The junior began his term as general manager of Elon’s student radio station in January and is ready to grow the organization.
by Julia Oakes ’22
The newly elected general manager of WSOE may owe his involvement within the organization to a T-shirt.
Inspired by some past high school friends already working for their university’s radio station, Henry-Penrose made the decision to join. For someone who “wanted a place outside of Greek life to meet people and socialize,” an organization like WSOE seemed like the perfect fit.
Henry-Penrose accepted the tee and the offer, starting his WSOE career as a DJ with late-night gigs in the studio. He immediately felt at home in WSOE.
“I knew I wanted to join WSOE to meet people and find new music,” he said, adding that the new job allowed him to pursue his passion for sharing music and celebrating “music that’s coming out constantly that people may not know.”
Following his stint as a DJ, the media analytics and strategic communications double major accepted the position of programs director, which included “anything from dusting and cleaning to staying in the room until midnight because the station has gone down,” he said.
Henry-Penrose’s ambition to become general manager was motivated by his desire to push WSOE in an upward direction. He wants to ensure that Elon continues to have a space for students to “write and talk about music,” he explained. Ultimately, Henry-Penrose wants to provide his fellow students with “an opportunity to explore the music industry as a whole.”
“Elon University is amazing at providing us with some of the best spaces to work in in the nation,” he said, “but a lot of that isn’t student-made from the ground up.”
And that’s exactly why Henry-Penrose is so eager to make WSOE feel like a student-run organization. He wants WSOE to be a space where students can meet each other, socialize and “not just play a show, but to listen to each other,” he added.
Henry-Penrose’s previous positions as DJ and programs director have prepared him for his current leadership position, teaching him how to manage the station’s various positions and what the organization needs to thrive.
Henry-Penrose attributes some of his success to those who have inspired him within the organization, including his fellow students on WSOE’s executive board and Bryan Baker, WSOE faculty mentor and the director of multimedia projects in the School of Communications, who has continually dealt with, in Henry-Penrose’s words, his “incessant requests” and ideas for improvement.
Henry-Penrose is spending his Winter Term in London at a media analytics internship with Wunderman, a global digital agency with offices across the world. The opportunity is allowing him to work on campaigns and crunch numbers, he said, but it also gave him the chance to go home for a few weeks.
“I am yearning for an English experience and to get back into my culture,” he said.
Henry-Penrose remains grateful for what WSOE has given him — the memories, self-motivation and confidence.
And that T-shirt.