the promo below for a full audio schedule!
HARLOE is a singer/songwriter hailing from Queens, NY (based in LA now). She has written music for Kelly Clarkson, JoJo, Charlie XCX, Britney Spears, among many others. She recently signed to Roc Nation and released her own EP, Rivers Run Dry. HARLOE took some time to answer questions from WRSU Music Director Bennett Rosner last week. The two touched on Quarantine, music in the age of Tik Tok, and Big Time Rush.
The Brooklyn-bred Pop Smoke returns with his second project Meet the Woo 2. The original Meet the Woo tape was a solid introduction to the bubbling grime/drill rapper with 2 of his biggest singles to this date in “Dior” and “Welcome to the Party”.
Kenny Beats only recently jumped to the forefront of Hip-Hop as a formidable beat-maker, but he’s making his time in the limelight one for the books. Releasing a string of joint albums with big artists has only helped validate his position at the top of the rap production game. After wrapping up projects with Rico Nasty and 03 Greedo, Kenny has set his sights on South Florida rapper Denzel Curry (fresh off his latest album, ZUU) for their new project, UNLOCKED.
In the back of Rough Trade NYC in Williamsburg, Tipling Rock put on a fun-filled show that gave memories that will last a lifetime. Tipling Rock is a surf rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that brings a fun atmosphere wherever they perform.
Rutgers basketball fans storm the court after defeating #9 Maryland 78-67 on Senior night at the RAC in Piscataway on March 3, 2020. Hear that game and a host of others on WRSU’s season retrospective, “Dancing In The Dark,” now through May 7.
While the Rutgers men’s basketball team’s 2019-20 season was cut short due to the coronavirus – with the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments being cancelled in early March, Scarlet Knight fans and WRSU listeners can go back and relive the amazing season from now through April.
WRSU Sports presents “Dancing In The Dark,” a Rutgers basketball retrospective. Now through May 7, every Monday through Thursday at 6 pm, we’ll recap a key game from the 2019-20 season. The show will air during the normal “WRSU Crew” time slot, with the station on indefinite hiatus due to the university’s coronavirus-related status. An encore of one of the week’s episodes will air during the Friday 4-6 “WRSU Crew” time slot.
One full week after their airing, each episode will be available on the “WRSU Crew” page on Spotify, which you can find here.
Here’s the schedule for first-run episodes of the “Dancing In The Dark” series:
Week of April 6: Seton Hall, at Nebraska, Penn State, at Illinois
Week of April 13: Indiana, Minnesota, at Iowa, Nebraska
Week of April 20: Purdue, Michigan (at MSG), at Maryland, Northwestern
Week of April 27: at Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan at Wisconsin
Week of May 4: at Penn State, Maryland, at Purdue, Big Ten Tournament Pregame and season recap
Look out for soon-to-be-announced dates of other special rebroadcasts of WRSU Sports events from the past during April and May, including:
Men’s Basketball vs SW Louisiana in the 1983 NCAA Tournament, RU’s last NCAA Tournament win
Women’s Basketball vs Georgia in the 2000 NCAA Tournament West Regional, clinching RU’s first-ever berth in the Final Four (20th anniversary)
Baseball vs Seton Hall in the 2000 Big East Tournament Championship Game at Somerset Ballpark (20th anniversary)
WRSU New Director Joey Bloch with Rutgers Political Science Professor Dr. Ross Baker “on the air” in Studio A on Election Night, 2018.
WRSU News remains dedicated to getting information to the masses during the coronavirus outbreak, and will continue to produce its weekly public affairs program, “Knightbeat,” every Wednesday night at 10 pm with host Joey Bloch. Our team of reporters – Caleb Kuberiet, Chris Tsakonas and Hannah Varkey – will join Joey each week with insightful interviews and commentary.
If you miss an episode, don’t worry – you can catch up on prior episodes by clicking the links below:
May 20 Show: Fox News State Department Correspondent and WRSU alum Rich Edson, NJ.com report Matthew Arco, WRSU Reporter Hannah Varkey, outgoing WRSU General Manager Justin Sontupe.
May 13 Show: NBC Nightly News Anchor and Rutgers virtual commencement speaker Lester Holt, Rutgers/Eagleton Poll Director Ashley Koening, Rutgers COVID-19 Center Director Dr. Jay Tischfield, Tampa Bay Rays Pre- and Postgame radio host and WRSU alum Neil Solondz, Tribute to outgoing WRSU News Director Joey Bloch.
May 6 Show: Rutgers Vice-Chancellor for Student Affairs Dr. Salvador Mena, Rutgers engineering professor Dr. Hoang Pham, WRSU Sportscaster and Ernest Mario School of Pharamacy student Raj Shah.
April 29 Show: KISS-FM Seattle morning show host and WRSU alum Carla Marie, NJ Dept. of Health Medical Director of Communicable Disease Services Dr. Edward Lifshitz, Rutgers AAUP-AFT President Todd Wolfson.
April 22 Show: NJ Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Marlene Caride, Dean of Rutgers School of Public Health Dr. Perry Halkitis, Director of Rutgers OIT Brian Luper
April 15 Show: RUCDR Director Dr. Jay Tischfield, Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics Director John F. Farmer, Center of American Women and Politics Director Debbie Walsh, Rutgers Director of Career Communities and Transitions David Bills.
April 8 Show: Rutgers political science professor Joe-Leo Carney-Waterton, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Assistant Professor Joseph Hanna, Rutgers religious lecturer Louis Benjamin Rolky, Rutgers alumna and children’s singer Laurie Berkner.
April 1 Show: Guests include Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Physician Dr. Sheraz U. Siddiqui, Rustgers student and RA Jesse Osafo, RBHS Seniro Vice-Chancellor Dr. Bishir Omary of the new Rutgers COVID-19 Center, and Rutgers School of Public Health Professor Mitchell Rosen.
March 25 Show: Guests include Rutgers Director of Off-Campus Living and Community Partnerships and director of the Rutgers Food Pantry Kerrie Wilson; Rutgers Professor Richard Miller, teacher of “Writing After the End of the World” English class, Rutgers junior off-campus student Jasmine Davis.
March 19 Show: Guests include New Brunswick Mayor Jim Cahill, Rutgers Public Health Professor Elissa Kozlov, and Nursing Professor Suzanne Willard.
March 16 Show: MyCentralJersey.com reporter Bob Makin, Sacramento Kings broadcaster Noah Eagle, Dr. Mark Merlin, and Rutgers Professor of Cinema Studies Albert Nigrin.
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