On Tuesday, August 31st, Core DJs came together for the first time since being sent home due to COVID-19, to welcome potential new DJs at Rutgers’ Involvement Fair. We tabled at booth 800 near Brower Dining Hall from 3-6pm, giving away holographic conical party hats with “Listen to 90.3 The Core!!” scrawled in Sharpie marker, stickers, zines, colorful flyers, and of course, free CDs! The Core booth was swarming with youth eager to share their passion for music with the local community. All the while, a special live episode of Stone Pot Radio with DJ Bisu aired. DJ Bisu played a lovely assortment of indie classics and new tunes recently brought into the station, featuring artists Yo La Tengo, Japanese Breakfast, Jay Som, Mitski, Jeff Rosenstock, Vulfpeck, Stephan Lysak, Poppy, Winter, Speedy Ortiz, Jessie Ware, JPEGMAFIA, and more!
I joined DJ Bisu in between music sets to describe the scene at the Involvement Fair, using our remote broadcasting technology, and scrambled between Bishop Beach and the College Avenue Student Center to find reception. It felt bizarre to overhear someone say, “I’ve actually never been in [the College Ave Student Center]”, and I also felt old for having experienced some normalcy and familiarity at Rutgers.
At the Involvement Fair, I was entranced by the Scarlet Knight revving up a crowd, Rutgers shirts were flug about and handed to anxiously awaiting students, singers from Cabaret Theatre belted on stage, and a group of incredible, synchronized dancers followed. At the College Avenue Gym, protein bars and dumbbell shaped stress balls were offered ahead of Sylly Week. I listened to dedicated club members bound to their booth give animated spiels on their organization’s mission, including The Period Equity Project, Rutger Outdoors Club, The Anthologist, The Daily Targum, Veterinary Science Club, Paranormal Club, Alpha Zeta, and RU Thrifty. At the Targum table, I was gifted the absolute essentials to get through this pandemic semester: hand sanitizer, tissues, and chapstick.
Joining DJ Bisu every so often to inform him of Involvement Fair shenanigans was a fun, chaotic experience that truly embodied the energy flowing up and down College Avenue with the rushing tide of students that have just begun to explore our university’s campuses.
