During the pandemic, Drew University’s radio station, WMNJ, suffered a great fall, much like many other sacred things—Humpty Dumpty, the Roman Empire or my sanity after listening to eight hours’ worth of “Five Nights At Freddy’s” lore. In order to recover, WMNJ has attracted Drew University’s students with the vivacity of their new bimonthly event: Fridays with WMNJ.
This Friday, WMNJ celebrated the Age of Aquarius by hosting a viewing of the movie “Hair: The Musical.” The station was vibrantly decorated with purple string lights while students sat on couches, immersed in the excitement of the music.
“Hair: The Musical” dives into the counterculture of the hippie movement of the ‘60s, celebrated with the song “Aquarius” by the 5th Dimension. Different astrological ages are said to have different associations, such as the Piscean Age marking the beginning of modernization; according to astrologists, we are just now entering the Age of Aquarius. In the musical, the Age of Aquarius represents ideas of togetherness and a conscious shift from independence to unity, a transition from “me” to “we.”
Griffin Harris (‘24), station manager of WMNJ, helps host Fridays With WMNJ. “My favorite part is the ending. ‘Hair’ is the hippie movement versus the backdrop of the Vietnam War, and the final scene is gut-wrenching with a beautiful song,” said Harris. “It’s really tubular, man.”
The event takes place in the radio station every other Friday, and it typically follows a preplanned theme. While this weekend’s theme was “Hair: The Musical,” past themes have included “Friday the 13th,” in which the station was stained with fake blood and decorated with spiderwebs as the shrill sound of “Thriller” by Michael Jackson beat against the walls.
Harris said the event started with the aim of having people get a better idea of WMNJ. He hopes this inspires people to begin their own radio shows. “These have been going on for about a month now,” said Harris. “After postponing one of our events, we came back to this event cooler than ever.”
Matt Sherman (‘24), who participated in the event, said he attended because he wanted a good, fun start to the weekend. “I hadn’t seen the musical beforehand; the event was fun, lowkey and intimate.”
Alice Flynn (‘25) said, “My favorite part of the event was hanging out with people in The Space. It was really nice to see an actual community in there using the space. That’s sort of what we’re hoping to do with the station in the next few years, is foster a space for open communication between people at Drew.”
Julianna Vehslage is a senior majoring in media/communications and cybersecurity and minoring in English literature.
