It's no surprise that Ethan Charlip ended up at Syracuse University. His New Jersey high school classmates Jacob Belotti and Shruti Marathe were already there when he arrived on campus. In fact, Shruti told Ethan he'd be at the WJPZ spring recruitment meeting and tasked Jacob with making sure of it.
Like so many of us, Ethan immediately found his tribe at the station, quickly earning a reputation for hanging out there more than even the exec staff. And how badly did he want to join exec? He applied for every position. You'll hear that hilarious story.
Ethan did become production director, getting the station involved in podcasting and continuing the teaching mission of WJPZ - agreeing to do a free 2 hour Adobe Audition training for anyone who would join his staff. During a semester abroad, he ran for General Manager - interviewing over Zoom (before it was cool) from an airbnb in Prague. He stayed up until 6:00am there awaiting the results. He won.
Like every GM before him, Ethan wasn't sure he was ready for the position, especially as he learned to navigate office politics with friends and more. But his contributions earned him the 2020 Rick Wright Lock Award - right before the world shut down.
Ethan handed the GM reigns over to Melody Emm, and COVID-19 hit. The Class of 2020 never returned to campus after spring break. Ethan's class did not have a senior week, a graduation (save for a "make up" ceremony in 2021), or last Z89 show. It was only thanks to Melody sneaking him in to the station when he returned to pack up his apartment that he got a brief final show.
Naturally, it wasn't easy for the Class of 2020 to find jobs - Ethan found himself doing a desk job at Westwood One, before eventually moving to the world of PR - helping startups get noticed. And you won't be surprised to hear how many WJPZ lessons he employs to this day.
And he still has a Watson theater chair that a classmate eviscerated.
The WJPZ at 50 Podcast Series is produced by Jon Gay, Class of 2002, and his podcast production agency, JAG in Detroit Podcasts.
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