By: Guy Varela
At 107.7 The Bronc, we have put together a student executive team of 20 students who all share similar passions when it comes to working in radio. The Bronc is known for welcoming any student at Rider who wants to be a part of the radio station, whether that’s having your very own radio show, working at our campus events, or behind the scenes in the studio.
Essentially, students can decide to start as early as possible and get to work with 107.7 The Bronc on their first day of college. With the new school year approaching, we’re all excited to see what the fall and spring semester has to offer!
Nonetheless, we wanted to understand why some of our 2024-25 student executive staff decided to join our college radio station. We interviewed a few of our exec staff members to find out what makes them so passionate about 107.7 The Bronc.
News Director, Kadie Digiuseppe ‘27, joined The Bronc at the start of her freshman year and she knew right away that our radio station was something she wanted to be a part of. Kadie sees WRRC as a great opportunity to “test the waters” before leaving college and heading off into the real world.
“The Bronc particularly offers me not only some of my best friends, but so many connections and opportunities. If you would have told me that in my freshman year of college I would have already had an internship working for ESPN, I would have told you that you were crazy!“
Co-Music Director, Jacob Acuna ‘27, began his broadcast career at the very start of freshman year when he would hang out all the time listening to music at the station. Our General Manager, John Mozes, seemed to notice Jacob’s passion for music as well as his interest in the radio station. Jacob’s goals are to help bring and broadcast a bigger variety of music to the station and feature his unique sound of song selections on the air.
“I feel like with my experimental music taste and my passionate feel for my songs, the radio may benefit from my song selection as well as being able to add my own spin on the radio station, and this is a great way to express how I feel through music.”
Co-Production Manager, RJ Seib ‘27, first walked through the front door of the radio station in the spring semester of 2024. Originally, RJ’s friend and fellow production director, Owen Nelson, recommended that they do a show together. This sparked RJ’s interest and he slowly became more involved with 107.7 The Bronc. RJ looks to improve on his creativity and advance his knowledge of Adobe Audition.
“The Bronc offers me a chance to try out fun ideas and be creative. I love writing scripts and telling stories! I get more practice with sound design which is very important to me as a film major.”
Sports Director, Jordan Hirsh ‘25, began his 107.7 The Bronc sting after transferring to Rider in July 2023, to kick-start his junior year with the opportunities that he felt he couldn’t get anywhere else. Jordan dreams of being a sports play-by-play commentator, and he was lucky enough to get a role doing play-by-play for Rider basketball and Lawrence High School Football.
“I’m trying to get more experience in sports media, and learn how to work behind the scenes, manage a team, coordinate with sports information directors, and communicate more effectively. The Bronc has given me more opportunities to learn and grow as a broadcaster, and allow me to improve my craft in that sense.”
Social Media Director, Emily O’Conner ‘26, came to The Bronc freshman year of college, and began to work for The Bronc Buzz and assisted DJing for many of the station’s promotional events before working on our social media content. Emily is constantly promoting 107.7 The Bronc as an Orientation Leader to incoming freshmen, and she always mentions how pivotal our radio station is for Rider University.
“Social Media has been something that I absolutely love to do, and I feel that it pushes and challenges me, and I’m grateful for the job that I have!”
Similar to Emily, Chief Student Engineer Owen Mccarron ‘26, technically joined 107.7 The Bronc before his freshman year. Owen started to learn engineering during some of our live broadcasts, beginning on his first day at Rider. Owen wants to build lifelong connections to find a future career in radio and gain more experience through his work at The Bronc.
“The experience and time that I have, makes me learn about myself and my work habits. The plethora of knowledge I’ve gained already helps to prepare me for the real world, and it helps to plan out the next few years of my life.”
Co-Production Director, Claire Palmer ‘25 is a product of 107.7 The Bronc’s Scream Screen and knew she wanted to be involved in any way possible her freshman year. Claire saw WRRC as an opportunity to be useful with her writing and musical background. This began by producing commercials, which led to Claire writing and producing not only commercials, but station imaging as well.
“I’m not afraid to get up on the mic and speak to perform on the scripts for our commercials, and I wanted to be in control with what I was saying/writing and (once I got to that point) this looked like the next step that I wanted with our radio station.”
Lastly, our Student General Manager, Nick Witkowski ‘25, originally joined before he graduated high school, and he reached out to John Mozes to see if he could get involved early and he was able to assist with production and shadowing for sports broadcasts.
“Now in my final year of college, I’m looking to become a better leader, and to work alongside my fellow peers all while maintaining a balanced relationship. With the help of the radio station, I’ve had a few internships. They offer so much, especially at a young age. I hope that our Exec Staff students can take their job with pride, and understand the duties that go along with it and see how valuable it can be to eventually work in this competitive industry after college.”
As you can tell, we have so many students that love to spend their time working for 107.7 The Bronc, because of the valuable benefits when it comes to connections and engagement, work experience, enjoyment, and forming great relationships with your peers that’ll last a lifetime.
If you’re an incoming freshman and interested in joining 107.7 The Bronc, feel free to walk into our station at Rider University, to learn about what it takes to join our award-winning college radio station! For even more information, click here.