Drew University’s student media is taking it to the next level with a thrilling new endeavor—The Drew Playbook. This is a series of podcasts that takes Drew’s sports reporting into the digital age. For generations, The Drew Acorn has chronicled the triumphs and tribulations of Drew sports—from wins to inspiring athlete stories and stats. Today, that tradition continues in a new form with this podcast, which will include interviews with current and past athletes, coaches and Athletics Department representatives as well as those on and off the field. The vision is to create an experience that extends beyond the printed word and provides listeners with a more immersive and interactive experience.
This project is produced by Drew University students Ella Reyngoudt (‘27), Alyssa Rachwal (‘27), Turkcan Curak (‘28), Sandra Faragalla (‘26) and Jake Cornelius (‘26) as part of the MCOM 301 course with Professor Jeremy Blatter, who teaches media and communications and is Chair of the department. Together, the team aims to expand on how sports stories are told throughout our campus—capturing the energy, emotion and voices that define Drew athletics through the WMNJ Radio Station.
Based on research through the help and support of The Drew Acorn, students are able to understand how sports coverage has changed over the years. That historical context will inform a new style of storytelling, and a survey throughout the campus will gather input from students and athletes on what kind of sports-related stories they want to hear. This is done in many ways, including conversations with students, surveys and other forms of media coverage both on and off the sports fields. The goal is to enrich Drew’s sports coverage and make it more interesting by integrating historical scholarship with the voices of today.
The Drew Playbook will be streamed on the Drew Acorn website as well as via the new WMNJ radio station app, making it easy and accessible for those both on and off campus. This project strives for a mix of storytelling, analysis and real conversation in this format. As the project goes on, listeners can anticipate to hear not only episodes about Drew’s athletic achievements, but also episodes highlighting the multi-dimensional personalities that comprise the university sports community—whether it’s from a student, coach or even staff perspective. The team will oversee the creation of a sustainable platform that carries on the Drew athletics tradition and ensures that it continues to thrive in student media.
The first season of The Drew Playbook will release sometime later in the fall semester, with plans to keep working on the podcast regularly, pending ongoing community interest and comments, as well as future outreach and publicity. We hope that many people, not just Drew students, will listen to The Drew Playbook—where the past comes alive today, and Drew sports news is brought to life in a whole new way to continue to enhance the student experience for all its listeners.
Sandra Faragalla is a senior majoring in media and communications and minoring in marketing.
