ESPN SportsCenter anchor and AU alumnus Bram Weinstein (SOC ’95) visited campus Feb. 2 to speak to the AU community, visit a production class and be a guest on the Jeff Jones Radio Show.
“It’s an honor to be invited back to your alma mater, so I took advantage of it,” Weinstein said. “I love coming home, and I had such a great experience at AU.”
Weinstein also saw the AU men’s basketball team practice and was accompanied by Director of Athletics Keith Gill throughout the day.
“I thought the whole day was wonderful,” Gill said. “It was great having an alum like Bram who’s so accomplished being here and providing a lot of insight and knowledge to the students so when they start their careers, they can learn from his experiences.”
The culminating event of Weinstein’s visit was when he spoke to the AU community at the Katzen Arts Center. For nearly two hours, he discussed his road to ESPN and the lessons he has learned during his sports journalism career and answered over a dozen questions from the audience.
“It was a very unique experience,” said Kogod freshman Chris Grassano. “Getting insight from someone like him who works at ESPN was pretty cool.”
Weinstein covered myriad topics during his on-stage discussion with Gill and Jones, from funny stories about ESPN to his career before working in Bristol, Conn., and his time at AU.
“Bram is so affable, open and honest,” Gill said. “He wasn’t guarded at all, and hearing about his experiences was neat.”
Some of the highlights from the two-hour event included when the on-stage trio talked about their favorite ESPN commercial, when Weinstein gave advice to AU students about job hunting and when he said whom he enjoys anchoring shows with the most.
Weinstein cited the Evander Holyfield ad as his favorite ESPN commercial, said persistence is the key in finding a job and that Linda Cohn is his favorite co-anchor because of how funny she is.
Weinstein’s father also told a few funny stories about him at the end of the event.
“I liked that Jeff Jones had to ask me questions,” Weinstein said, laughing. “That’s such an unusual position to be in. That was fun that he did that. I just enjoyed talking about my experiences and hope that everyone gets to follow in whatever they want to follow.”
One of the first things Weinstein did after coming to campus Thursday morning was making an in-studio guest appearance for the Jeff Jones Radio Show that aired Feb. 4. The two discussed everything from preparation for ESPN shows to his superstitions.
“For me, the highlight of Bram’s visit was having him on the radio show,” Jones said. “I had a chance to talk to him off-air, laugh and talk about a lot of things.”
From morning to night, Weinstein had a busy day on campus, and made many guest appearances while reaching out to the AU community.
“I’ll come back any time they want,” Weinstein said. “Any time they ask, I’ll be happy to come back.”
