We’re Fordham University’s Voice (WFUV), a National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate station located in the Bronx, will be getting a new manager for the first time in 14 years, following the retirement of the current manager Chuck Singleton after nearly four decades at the station.

Thirty nine years is a long time to spend at any job, let alone at one radio station based at a university. But Singleton, the current general manager of WFUV, has remained at the station because of what he described as a wide variety of new opportunities the job offered him.

“The opportunities kept coming, and even as manager, in the last 15 years at this point, there’s just been so many opportunities for us,” Singleton said.

WFUV is based in Keating Hall at Fordham University. It serves as “New York’s source for music discovery,” according to their website, featuring adult album alternative music, a genre that includes rock and folk. Although the stationiis primarily a music radio station, it also has a news department that covers New York City politics, culture and more, along with a sports department that covers collegiate-level and professional sports. With its wide array of coverage, the station draws in roughly 350,0000 weekly listeners, with its primary listener base being from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

But the station’s audience has even expanded beyond the tri-state area, with more listeners tuning in via streaming from across the country, according to Singleton. The station is operating on a $7 million budget, around 75% of which comes from listener support.

Singleton began his journey at WFUV in 1987 as the station’s first full-time news director. According to Singleton, when he arrived, the station was undergoing a major expansion, shifting from being entirely student-run to a professional operation with a split mission.

“Our mission, as determined by the university, is impactful, significant public service,” said Singleton, “which happens in the form of our music discovery programming, primarily.”

In 1989 when the program director of WFUV went on maternity leave, Singleton took over as interim until a new program director stepped in. In 1992, she left on maternity leave as well, and Singleton again stepped in as interim.

“And the second time round, I said I have a lot of ideas in this area, and I think we could really push the station forward and have it be more impactful as a music station,” Singleton said. “So I built the programming, I got the station streaming, I hired the air staff, we really improved our fundraising, we improved what we were doing all around and got the station really on the map and it became a real source for people that people rely on.”

Singleton also noted that one of WFUV’s core missions is its dedication to public service, which is carried out through initiatives like Strike a Chord, a news segment that highlights local music and arts-related non-profits.

Additionally, part of what makes the station unique is its pre-professional radio journalism and its use as a training ground for Fordham students through both paid and unpaid employment opportunities. Singleton said the station moved away from a semester or summer-long internship model, instead recruiting students in their first year at Fordham and putting them through workshops in different areas, which Singleton helped implement.

“And then from there, they can move into paid positions and stay for as long as they’re at Fordham, which sometimes can be four years and often five with grad programs as well,” Singleton said. “Overall, we train about as much as 150 students a year by way of our workshops and then their continued involvement with the station.”

Singleton said that the training program is significant to WFUV’s mission as the staff are able to work closely with the students in the program.

Lainey Nguyen, FCRH ’27, started at WFUV during her first year at Fordham and now serves as the news station’s student manager. She has been working with Singleton since her first day at WFUV.

“We have a lot of student staff, and Chuck is always very helpful and outgoing with everything that he does and extremely generous when it comes to giving us opportunities to either be in the news or doing the music side of things or video,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen said that both Singleton and WFUV played a paramount role in kicking off her career in journalism.

“I don’t think I would be where I am today in terms of what I know about journalism and the opportunities that I’ve had if it wasn’t for Chuck and FUV,” Nguyen said.

Another student, Alexandra Pfau, FCRH ’26, has been working in the newsroom for three years and reflected on Singleton’s presence at the station.

“I think I’m just going to miss running into him and having conversations with him,” Pfau said. “He always has something interesting to talk about and it’s always fun to have a little talk with him in the middle of your day.”

“He made a joke to me that I’m graduating this year, so it’s kind of like we’re graduating together,” said Pfau.

Singleton doesn’t just work with the news team at WFUV, but contributes to the station’s sports and music sections as well. Sports manager Joseph Henry, FCRH ’26, commented on his impact on the station.

“Chuck’s warmth and genuine interest in students at WFUV helped make the studio a second home,” Henry said.

As for what will come next for Singleton, he said he is looking forward to spending time with his family. The first thing on his list is getting plane tickets to visit his daughter in Tasmania.

“I want to take some time to kind of air out my head and think about what’s next for me,” Singleton said. “I’m not planning to work. I’m planning to have a lot of fun and do things that I love.”

Singleton raised a family throughout the 2000s, and with the rise of smartphones and work becoming a 24/7 job with technology, he said it got harder to take time off.

“So that is one of those life lessons, take on more responsibility, it’s going to be harder to find yourself in all of that,” Singleton said. “So I’d like to find a little more of myself again.”

Singleton will officially depart from his role at WFUV on June 30. A formal announcement on who will be replacing him