Reginald Adetula (’16, BA, Broadcasting)

This interview is with Mr. Reginald Adetula, a graduate of the department of Communication at UTA.   

Tell us about yourself.
My name is Reginald Adetula. I transferred into UTA in the fall of 2011 and graduated in spring 2016 with a BA in Broadcast Communications. I’ve worked in radio since 2016, producing live sports broadcasts and sports radio shows at 105.3 The Fan and now host a show called “The Get Right” in the evenings on The Fan.

Any special memories about being a student at UTA?
Too many to count. From getting to call UTA sports broadcasts to covering local pro teams like the Wings and the Rangers to simply sitting around and having debates with friendly classmates in the radio lab.

Why did you choose your major or field of study?
I actually transferred into UTA as an architecture major and after a few years, I felt like I had stagnated in that program. I came to realize that I needed a change but didn’t know which major to change into. As a huge sports fan, I had joined a friend, Scott Stone, on his radio program on UTA Radio a few times because it was simply a fun thing to do. Scott had urged me multiple times to consider trying my hand at radio but I had never really thought about it until the moment when I was thinking “what’s next?” So I figured I’d give it a shot and changed my major to Broadcast Communications and soon thereafter things just seemed to click.

What drew you to your industry, and what has kept you there?
I’ve always loved sports and as long as I remember I’ve enjoyed discussing ideas and sports talk radio merges those two things well. Thankfully I’ve continued to find growth and have fun in my work and while those things are true, I think I’ll be in this work.

What can graduating Liberal Arts students do to make themselves more marketable?
Try your hand at as much as you can. At least for me, having access to so many varied experiences let me get familiar with and better at lots of broadcast and journalism skills that, for one, set me apart from other entry level applicants and also allows me to space to consider a wide variety of job prospects in this modern world of employment where jumping around is essentially required to get advancement.

How has your Liberal Arts education helped get you where you are today?
Being fortunate to live on campus and not have to do too much work outside of school, I threw myself into tons of stuff in the department and sequence, be it UTA Radio, UTA News, trying to establish an NABJ chapter and so many other things. It allowed me to get to know so many of my peers, learn from them and some incredible professors, and spend lots of time in true laboratory environments to hone my craft. For me, it’s been all of that time working on projects that mattered to me and that weren’t restrictive. In addition to that, the wide network of talented and brilliant fellow alumni that I got to connect with have helped greatly in getting me to where I am today. My first job offer out of school was facilitated by one of my professors, Julian Rodriguez. My entry into the company I work at currently happened because of my classmate, Parker Hillis. I was able to work on a TV show locally called “Sports and Such” which was the brainchild of another classmate, Dena Adi. The markers of my time at UTA are evident in my career thus far.

What do you wish you knew when you were a Liberal Arts student at UTA?
That the experience is even richer if you branch out further. I feel like I could’ve taken more advantage of clubs and groups on the larger campus.

If you are a College of Liberal Arts alum, please let us know by emailing liberalarts@uta.edu.