TCNJ

20 The College of New Jersey Magazine WTSR returned to Kendall Hall in August 1993. A few years later, when the college renamed itself The College of New Jersey, the acronym WTSR was changed to mean "TCNJ Student Radio." CERTAINLY ONE OF THE WEIRDEST MEMORIES was the genesis of the "Great American Housing Lottery Showgram." At the time, on-campus housing for students was determined by a lottery system. The student life office randomly pulled names out of a box and posted those who would receive housing on a wall. It was an anxiety-ridden process and a big deal on campus. One night, in January 1995, a few of us were talking in the production room, and I asked, "Do you think anyone would listen to a broadcast of people pulling names out of a cardboard box?" We all stopped, looked at each other, and went to work on creating such a show. We received approval to announce the list on a two-hour, Super Bowl pregame-style show exclusively broadcast on WTSR. Students could call in live to find out their lottery number. We had a studio show hosted by a future TCNJ trustee, a future music executive at Sony, and a future radio show host. 1 The studio crew did analysis, "Top 10" countdowns, and interviewed the student who got the No. 1 housing pick live on air. We also had teams of people around campus remote broadcasting, handing out prizes, and running games in the residence hall lobbies. It was literally mayhem on campus. We got over 900 phone calls to WTSR in two hours. It was one of the most listened-to events on the station. Prior to that, few even knew the station's phone number. Afterwards, 609.771.2554 was part of the lexicon. WE BEGAN SENDING OUR ELECTRONIC DANCE and hip-hop charts to trade publications like the Gavin Report and College Music Journal. We were much more than just an alternative station with our free-form shows, and we needed the trades to know this. This enabled us to get more music and content for our on-air personalities. 1 Derek Roseman '96 is associate vice president for executive communications at RWJBarnabas Health. He was named to the TCNJ Board of Trustees in June 2025. Jen Fowler '96 was a senior vice president for Sony Music for more than a decade. Bill Tortoriello '96 was the executive producer of Deminski & Doyle, a talk radio show that started on NJ 101.5 FM. "Icanstillsmellthecigarettesmoke-permeatedalbumcovers." Keith Sawyer '92 PAUL ALFIERI '97 Station manager, DJ JEFF DeYOUNG '96 Music director "What I remember most isn't the quiet hours of playing bands that no one had yet heard of, but the chaos we created in the name of good fun."

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