2023

Personally Speaking: Get to Know Harry Glicklin ’26

Glicklin is a media & communication and English double major from Burke, Virginia.

 Wednesday, November 8, 2023 09:11 AM

Harry Glicklin ’26. Photos by Alexis Hall ’26

Personally Speaking is a feature of Muhlenberg Magazine in which our writers interview students and alumni about their own personal stories. This article was originally published in the Fall 2023 issue of Muhlenberg Magazine.

He DJs for WMUH and is also working as the station’s marketing manager this year.
“Music is something that's very community oriented — it’s meant to be shared. I love the radio for that reason. WMUH was my first sign-up at the activities fair. This year, I’m switching up what my show is and what I play, just because I kind of got bored of it last semester. My show is called Living Room Sessions, and it used to be all acoustic versions of songs. Typically, artists would put out the first version of their song before the acoustic version, and I wouldn’t play those new non-acoustic songs because they didn’t fit that niche. This semester, I’m broadening the focus. The ‘living room’ represents a place where people gather and music can be shared— any music that I like. My slot this semester is on Fridays, so I’m excited that new music will be coming out quite literally 12 hours before I go on air. I’m also starting as the WMUH marketing director. It’s a new position, which is really exciting. With it being the 75th anniversary [of WMUH], I am very aware of trying to do something special to promote all the concerts and events coming up.”

He’s one of two religious co-chairs for Hillel.
“Hillel was very important to me [in the college search], and I did look a lot at the Jewish populations and how active that community was. Our main responsibility as religious co-chairs is guiding what religious life looks like at Hillel. We also lead the weekly Shabbat services. I lead the reform service, and my co-chair leads what we call the traditional egalitarian service. Part of the reason why I was interested in this position was being able to represent all different Jewish communities. It’s very difficult to re-create everyone’s home Jewish experience. I just wanted to ensure that my reform people had a say in the religious experience at Hillel.”

Last fall’s Living Writers course sold him on his English major …
“English was always my favorite subject in school. I liked to write, but I didn’t really like to read. [Last fall], because of a course I took, I came to the realization: ‘It’s not that you don’t like to read. It’s that you’re not reading the right books.’ The course was Living Writers [a course and reading series that brings the authors to campus]. It was just so awesome. I liked a lot of the authors for different reasons. Amy Kurzweil, the first writer we read, is a graphic memoirist who wrote Flying Couch. I had the opportunity to have lunch with her in a small group. She talked a lot about Judaism and also her process in college of exploring her faith, which, I didn’t even know at the time, was mirroring mine.”

… and connected him with the opportunity to work as a writing assistant, a tutor who works within the writing-intensive course all first-year students must take, this year.
“I was nominated to be a writing assistant by my Living Writers professor, [Associate Professor of English Linda Miller]. She tells a story that she read my first draft of an essay [and then spoke with Assistant Professor of English and Writing Program Director Josh Barsczewski] and was like, ‘You have to take this kid.’ I had a very positive experience with my own first-year seminar writing assistant, too, so I was interested. I took the Writing Theory course and learned a ton about writing and what qualifies as good writing. Now, as a writing assistant, I’m paired with the Muhlenberg Scholars’ first-year seminar called Generations, taught by [Professor of English] Jim Bloom. It’s all about how generational boundaries have been used in society.”

Despite having no performance background, he joined the AcaFellas a cappella group.
“Very recreationally at home, I would play the piano and I would sing a little bit. And then when I came here, it was a very common thing in those first few weeks, where [my friends and I] would all just be at the piano and I would know a couple of songs and everyone would just start singing around us. And so from there, I guess I was seen as a very musical person. Basically, a bunch of my friends just told me to go for it [and audition]. And I figured college was a time to reinvent myself and try new things.”