Alumni Spotlight Archive

Danny Breslauer

RC’10

Jordan Cohen: Thank you everybody for joining us for today’s alumni spotlight with Danny Breslauer. Danny is a Rutgers alumnus, he graduated from the final class of Rutgers College. And he is pretty much everywhere when it comes to Rutgers but I think most people would know him from the podcast that he does with John Newman, The Scarlet Spotlight Sponsored He is absolutely everywhere and we’re really glad to have him as an alumni spotlight. So Danny, thanks so much for joining us!

Danny Breslauer: Thanks for having me, I appreciate it. And thanks for the plug for the Scarlet Spotlight.

Jordan Cohen: Of course. We’re actually going to be hosting some of the interviews for Scarlet Spotlight on the RAA’s website as part of our 1766 extras program. Let’s start with your time as a student. So you were the last class of Rutgers college. What was that like, and what brought you to Rutgers??

Danny Breslauer: Yeah, so I can start with what brought me to Rutgers. I basically grew up on campus.

My father, Kenneth Breslauer was the founding Dean of the Division of Life Sciences and has been at Rutgers for 47 years.

Jordan Cohen: Wow.

Danny Breslauer: He’s a university professor. Biophysical chemist, I believe by trade, his lab does cancer research, drug DNA mutations, and binding.

And obviously right now is also focused on COVID research. So, I grew up across the river in Highland Park, but at the same time was essentially raised on campus both academically and athletically. Season ticket holders for Rutgers basketball and football; since I was a little kid always knew it’s where I wanted to go.

Had a brief dalliance with the idea of doing journalism at Northwestern and spent the summer before my senior year of high school out there. But it was a no brainer for me that Rutgers was the only place that I wanted to go. Had all the resources and tools that I needed as well. When I was in high school, I interned.

For Bruce Johnson, who was the voice of Rutgers athletics at the time for WCTC radio and learned a lot about the ins and outs of the industry. And Tim Espar was the broadcast administrator at WRSU at the time. Brought me for a tour of the facilities my senior year. And he’s like, listen, ‘you know, can’t hand you the keys to the car day one, but, but if you learn it I’m sure that you’ll get.

The progression here and have administrative roles’. And that’s what happened. I was a sports staffer, eventually became the sports director my junior year. Then I was the general manager of the entire station in 2009-10, my senior year obviously in conjunction with my classwork and then skills now SC&I with many, many great professors there during my time.

Jordan Cohen: You mentioned WRSU, I believe you ran Knightline?

Danny Breslauer: Knightline was the, the post game show for all of all the games. So the staff in conjunction ran Knightline. I was the host of the Scarlet Pulse with Adam Helfgott and we did a show for three of my four years. Adam was a freshman when I was a sophomore.

Also worked on Sports Night, which was the, the flagship show that the WRSU sports staff did during the day. Really, you know, it’s a 24/7 station with community involvement as well. And I think that’s the cool part for the students that do get involved. In early days, you learn how to deal with folks that are older than you and may have been set in their ways and, need some compromising.

I think for me, certainly as an executive at the station, it was great experience for how to discuss preemptions with people who have had shows for 25 years when sports games may have stamped on their slots every so often. So those were really interesting conversations. The programming of a 24/7 station working with different genres was an incredible experience for me.

Jordan Cohen: Are you still involved with WRSU?

Danny Breslauer: I am! Mike Pavlichko, who I worked with at WCTC and remain close with and doing games at CTC after I graduated as well. When I was a sports broadcaster for the first five to six years after graduation he’s now the broadcast administrator. So I’m involved in the sense of whatever, whatever Pav needs. I’m happy to come back and help. I do talk to the occasional RSU sports director, a staffer via Twitter which makes it very easy to do so. And many of them do keep in touch. I love following the work that they do. You know, RSU and Targum are two of the more unheralded institutions of Rutgers in the sense that I don’t know if everybody knows the amount of work that the staffs at WRSU and the Daily Targum do to provide coverage, not just about athletics, but the university at large for the community. So I’m a huge,supporter in that regard, in terms of their involvement and their continued involvement with the New Brunswick, Piscataway and Rutgers community at large.

Jordan Cohen: And you were involved with RVision on campus right?

Danny Breslauer: So that’s a really cool story. It was probably April my junior year. So let’s say April of 2009, I got a call from then lead sports input director, Jason Baum, who was the deputy to Tim Pernetti who was the AD at the time saying, ‘listen, we’re going to launch this direct to consumer television product called Knight Vision, which is what it originally launched as. We want you to be the first broadcaster. We can’t pay you in the first year, so do it for the tape. And then, you know, maybe after graduation we’ll, do something with money’ and that’s what happened. I eventually used RVision as it became rebranded in 2011 as the tent pole freelance gig for me after graduation and built a sports broadcasting freelance portfolio around doing games for RVision Colin Osborne, and his crew in Rutgers athletics, do an unreal job. I mean, in the immense amount of improvement of the product that occurred over time with student run camera ops, student run truck ops and Colin being the staff advisor to all that, and the director of RVision, they’ve had many more resources now that Rutgers has been in the Big 10 that have allowed the broadcast to now be in my opinion, the industry standard for BTN+ broadcasts around the league. It’s not even close Rutgers puts on the best broadcast.

So I have obviously a lot of pride in having been a part of the start of that 12 years ago and they continue to improve it day by day. But yeah, that was just unreal experience for me. I wouldn’t say I was the greatest TV announcer on earth. I hope that I gave a good product to everybody that saw it.

I would call myself an above average TV announcer where I was a little bit better on the radio. Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, it was great to have that as, as a temple item to build around with CTC and IMG and Verizon Fios and the Northeast conference and all the other broadcasts that I did in the, in the five plus years that I was doing.

Danny Breslauer at work

Jordan Cohen: Any particularly notable experiences. I noticed you overlapped with some pretty interesting years at Rutgers athletics.

Danny Breslauer: So are we talking at RSU? I mean, obviously the most notable experience would be the Louisville game my freshman year that that would have got the Pandemonium in Piscataway poster. Right, right over here behind me.

I was doing per game in the stadium, did post game as well. There won’t be a night like that again, no matter how good Rutgers gets in the Big 10 east, you just can’t, you cannot simulate the novelty. That was the first time that everyone got a taste of what it felt like for national coverage, for camping out for tickets.

Rutgers could literally play for a national championship someday and I’m not sure I could bottle up sort of the emotions that were on campus that week, the special feeling that it was of “Wow. Everyone cares about us. You know, state university of New Jersey is no longer a moniker of making fun of you. It was a, it was a pride thing.”

For me, that was an amazing experience and had a bunch of really cool moments. Being around C. Vivian Stringer’s program. I was the voice of Rutgers women’s basketball. After I graduated from the IMG network as a part of her 800 and 900th wins and got to call games both in WNIT final where they won down in El Paso as well as NCAA tournament games for them. I would say those were very special experiences.

Jordan Cohen: You’re essentially on a career path of TV radio broadcasting, WFAN, WCTC, Fox, that’s the career path you’re on. And then in 2016, you take a step back from what I can tell, and you go and you start pivoting into more of a business and consultancy type role.

Tell us a little bit about what that looks like. What, what was the decision-making process behind that?

Danny Breslauer: Yeah, I’d say the pivot even started a little earlier, probably summer of ’14. I came back from doing the WNIT final and El Paso and you know, everyone has these like life audit moments in their late twenties.

I was 26 years old. I, I felt I was doing really well in my profession. You know, I was a division one play by play broadcaster. At that age, I was getting more looks. I knew that it would be time to hire an agent and go on the road more than I was already on the road. And I don’t know, I didn’t think I was learning.

Right? I had learned in a trade. I was good at what I did. But I wasn’t necessarily understanding the industry at large or, or where it was heading next. So I think that scared me a little bit. I was a good enough standardized test or to get me into the 2006 version of the Rutgers college honors program.

I do not think I would have gotten into today’s honors college considering the high-end academics from an SAT perspective that they require for that entry. I was a great student. But never a standardized tester so I put a lot of time into studying for the GMAT. Specifically with a tutor. I knew I wanted to get an MBA just to have like a more holistic understanding of business, media, tech, sports. They were my passions, and that would be where I would stay.

But I didn’t see myself 30 years later as Joe Buck or whomever was in those roles and I think that scared me at 26. I was like, ‘all right, well then you’d have to go learn something else. You know, you know that you have interpersonal abilities, you can communicate you can work in business development.You can work in partnerships. Now, go find out how’ and I was fortunate enough to get in NYU stern for my MBA and, and developed a new network there in addition to my Rutgers network, which was incredibly useful.

You noted I did three MBA internships in 2016 to really pivot, because who’s going to hire the sports broadcaster to do business development for them? That was what I had to do. Work for NBC Universal, Wasserman, and Brave Ventures, which was acquired by Turner and had a really interesting experience at Fusion Media Group, right out of business school, working for a subsidiary of Univision, doing audience development for marketing. And when that was reorganized, I ended up at In-Demand where I’ve been for the last three and a half years, a subsidiary of Comcast. I’m working on licensing and content delivery deals, which has been an unreal experience and I’m going to be moving on to a company called Frequency which is about 10 year old startup that works in the free ad-supported streaming television space, helping content providers launch what’s called fast channels.

That’s the acronym on various connected devices. I think any of the free content that lives on your Samsung TV+ your Roku channel and the like.

So really excited for that. And, I think it’s adding a tertiary skillset to my resume that, you know, down the line will be useful to me. It was a life pivot in many respects. I had lived in New Jersey for 27 years, albeit traveling before I moved into the city and I’ve been here for six and a half now in New York and I mean, I’m obsessed although I still commute down to Piscataway very regularly.

Jordan Cohen: I want to dig a little deeper into something you mentioned about having the Stern community, along with the Rutgers community. A big part of what we do is trying to create those lifelong communities and create those lifelong connections between both students and alumni.

Can you talk a little bit about how some of those connections have helped you? Especially as a Rutgers alumnus and the Rutgers community, but just overall and maybe a specific mentor that you’ve had?

Danny Breslauer: Yeah, so many. Jon Newman obviously has been amazing to me and meeting him through his donation to Knight Vision back in 2009.

Through our time and launching the Scarlet Spotlight when I was just coming out of business school, because I wanted to keep my toe in this. And how could I not, when I knew that we could put on some really cool shows as we have for nearly a hundred episodes now and right around when this drops, I’m sure we’ll be prepping for episode 100 at the top of 2022, which we’re, which we’re really excited about.

I’ve been introduced by Jon and by others to so many really interesting people in the Rutgers community. You know, I think Mark Beals is top of mind, somebody who’s worked in public relations and taught at Rutgers for many years and showed me to many people in the alumni community. Mike Finkelstein, who I took at Rutgers, Bruce Reynolds, Steve Miller; just incredible professors that have continued to share their network throughout time.

And, and when you go into the media space and you meet all the Rutgers people, like the Mike Pavlichkos of the world, who’ve done this for years. You get onto the business side too, and you realize they’re everywhere. Right? And that was great when I was at Stern. What’s great about grad school is that nobody will be afraid to talk to you, right?

You can reach out to anyone and ask for coffee, the building of community and the building of networks to me is more underrated than anything. If you can do it and you can do it skillfully and you don’t make any conversation feel like it has to have something at the end for you, but rather just you taking something from the conversation or you get an intro. To me, those are the most authentic relationships you can develop.

I continue to meet people, I feel like month to month, that I never knew were a part of the network. Greg Brown CEO of Motorola solutions. We both, we share both the Highland Park High School and the Rutgers University community in that regard, which it was just amazing. And I played junior varsity baseball for his late father-in-law so it’s unreal.

He was former chair of the (Rutgers) Board of Governors and now runs the athletic committee for the Board of Governors. The networks run deep. They’re everywhere. They’re CEOs of S&P 500 companies. And you should continue whether you’re a student, undergrad, grad at Rutgers to reach out to those people there.

And especially now with zoom they’ll give you even if it’s 15 minutes they’ll give you time. And that could create a lifelong connection.

Jordan Cohen: Is that your advice to alumni and students?

Danny Breslauer: Every day of the week. I mean, I would say, do your job first, whether that’s being a student or living your life, but carve out an hour a week.

Sit down, go through LinkedIn, send a couple of cold emails, try to get warm intros. Those are always the best. You have somebody who you think can, can provide you with a warm intro. It’s, easier for the person that you’re reaching out to as well to say, ‘Hey, you know, maybe a couple months from now, it’s a better time’ but yeah, I mean even if you’re a young alumnus go out and do it.

I don’t like anyone that’s threatened by someone reaching out to them. Even if they’re in industry, I feel like we should information share that that’s how things get done in this world. Generally, if you share networks, being an undergrad or a grad Alma mater it makes the conversation so much easier.

“I really believe there’s a ton of alumni out there that want to talk to you. It’s just that people have to be proactive. They’re not going to look for you. You’ve got to find them.”

Jordan Cohen: Let’s talk about a little bit of how that networking’s come into play. I mean, you mentioned Jon Newman and obviously you’ve mentioned the Scarlet Spotlight a little bit for those who don’t know what is the Scarlet Spotlight?

Danny Breslauer: Sure. We launched it back in early 2018. Scarlet spotlight is a bi-weekly podcast.

You know, we’ll sometimes get off of script in terms of how often we release. Sometimes three in a month, sometimes one, depending on our, our own work schedules, John runs his own PR company. So that, that comes into play too. It’s an interview based show. So about 25 to 30 minute interview with the particular guests or guests for that show all from the Rutgers community current, former coaches, athletes and administrators, and then John and I will do, you know, sort of what we call the Scarlet Six never is really six topics, but the news and notes of the week around Rutgers athletics and the community in sort of a debate segment.

It really ends up being an awesome experience to keep the voice in the Rutgers community and continue to have those conversations and meet new people, right? Dr. Holloway was on a few weeks back which was a really great conversation. We had Governor Murphy on during the height of COVID last July, which was amazing. Dr. Jay Tischfield, who I’ve known for decades from the genetics department back as they were launching the initial COVID test. It’s been a wild ride. Never really expected we’d go through a pandemic with it obviously.

But here we are I think now something that the Rutgers community really looks forward to, and we just announced we’ve had a hundred thousand unique downloads since March of 2018.

Scarlet Spotight

Jordan Cohen: Congratulations! What was the impetus for starting it?

Danny Breslauer: Good question. I, you know, I think Jon knew that there was like a hole in content for, for Rutgers fans.

He knew that I had the broadcasting chops to be able to make it work and the connections within the Rutgers Athletics department for us to get guests. But at the same time, I think he was a little concerned that we would be seen as this state media in some ways. And so we wanted to make sure that we had an understanding with the athletic department that well, we’ll do these great interviews, but we want at the same time to have some level of independence, to have more interesting conversations. I think for me, it was, as much as I know that I made the right decision moving away from full-time broadcasting, I still wanted to keep a toe in it. So for me, I think that was part of part of the rationale was, ‘Hey we need to still do this passion project and make sure that we, that we can have a good time and create some good content for Rutgers fans.’

Jordan Cohen: That’s awesome. And it’s a really great podcast. I recommend anyone who’s you know, listening or watching this to check it out. We’ve talked about a lot of the work you’ve done that have been really successful. What’s something that didn’t go so well. And what’d you learn from it?

Danny Breslauer: Yeah, I think initially there’ve been a lot, lots of things that I’ve done, that, that haven’t been successful. The early decisions that I made in my post MBA career were, were certainly maybe rushed because of timing.

A lot of the hiring and media is done on an as needed basis as opposed to investment banking or management consulting or some of the more traditional fields that happened post MBA. So I think that the approach to job searching has sometimes been less formulaic than I would like. Undergrad, I think developing relationships early on that are authentic.

You know, I was different as a freshman in college, I was hard charging. I really, wasn’t great at taking feedback. And I think all my friends who are now some of my best friends from that WRSU sports staff would tell you that freshman year Danny was kind of the worst. And I think that, you know, in so many ways, 18 year old self, you can learn a ton by what your friends tell you years later were some real character deficiencies or some things that you needed to read the room a little better about. I learned so much about myself in those four years of college, just in terms of the emotional intelligence and how to deal with people that are going through so many different things in life.

I’ve become a lot more aware of mental health in recent years, my mom’s a mental health professional, and I probably should have been more cognizant of that at a younger age. And I think to me that that was a key mistake that I made early on was not having that level of empathy sometimes for others that I had for myself or those that are really close to me.

So that’s what I would recommend to any student or young alumnus trying to break into professional life. At NYU, they use the phrase IQ plus ETU. And that’s really, to me, the equation that works you know, you can get out of your intellect all you want, but if you don’t have the emotional quotient then no one’s going to want to work with you.

Jordan Cohen: When you’re talking as a Rutgers alumnus let’s talk about staying connected to Rutgers in more than just athletics. Because a lot of the folks we speak to, you know, it’s always the sports to bring them in and then there’s other parts that bring them back. So let’s talk about that. What other parts of Rutgers are you connected to?

Danny Breslauer: Yeah, I mean, I mean, I could start by saying, you know, at the dinner table, I’m as connected to the research side of Rutgers is as pretty much anyone can be.

My father was one of the highest grant getters in university history and continues to be published. I would say I, and I grew up as part of the Rutgers community, way more than just athletics, look into what kind of research this university does. It’s not just sciences.

The School of Communication and Information, as I’ve said, is a diamond in the rough. Even though WRSU isn’t directly affiliated so many of the staff, assist and the folks that are at Targum that are at RSU understand, of all these incredible resources that are there. It’s such a bifurcated university in the sense that it’s so big, it’s spread out.

There are distinctions some of the old school broken up colleges feel now that it’s amalgamated in the School of Arts and Sciences, that they still exist and they still have their own brand identity. Cook and Douglas and Livingston. They have their own field, even though Livingston now feels like a city more than it was when I was there.

Have a better understanding of the history, better understanding as to why there’s a bit of a unique identity for each department and each segment. It’s an amazing place. I had gone, you know, as I’ve said to a private institution now. I’ve lived in the greatest city on earth, but nothing will ever feel like home more than Highland Park, New Brunswick Piscataway to me and that’s because of the university at large.

So I think as an alumnus yes, of course, a winning football and a winning basketball team will help you come back and be more engaged with a weekend event, tailgating and the ability to see friends and family do contribute to be a part of other aspects of the community too, because that is so much a larger piece of the university budget and, and the university focus than the athletic department, even though it’s obviously got a near and dear part in my heart.

Jordan Cohen: Any last-minute thoughts you want to share? What’s next? What’s the next big thing?

Danny Breslauer: I would say as an alumnus, I love that the alumni association is doing things like this. I think it’s incredible value. I hope that students and young alumni do reach out because I really believe there’s a ton of alumni out there that want to talk to you. It’s just that people have to be proactive. They’re not going to look for you. You’ve got to find them

Jordan Cohen: Danny. Thanks so much for your time. We really appreciate it. Go RU!

Danny Breslauer: Thanks Jordan. Go RU!

Violeta Yas

RC’07

Violeta Yas Transcript

Violeta Yas RC’07, is the newest member of NBC 4 New York’s Storm Team 4. She was recently the Chief Meteorologist for NBC10 Philadelphia\Telemundo62. She has been nominated for five Emmys, winning one. The following text has been edited for clarity and space; for the full interview see the video below.

Jordan Cohen: Are you excited to be utilizing the StormTracker 4 [Radar] located on the campus of Rutgers University?

Violeta Yas: Yes, I’m actually very excited. There are several ties there, the radar, obviously being one of them. I’m excited to be able to have a closer seat to the relationship that has played out between Rutgers and NBC. It seems like there’s a strong pipeline there.

You came to Rutgers in 2003. Are you from New Jersey originally?

Yes. I was born in Argentina and when I first moved to the States, we lived in Queens for a year or two before eventually settling in North Jersey. I grew up in Bergen County in Garfield. That’s where I did my elementary-high school. Then obviously, stayed in Jersey as well for college. I lived in New York for a couple of years after college before eventually getting into the business so I guess I’m a Jersey girl, New Yorker hybrid, I guess you can say.

What made you decide to go to Rutgers? Was it a specific program?

Honestly for me, it was a little more of a financial decision, being an immigrant and having to navigate the college entry process by myself. Obviously, my parents were very helpful, but they had never been through that process here. It was a lot of leg work on my own.

I did apply to a couple of other schools, but realistically speaking, once we really took a look at everything and sat down and looked at the tuition, and all of that, it was always going to be Rutgers. I honestly cannot say enough about the value of education. I do really feel that I was very prepared when I left school and went on my way.

I remember actually Steve Miller always talking to us about that, but I feel like it’s one of those things that it’s not really until you get older and are really starting to pay attention to those things a little more that you’re like, “Wow. Yes. I’m very happy with the education that I got and for the price as well.” Obviously, college is very expensive. I cannot even imagine having gone anywhere else, truthfully.

You’ve still been involved, correct? With the Institute for Women’s Leadership. I think you still guest lecture, correct?

Yes. I try to get back at least once a year, usually through Steve Miller or Bruce Reynolds, my former professors who I keep in touch with. I’ll try to get back typically, it would be for the media ethics course, and typically we’ll do that once a year. Obviously, COVID threw everything for a loop, like everything else. I’m really looking forward to getting back, hopefully this year or next.

The Women’s Leadership Program has been great too. It’s more structured mentorship. I really like mentoring. I do a lot of it– I don’t know, I guess informally, you could say. Steve Miller will reach out to me sometimes and say, “Hey, I have this student, I think he or she could really benefit from level guidance”, or maybe we have a lot in common, maybe they’re bilingual and he’ll connect us that way.

I do that a lot, but then the Women’s Leadership Program has been a nice way to keep things moving. I’ll get a new mentee every year. That’s been really great also just seeing that the progression in terms of what the graduates are interested in and the things that sparked their curiosity, sparked their interest, and what drive them. That’s been a really great way to not only stay connected to the University but also stay connected to the next generation and the direction that things are moving in.

Viola Yas in classroom

Speaking of sparking interests, when you were at Rutgers, were there any clubs, or organizations, or causes that you took part in that were really meaningful to you or experiences that are still special to you now?

Violeta: Yes. When I was in school, I worked a ton, so in retrospect I didn’t get as involved in the extracurriculars as I would have liked. I never did RU-TV, which considering the path that my career took, I wish I would’ve had a chance to do that.

I was in the inaugural Rutgers Club Softball team. Oh, man, it was so much fun. I still keep in touch with a lot of those girls to this day. Actually, not that long ago, I think last year, I stumbled on the Rutgers Club Softball Instagram account, and it was just so awesome to see how people have really not only kept it going but also have seen to really have grown it quite a bit.

They’re participating in really great tournaments, doing fundraising and all that kind of stuff. That was really, awesome to see, that it’s not only still going, but still going strong and they’ve been able to elevate it over the years because we really got it out of the mud, I guess, in that way, when we were getting it started.

Think you could still take them on the diamond?

Violeta: [laughs] We’ve been talking for years about doing this alumni game-type thing. It first came up, I don’t know, 2018 or something like that. We haven’t been able to make it happen, but a lot of the girls that I played with are still relatively local, either in South Jersey or in New York. I’m hoping we can get that go. Can I take them? That’s a different story, but I would be happy to participate.

If anybody follows Violeta on Twitter, you’re very opinionated on sports. I think your early broadcasting is almost entirely sports-related. Was that like a lifelong interest? Tell us about it.

Violeta: When I was in school, I was one of those people who had a really hard time deciding what to major in. Now, you know there was a lot of people who, as soon as they get there, they know and my first two years were actually on Busch. As you know, it’s more the pharmacy students, engineering students. I was around a lot of people who were already from the second they got on campus planning on pursuing those programs or their parents are doctors or pharmacists.

It was very intimidating for me because I’m like, “Well, I don’t know.” I had a lot of interests at the time, it was just a challenge for me. Then once junior year came around and it was time to really– I was definitely one of, I think, later people who was able to settle in on a major. That’s really how I approached it. I said, “Well, what do I naturally gravitate toward?”

This is something that I share with a lot of the young professionals that I mentor as well. Especially those that are still in college. Try not to approach it in terms of, “Well, what do I want to do for the rest of my life?” That sounds insane, it just sounds so intimidating. It was something that I applied to myself and I told myself, “What do I naturally gravitate toward? What do I spend a lot of my natural time and my free time doing?” And it was always sports.

I was always checking the box score. Get the Targum and first thing I’m flipping to is the sports section. It’s always been an interest for me, I’ve always been really involved.

Initially, I wanted to be a sportswriter and actually did that for some time toward the end of my junior and senior year, then for one more year after I graduated. There was a flip obviously, eventually, that happened there. I got a really great opportunity in the weather space, but sports have always been a big passion of mine, and even working in weather, it’s been great because the two are also very intertwined. At my first job, we had a lot of sports clients. I would do the weather for the pregame show on the Big Ten Network. This was before Rutgers joined the Big Ten of course, that would’ve been awesome. We had a lot of Fox Sports clients in Atlanta, Fox Sports Atlanta. We did the Braves, Fox sports north, we did the Twins, and just a lot of the regional networks like that.

At AccuWeather it was great because I became the resident sports weather person. That’s been great, I think over the years, being able to have one foot in both arenas there and be able to tie the two together. I’m actually the commissioner of our fantasy football league here at work.

“It’s not always going to happen exactly as you planned it. It’s good to have a plan and you should have a plan, but leave a little room there for leaps of faith…”

You graduated 2007 with journalism media studies and you started working for AccuWeather in 2010. What made you decide to make the transition into weather forecasting and weather broadcasting?

This is going to sound very lame and cheesy, but one thing I always like to say is that I feel like weather found me. Obviously, we’re just talking about my background, which up through my time at Rutgers did not involve weather or meteorology. Sports was my focus at the time and when I graduated in 2007, I took an extra semester, so it was right after 2007 leading into the recession, the last recession.

This is when the market crisis, and it was essentially what’s been going on now in terms of employment and people losing jobs, or rather what had been going on for the last year or two, just without the virus. It was the same exact thing where here I am fresh out of college and I was living in New York at the time too, looking for my first job and I’m living in the number market in the country. I had a really, really hard time getting a job and it ended up taking me about two years.

I graduated, let’s say, between 2007, 2008. I didn’t end up going to AccuWeather until 2010. The story behind that is, I had never up until that point really considered utilizing my bilingualism as a career path or utilizing my ability to speak Spanish as a skillset in the workplace. When I decided to expand my search, because I was having such a difficulty finding a position, I came across an opportunity, at AccuWeather were looking for a bilingual broadcaster.

At the time it was something out of my wheelhouse, but I decided to go for it. Obviously, it ended up working out and the way it happened was when I was preparing for that job, I was looking online for other Spanish-speaking meteorologists that I could emulate and learn from and pick up words from, and I had a really hard time. They were very few Spanish-speaking weather presenters [who were] presenting weather in a credible way that had the science background and the degree.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of stereotypical things going on in terms of the weather presenters and the women in particular. That was what sparked it for me, and I said, “Oh my gosh, there’s a need here. There’s a lot of Spanish speakers in this country and it doesn’t seem like they’re really getting critical weather information in a serious way.” I was very lucky that AccuWeather was great about training me. I sat through a lot of seminars and internal training before I was even able to get on camera, before I started broadcasting. That was great to give me foundational knowledge.

Then, after a couple of years, when I got a call from Philadelphia about this Telemundo station they were launching, they wanted to bring me on, but it was contingent on, “You have to go back to school.” I said, “Absolutely.” I went back to school in 2017 and I studied meteorology [At Mississippi State University]. Everything happened backwards, but that’s another thing that I really try to convey to people who are new in the business. It’s not always going to happen exactly as you planned it. It’s good to have a plan and you should have a plan, but to leave a little room there for leaps of faith.

Viola Yas Station Promo

That makes a lot of sense. Is weather something you wish you had picked up earlier? Or do you feel like you appreciate it more because of how you got to it?

I don’t think I would change anything because I’ve been doing this for 12 years now. I have really found that obviously meteorology is at the heart of what I do. The weather information is very important, but this is also a communications field and how you communicate and your ability to communicate sometimes very complicate information is just as important, you could argue even more important.

You could have every degree in the world, but the atmosphere is complicated, weather can be complicated, and if you don’t have the ability to break that down in a way that a lot of people can understand, and in a way that a lot of people know what to do with that information when they need to act, and when they don’t necessarily need to act, then you’re not going to help a lot of people.

I think at Rutgers now, I don’t believe this was an option when I was there, but they offer a double major, journalism and meteorology. I don’t think that was a thing at the time, but I came across one student who was doing it and I said, “Man, it’s perfect”, because you really do need both. The science is important, but how you communicate the science is just as important. I don’t think I would change anything. I think the ability to communicate in a clear and easy-to-understand way is just as valuable.

You mentioned that you hadn’t considered using your bilingualism until you were looking for jobs in that tricky market. You also mentioned, and I’ve seen on your resume, that you like to do a lot of mentoring, and you had trouble finding people who you could follow the example of. Now you are the example of someone in your position with your skillset, with your background. Is that something that affects the way you handle yourself on camera, the way you handle the work you do? Is there something you’d like to be doing with that in the future?

I think that I absolutely do my best to use my platform in a way that helps people. I think, coming from somebody from my background, for example, I’m an immigrant. I’ve lived here since I was very young, but I think my immigration story is really at the center of a lot of the things I do, because I know what it’s like to have other people, let’s say by the time I start looking for internships, a lot of my peers already had four or five and I’m like, “Oh man, am I not as smart as everyone?” In retrospect, I think a lot of that stuff was just not having been through the process before.

I think exposing young people who maybe don’t have those kinds of resources or don’t have those kinds of connections, even having parents who’ve been in school in this country, it can really change people’s life. That’s how I try to go about it. ‘What is the information that I wish I knew at an earlier time’ and making sure that I share that information with as many people as possible. Like RU-TV; not having been involved in that stuff while I was in school, in retrospect, I think it was because it just wasn’t on my radar because I had to work and I had to help pay my tuition. I think exposing people who have less access to resources is something that I’m really passionate about and helping them along the way.

We talk to alumni about successes that they’re having. What’s often really revealing is, what’s an obstacle that you came against or mistake that you made, and how did you turn that around and overcome it and learn and grow from it?

I think this job and working on camera in particular, you are opening yourself up for criticism every day. We’re standing in front of a camera and delivering the weather and now with how much people use social media and how connected we all are, I find for me, that is one arena of the job that I work really hard to set boundaries with. It’s hard to please everyone. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ll get on the same day; sometimes it might be criticism about your appearance. Sometimes it might be criticism about something more legitimate about your work. ‘You always say it’s going to snow and then it doesn’t’, things like that. I think setting boundaries with that is something that I hadn’t really thought about when I got into the business and was something that you really actively have to be careful.

On the same day, there’s been times where I will get one message saying “You are wearing the ugliest dress I’ve ever seen in my life. Please throw it in the garbage.” Something like that. Then I will get another message that says, “I love that dress so much. Can you please let me know where you got it?” That’s a low hanging fruit example, but that just goes to show that you really can’t put too much stock in that kind of stuff. That’s been important for me as the digital space continues to grow in terms of local news and news in general. That’s been a lesson that I have had to learn and really self-regulate.

One way that as a woman I regulate that is, for example, if I post something on social media, if somebody leaves a comment about my appearance, even if it’s positive, “You look very pretty today.” Something like that, I don’t interact with it at all. I only interact with people who comment something about the weather or something about the forecast, a question about the forecast, because I just feel like that is how I want the people who engage with me on my platforms to understand that that’s not the thing that’s going to get my attention.

I think that was something that I didn’t think about getting into this, how much contact we would have with viewers over time and that boundary continues to erode because we’re just more and more available, there’s new platforms every day. I would say that was a little bit of a challenge, especially when I was younger. Maybe you don’t have the confidence that you do as you continue to navigate through your career, but that’s definitely a big takeaway. I would urge younger journalists to make sure they’re setting those boundaries.

Speaking of connecting with other journalists and younger alumni, but also connecting to your own network, how do you stay in touch with the folks, the alumni that you graduate with and your classmates? How do you keep those connections strong?

I find that a lot of the people that I went to school with are still relatively local and I think that is one of the benefits of working in such a major or having studied rather in such a major metro area, that there are lots of opportunities here. A lot of people don’t leave because they’re able to get great jobs and raise their families. I think New Jersey’s a great state. Most of them are relatively local and that certainly helps. Maurice Peebles is still one of my very good friends. We graduated together in 07, he’s from South Jersey and he’s been doing an awesome job. I think most recently the editor-in-chief at Complex he’s killing it, doing an awesome job.

There are just several others who are really doing awesome work. That makes it eas Violeta Yas RC’07, is the newest member of NBC 4 New York’s Storm Team 4. She was recently the Chief Meteorologist for NBC10 Philadelphia\Telemundo62. She has been nominated for five Emmys, winning one. The following text has been edited for clarity and space; for the full interview see the video below.

Jordan Cohen: Are you excited to be utilizing the StormTracker 4 [Radar] located on the campus of Rutgers University?

You came to Rutgers in 2003. Are you from New Jersey originally?

What made you decide to go to Rutgers? Was it a specific program?

You’ve still been involved, correct? With the Institute for Women’s Leadership. I think you still guest lecture, correct?

Viola Yas in classroom

Think you could still take them on the diamond?

If anybody follows Violeta on Twitter, you’re very opinionated on sports. I think your early broadcasting is almost entirely sports-related. Was that like a lifelong interest? Tell us about it.

I was always checking the box score. Get the Targum and first thing I’m flipping to is the sports section. It’s always been an interest for me, I’ve always been really involved.

“It’s not always going to happen exactly as you planned it. It’s good to have a plan and you should have a plan, but leave a little room there for leaps of faith…”

You graduated 2007 with journalism media studies and you started working for AccuWeather in 2010. What made you decide to make the transition into weather forecasting and weather broadcasting?

Viola Yas Station Promo

That makes a lot of sense. Is weather something you wish you had picked up earlier? Or do you feel like you appreciate it more because of how you got to it?

There are just several others who are really doing awesom y. I think Rutgers is just a special place. I think New Jersey is a special place and Rutgers is an enormous school and I think having navigated that together, I think creates a little more of a bond than people realize, until they leave.

Then also an added layer of that, New Jersey is just a special place and without knowing I think you develop a bond about that, that you don’t really realize it’s happening until you leave.

“I really feel that Rutgers prepared me very well for the real world, and that’s something that I’ve always been proud of….”

I do want to throw you a softball, which is, who’s your favorite Rutgers basketball player on this current team?

My God, this is rough. They’re all so great. Honestly, this is a totally splitting hairs because I really do think, not only on the court, they have a great team, but they all really seem to be just great guys. I have to go Geo Baker. The leadership that it takes to start that whole NIL movement in a serious way. I think that the conversation had been had many times and players, yes, have been vocal about it, but I think that he was really the first one to attack it in a more measured way. Like, “I’m going to testify.” I think he was really the one who stood up and tried to slay Goliath. I think that with his output on the court, I think that kind of leadership is just so absolutely contagious. Putting your neck out there and stuff like that translate onto the court, so they’re all really great, and Cliff is so fun to watch.

Twitter Quote

What are you most looking forward to heading over to NBC in New York?

I think I’ve been very lucky here in Philly. I’m not terribly far from my family as it is. They’re in Union County. They’re about 90 minutes away now and then once I move maybe 30, 45 minutes, but I would say honestly, being able to really give back to my community in a way that’s a little bit easier for me in terms of physical proximity. I do a lot of work here in Philly. There’s a lot of schools and things like that. I just have so many roots in the area, North Jersey and in New York too, that I’m looking forward to having more presence. Like I said before, showing people that it can be done. You can do this, even if maybe you’re starting a little further behind than everyone out else.

If you don’t have the resources, you don’t have the connections, it can be done. I think just being able to see people and be in the community more often physically, because I do feel I’ve tried my best to stay connected from afar, but being able to do that with more physical proximity, I actually I’m looking into, and I hope I’m able to make it happen, adjunct teaching in the comms department, I would love to do that so that’s something on my more short term radar that we’re hopefully going to be able to make happen here in the next year or so.

What is your biggest point of pride in Rutgers University?

I think not giving up. I think it goes back to the Rutgers New Jersey thing. I was explaining this to a friend. She’s new here at our station. She moved here from California. She moved here from Miami, but she’s from California. She went to USC and she’s new to the Northeast. She’s like, “Man, you have people here very– just like straightforward and just very direct” I’m like, “Yes, we are.” I was trying to explain it to her. I said, “I think it’s very crowded.” This area is very densely populated. It’s like everything is a competition.

If you’re going to the grocery store, you need to be on your game. If you want a parking spot, you need to pay attention and you need to be looking around and paying attention to your surroundings. Obviously, that’s a very small example, but I think stuff like that really translates to a lot of different areas. I really feel that Rutgers prepared me very well for the real world, and that’s something that I’ve always been proud of.

Even once I first started navigating the business, there were just things that didn’t surprise me that I learned through my time at school because we have some really great professors who teach you not only what you need to actually do the job, but also just on a personal level things that you’ll need to keep in mind in the future.

I just found even when I was still pretty young in the business myself, that there were several things that didn’t sort of surprise me or didn’t throw me for a loop that I saw other people struggle with. I think already having lived in, grown-up, and worked in an area that is so densely populated, you meet so many different kinds of people. I think that diversity, not only in terms of the sort of people you’re surrounded by but the diversity in experience, taking buses, taking trains and that sort of thing. I think that’s something that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Once people get down to the root, you might move somewhere else, get a job somewhere else and you’re going to have to start taking trains. And I just think that that real-world experience that you get in New Brunswick is something that maybe, again, people don’t think about in the moment when you leave, it just prepares you, I think, a lot more on a personal level for some of the things you might encounter as you navigate your career.

Violeta, thank you so much for your time. Good luck, Congratulations again, and we look forward to knowing what the forecast is.

Thanks so much. I really appreciate you having me. It was great to meet you and yes, if you have any questions weather-wise, you can send them my way!

Christopher Manente

RC '07, Graduate School of Education '08, PhD '14

Christopher Manente Transcript

Christopher Manente is the executive director for the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services. He is a Rutgers College Graduate of 2007, and has also graduated from the Graduate School of Education in 2008 with his masters before achieving his PhD in 2014. The following text has been edited for clarity and space; for the full interview see the video above.

Jordan Cohen: All right. Thank you everybody for joining us for our alumni spotlight with Dr. Christopher Manente. He is the Executive Director for Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services. He’s also a professor at Rutgers and is a three time Rutgers alumnus. Rutgers College class of 2007, class of 2008 with the Graduate School of Education, as well as a PhD from Rutgers in 2014. Dr. Manente, thank you so much for joining us.

Christopher Manente: Hi Jordan. Thank you so much for having me. I have to tell you, it is such an honor to be featured in this way. As you said, I am a three-time alum of Rutgers and I absolutely bleed scarlet as they say. I love it here at Rutgers, it’s home for me.

How did you end up at Rutgers? Was Rutgers your first choice? Did you have a tour or family member that went here?

Christopher: Yes, honestly, I never thought about going anywhere else. I’m a New Jersey native, I’ve lived here all my life except for a brief stint when I was on active duty in the United States Army and stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I separated from active duty in December and started at Rutgers that next month in January. That was the plan, was to come back home to New Jersey and go to Rutgers and figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life.

That’s awesome. You joined Rutgers in 2003, it would be, right?

Christopher: It was January 2005.

January 2005! Did you do education beforehand?

Christopher: Yes, I was actually fortunate. I was one of the first cohorts in what was then called the eArmyU Program where they were just starting this new idea of virtual instruction where soldiers could start going to college online while deployed overseas or stationed at the base, so I had done a few courses while still on active duty and then transferred to Rutgers, like I said, in January the month after I separated after doing four and a half years, two combat tours stationed with 101st Airborne.

It sounds like 2007 and 2014, you’ve certainly made up for those two years that you were off-campus. When you came to Rutgers, did you join any veteran’s organizations? Were you involved on campus?

Christopher: Yes, that’s a great question. Honestly, there really wasn’t much in terms of veteran support programs that existed. Not like now. Now Rutgers is known as one of the most vet-friendly universities on the planet. We have a beautiful veteran’s house, of course, led by Ann Treadaway, and this great population and community of veteran students here. So I do try to be involved as much as possible in mentoring those vet students and even helping them with their career aspirations and try and make sure that they get all of the supports that I wish I had way back in 2005 when I landed here. You pointed out that I started in 2005 as an undergraduate student in psychology. I graduated in 2007, and then a year later was able to graduate with my master’s degree in education.

Then a short six years later I had a PhD. I think that’s really representative of one of the wonderful things about Rutgers is really there’s never-ending opportunity for people who have a plan and have a vision. You can take as long as you like, well, maybe not as long as you like, but you can take your time getting a degree and pursuing an education or a career or Rutgers gives you– for people who are really definitive on what they want to do, they give you opportunities to really fast track your education and that’s what I did when I came off active duty. I knew that I wanted to get my education and get down to work as fast as possible and Rutgers afforded me that chance.

Let’s talk about that– you said you had a plan. Was where you are now in the plan, or is this something that came along the way?

Christopher: Not at all. I definitely didn’t know that I would be doing exactly what I’m doing now when I started at Rutgers. My plan coming off active duty as again, I was a Sergeant in the infantry whose job was very different than the job I’m doing now. I knew I wanted to shift focus a little bit from security and weapons systems, and strategy and combat operations. When I was on active duty, one of the things that I ended up really enjoying about my experience was the opportunity to mentor new soldiers who were coming in. Again, I was a Sergeant, so in charge of a team of people, and I learned on active duty that I like the active teaching.

I liked helping other people learn and so I knew I wanted to do that, and so when I came to Rutgers, I pursued an undergraduate degree in psychology, and then gradually, in a systematic way, all of the opportunities and experiences I had at Rutgers, really shaped who I am today, professionally speaking, and that really all started with me just naively signing up for a little undergraduate psychology course called Field Work In Autism where as an undergraduate psychology student, I went and worked at the Douglass Developmental Disability Center, which also exists here at Rutgers. Actually the first university-based school for children with autism that was ever created is right here at Rutgers. That was really my start on this particular path which has resulted in me helping in the creation and development of our beautiful center and leading that initiative.

You mentioned opportunities and experiences as an undergrad. Were there any clubs or student orgs that you got involved in?

Christopher: Yes, I was a nontraditional student and was commuting quite a bid so I didn’t really have the opportunity but that was one of the things that I sacrificed truthfully. Maybe if I had a regret, which I don’t, I think now that I am in the business of helping other people, like get the most out of their Rutgers experience while they’re here, I sometimes do think what it would’ve been to live on campus and have the opportunity to play club sports, or be involved with clubs. I tried to walk on the wrestling team after I got off active duty and actually had a really good shot but when I went to the academic advisor, I was given a real crossroads. I would either have to extend my undergraduate education by a year because I wouldn’t be able to take the 21 credits a semester that I was enrolled in or just keep on the path that I was on and get my undergraduate degree in two years and I chose the expedited route.

You mentioned you went from an undergrad, you work at the Douglass Developmental Disability Center, and then you went to elementary and special education, then you went and got your PhD in education. Was there something driving you towards further degrees? Was there a goal in mind or was it just “Hey, that’s next.”

Christopher: Once I landed at Rutgers and started having these experiences and my path became more and more defined, it became clear pretty quickly that I wanted to teach at the university level. That would be where I would be able to have the most impact and help the most people. We often talk about the trainer model being the most effective way to help the most people. Whereas you’re not necessarily the person directly educating students or supporting people, but you’re training teams of folks who then go out and teach 20 people on their own.

That was what that large-scale impact and the ability to help people who really needed help at the university level, really spoke to me. Again, I really enjoyed being at Rutgers. In my mind, honestly, not that there’s ever any guarantees in any field, but my pie in the sky dream job was, and still is frankly to be faculty in some respect at Rutgers where I’d be able to teach college-level students how to be excellent practitioners in their chosen field.

Let’s follow that thread. You graduate from Rutgers in 2007, you graduate again in 2008 and you get your PhD in 2014. Now we’re about eight years later, and you are the Director of the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services. First of all, just for people, folks who are watching and may not know what that is? Do you want to give a quick synopsis of what the Center does and what it does and who’s involved?

Christopher: Yes, absolutely. I just want to mention one really critical experience and milestone that was in between there. When I graduated in 2008 with my master’s degree in education and duly certified as an elementary education teacher and special education teacher, I was actually fortunate to then get a full-time job at the Douglass Developmental Disability Center where it all started a few years prior, coordinating and overseeing their adult program that had existed already for about 15, 20 years. What that afforded me, I think maybe probably still a little-known treasure and secret at Rutgers, is that all full-time staff at Rutgers get full tuition remission as a part of their fringe benefit.

I was fortunate enough to get this job when I had my masters degree in 2008 running the Douglass adult program, and that allowed me the ability to then pursue additional education because, again, come from a very working-class family, didn’t have disposable income for a college. That was one of the primary reasons I went right to the military is that the army provided me funding to then go to school. Again, it’s really been Rutgers and being involved with Rutgers, employed at Rutgers, my education at Rutgers, that has continually supported my advancement professionally and personally just as a human being.

I oversaw that program here at Rutgers until 2014, when I finished my Ph.D. and I left just for a very brief period and took a tenure track job at another small university until 2016, when a colleague reached out and said, “Hey they’re posting this role for the inaugural executive director of this brand new center that Rutgers is working to create focused explicitly on the needs of adults on the spectrum, aged 21 plus.”

For those people watching and listening, who don’t already know, the majority of work, educational work, clinical work, system supports, any focus whatsoever, in terms of outcomes and quality of life, as it pertains to autism has historically been focused almost exclusively on children in school environments, and really, adults on the spectrum as a population of people really aren’t succeeding in our society to the same extent as other classes of citizens. There’s such a great need that existed for an organization that focus just on that, that didn’t split its focus between school and kids and some adults.

So when that opportunity came up I honestly felt like life, fate, destiny was calling, it was something I had to pursue, even though in truth the idea of building a center at Rutgers from the ground up with this huge impact, and on a big scale was a little intimidating, but I felt like it was a calling that I had to answer and I applied for the job and was fortunate enough to be the person selected. In August 2016, we went about the business of building the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services and so today we have three different units and programs that are operating under the RCAAS.

We have our SCALE program that’s supporting community access through leisure and employment. We currently have 20 adults on the spectrum in that program and that program is dedicated to helping with every aspect of adult life and helping people in the program succeed in, again, really having a meaningful life, whatever that means for each individual. We have folks that are employed in every aspect of the university life. Dining, the libraries, we have folks employed in athletics, at the golf course and our job is basically to help people realize their dreams for their life and adulthood.

Then we have a second program called the College Support Program. This is a program that is designed specifically to support artistic undergraduate students at Rutgers. Again, these are students who, in many cases are academically gifted, as you know Rutgers is an extraordinarily selective school. These are folks who get in on their own academic volition and are usually very talented in their discipline of interest and we help each one of those students on the spectrum, get the most out of their Rutgers college experience while they’re with us on campus.

Then our third program that is currently operating is our psychological services clinic. That provides desperately needed diagnostic evaluations for adults. These are people who have made it to adulthood who were never actually formally diagnosed as having autism but with all the heightened awareness surrounding ASD these days, more and more people are learning about what being a person on the spectrum is like, and maybe waking up to the idea that, ‘wow, those are challenges or issues that I might face in my day to day, it might be worth me exploring whether that’s a part of my identity or not.’

Again, really innovative and that there aren’t a whole lot of places that are doing that work. Each one of our programs do more than just help people with autism succeed. We also have equal commitments to training Rutgers University students, whether they’re neurodivergent or neurotypical in how to be effective practitioners in supporting people with autism because it’s an area of practice that is so desperately needed that a lot of people don’t even know about.

Then we also have a commitment to publishing research disseminating all of the effective strategies and approaches that we’ve identified that work for helping people on the spectrum succeed in all contexts of adult life. All of those programs, I’m so proud to say, currently work out of our brand new community center, which we just constructed on Rutgers campus on Douglass Campus specifically, right at the intersection of Nichol and Dudley Road.

I definitely want to say that out loud because we built this beautiful new space as a public space for the entire Rutgers campus community. If anyone watching and listening happens to be in our neighborhood, please stop by, knock on the door. We have awesome pinball machines, and billiard area, and a video game like an E-Sports video game space, lots of cool amenities that I’m sure most of the viewers would really enjoy.

“That is really just the beautiful thing about Rutgers, no matter what your identity is, what your preferences, your passions, there’s just an infinite number of ways to stay connected to our community.”

Chris, it sounds like an incredible space and an incredible program. What are some functions of it that are big points of pride for you that you put your own personal experience into or maybe something that you noticed and said, “Hey, this is something that can be done better? Hey, this is something that it was a current practice that needs to be changed?”

Christopher: I love that question. There’s so much that comes to mind, but I’ll focus on a few things that stick out. When I was working with a number of teams of engineers, architects, designers to design this space, I really wanted to draw upon my experience as a three-time alum, as that commuting student who is non-traditional, where I was actually coming from Pennsylvania every day just over from Morrisville, and I would get here early in the morning, and a lot of my classes were spaced out. Sometimes I’d have hours in between.

There weren’t always good spaces on campus that I would have available to me, where I could get some work done or have a meal, or just blow off some steam and engage in some recreation and so in my mind, I wanted to design this space in a way that their students who were in a similar position who just needed a home base, or a hub, while they’re on campus, in between all their classes, or even after class or on the weekends, could come and congregate and engage socially and just generally be safe, comfortable, and have a good time.

Again, when designing the space, I didn’t want it to be something that was specific to any one group or population of people. Certainly, didn’t want to design it in a way where it was just for people with autism, but just wanted to design it to be universally appealing for all of the Rutgers Community. That is probably the biggest thing that I’m proud of, of our community center is essentially one of the most beautiful new student centers on campus that also happens to serve this population of students, staff, and hopefully faculty who have a need.

More in lines of in terms of programs, in terms of experiences for the students themselves, is there anything that you’ve changed for practices perspective?

Christopher: Absolutely. I think programmatically speaking most existing programs usually would build a building, and then everything that would happen in the program would happen in that building. Our program tosses that tradition model on its side. Our building’s gorgeous. It has great amenities, but it remains just a hub for us. Our program really, truly exists in every way throughout Rutgers Campus and throughout our community. That is really a huge evolution in how we support people with autism being included into every aspect of community life. Again, instead of us being siloed or segregated and separated from the rest of the community and enjoying our own little beautiful space, we’ve built a beautiful space where we’re opening our front doors and welcoming everyone in almost like a reverse inclusion model, which again, it’s not what’s typical. Typically, you would build a space, you would have most of your program operations happen within those four walls. Then you might push out into the community in little ways.

Again, we very much designed this building in our program to make sure that there is no barrier between the threshold of our building and the rest of the community. It’s all a part of the community. It flows seamlessly in and out of our front doors where nobody feels they’re othered or different, or other than the differences that they want to have celebrated. The aspects of their identity that they want to be loud and proud about.

How do you stay connected to folks that you met at Rutgers or friends that you made and the community that you’ve gained?

Christopher: Definitely on Facebook. Messenger is a wonderful tool. It’s funny, some of my closest classmates and colleagues, they all work at Rutgers. [laughs] There’s really this core group of my classmates from the Graduate School of Education and even in my doctoral study in educational psychology, we’re now all a bunch of supervisors, leaders, administrators working in our own individual disciplines. Pre-pandemic, we did more in-person stuff. The Rutgers club is always definitely, a good spot for that. Then definitely also through athletics, love attending football games with classmates and colleagues. I’m a Rutgers wrestling season ticket holder.

I take my kids to Rutgers wrestling every match. That is really just the beautiful thing about Rutgers, is no matter what your identity is, what your preferences, your passions, there’s just an infinite number of ways to stay connected to our community. Some people speak to the vastness of Rutgers as a shortcoming sometimes. I can’t relate to that, I see it as just a true strength because no matter who you are, there’s something for you here at Rutgers.

Perfect. Chris, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it and we look forward to taking a tour of the Center for Adult Autism.

Oh, it’s my pleasure, Jordan. Thank you so much for having me and our doors are open. My friend, you just let me know when you’re in the neighborhood.

Pre-register here to be notified when a time and date for our tour of the Rutgers Center For Adult Autism is set!

Interior spaces