WRSU inducts inaugural Hall of Fame class, including Matt Pinfield and Mark Chernoff, while celebrating 75th anniversary

With over 120 alums, current students and community members on hand, WRSU not only celebrated its 75th Anniversary Saturday night, but also inducted its very first Hall of Fame class, including legendary MTV host and rock DJ Matt Pinfield, and New York radio programmer Mark Chernoff.

The gathering at the College Avenue Student Center’s Multipurpose Room on June 10th followed live broadcasts on the air from the four living Hall of Famers – Sudzin, Pinfield, Vericker and Chernoff – over a span of eleven hours.

A total of six individuals were enshrined in the brand-new Hall of Fame – including the late WCBS newsman Harvey Hauptmann, the late journalist and journalism professor Roger Cohen, “Knightline” trailblazer Steve Vericker, and long-time “Sudzin Country” host Herb Sudzin.

The reunion also was a celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of WRSU becoming an FM radio station, a transition that was completed in 1974, after being an AM carrier-current station – heard only on campus – for 26 years starting with its debut on April 26, 1948.

In conjunction with marking both anniversaries, two groups also were honored with induction into the Hall of Fame: the founders of the station in 1948, and the FM transition team which included students there as far back as 1968.

The Honorees

Matt Pinfield is a world-renowned rock-radio DJ, MTV host, music executive, and East Brunswick native, who got his start in radio at WRSU in 1981.  Pinfield currently can be heard Sunday nights on KLOS 95.5 FM in Los Angeles, where he hosts “New & Approved,” and is a co-host on the hard rock music show “Power Hour” on AXS TV on cable.

Mark Chernoff (Rutgers College ’74) is a legendary New York radio executive, who most notably was program director 92.3 K-Rock, and later at WFAN, where he led the nation’s first all-sports radio station in its formative years.  Chernoff, a Fort Lee native, got his start at WRSU as a DJ, and later was Assistant General Manager.  He retired from The ‘FAN in 2021 after nearly two decades, then went back to his local radio roots, anchoring sports in morning drive on 107.1 FM The Boss at the Jersey Shore.

New Milford native Steve Vericker (RC ’81) was a member of the Sports Department, and did play-by-play of football and men’s and women’s basketball, but distinguished himself as the leading host of the post-game call-in show “Knightline,” which began during the Final Four basketball season of 1976 and continues to this day.  He’s held numerous PR jobs, including for the New Jersey Devils, and covered the Major League Baseball and NHL teams in the Los Angeles area for ESPN, ABC and CBS Radio, and most recently was a consultant for KCOD at the College of the Desert in the Coachella Valley, California.

The lone non-student honored was Herb Sudzin, the host of the popular weekend morning country music show “Sudzin Country.”  In a state where country music has never been prominent on radio, Herb has endured at WRSU; he recently celebrated 45 years on the air.  “Sudzin Country” is heard Saturdays from 6-10 am and Sundays from 6-9 am, and currently is the most-listened to music program on the station.  It’s estimated Herb has logged more than 12,000 hours of air-time on WRSU, more than anyone else who’s been on the station.

Roger Cohen (RC ’65) was a lifelong educator who remained “On the Banks” even after being a member of the WRSU Sports department as an undergraduate.  He began his teaching career at Rutgers in 1976, hosted “The Rutgers Forum” television show which aired on Channel 7 WABC and Channel 13 WNET in New York.  He was a WRSU advisor, served on the Radio Council, and rose to become the Chair of the Journalism & Mass Media department at the School of Communications at Rutgers.  He was a mentor to countless students, and touched the lives of an untold number of Rutgers journalism students and future broadcasters.

Harvey Hauptman (RC ’51) is one of WRSU’s most decorated alums in the news industry.  On WRSU from the very beginning, he moved to WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick after graduation, and later to the new all-news station, WCBS 880 AM in New York, where he was one of the station’s original news staffers, and was an on-air anchor for 30-years.  He also the longtime PA voice for Scarlet Knights football games at Rutgers Stadium, and was a member of the “Loyal Sons & Daughters” alumni group.

WRSU also honored two groups who were critical to making the radio station what it is today.

The “Founding Members” recognizes the group of students who created WRSU back in the 1940s.  Many were GI bill students back from war, and older than the typical college student. Work began in 1946 as a group of students – eventually known as the Radio Council – explored the feasibility of starting a campus radio station; it was comprised of men from Rutgers College and women from Douglass College.  After much work, and with studios in the attic of 12 College Avenue, WRSU went on the air on April 26, 1948 at 680 AM as a “carrier-current” station, which could only be heard on campus by way of small transmitters installed in dormitories and other buildings.  The two people most responsible for the creation of WRSU were Station Manager Charles Brookwell (RC ’49) and Technical Director Matthew Zuck (RC ’50).  Brookwell led the effort, Zuck was the man most responsible for physically getting the station on the air.

Also honored is the “FM Transition Group,” which led the effort to turn WRSU into a full-fledged FM radio station.  In 1969, WRSU staff became interested in becoming a full-service commercial AM station that could be heard well beyond campus, but a student survey suggested the growing FM band was the place to be.  That same year, WRSU also moved into a new home, on the top floor of the Rutgers Student Center, further down College Avenue, which made the transition easier.  An FCC application was filed, the license granted, and WRSU at 88.7 on the FM dial hit the airwaves officially on January 27, 1974, with the first song being “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” by Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Recognized as part of the group are the three students whose name was on the FCC application, Bob Thomas (RC ’71), Station Manager William C.  Rapp (RC ’73 JD ‘76), and Richard Harvey (ENG ’74 MS ‘81), who is widely considered the most instrumental figure in the entire process, spearheading the engineering and construction side of the project, assisted by engineers Mark Harris (ENG ’76) and Eric Strassler (LC ’77).  Also recognized are Mark Greenberg (RC ’75) – the Station Manager when WRSU-FM first signed on, and the first voice to be heard on 88.7, and the student staff and managers who transitioned the on-air programming to an Educational FM station serving the greater central New Jersey community.   Also recognized are advisors Roger Cohen, Nat Shoehalter and Arnie Zucker.

“We’re thrilled to honor these key contributors to WRSU over the years, as well as those who have gone on to great professional success and made WRSU proud,” said current Broadcast Administrator and WRSU alum Mike Pavlichko (RC ’00).  “I had the pleasure to know Roger Cohen from my days here at Rutgers, and have gotten to know many of the others during my time here as WRSU’s advisor.”