Alumni Spotlight: Kitab Rollins

The Man Behind The Scenes

By, Carlos Shamburg

Often times in high school you hear about how students can’t wait to get out of high school and never come back. I found out that is not the case for University Alum. Right now there are at least five alumnus on staff here at our school. Our journalism teacher is one of them. She connected me with an alumni that lives and works right here in our great city of Newark. In fact, Mr. Kitab Rollins is the man who helps to bring the BET’s annually nationally televised special Black Girls Rock to our great city of Newark. (No he can’t get you tickets! LOL)


Recently I was given the honor to interview one of University High School’s most notable alumni Mr. Kitab Rollins. Mr. Rollins is currently the, “Manager of Performance and Broadcast Rentals at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC).” So what that means is, “when promoters or other organizations want to rent a theater at NJPAC to produce their concert, I manage that entire process. Or when a TV special or commercial shoots at NJPAC, I manage that entire process. The most high profile event I manage is BET's Black Girls Rock. In addition to my job at NJPAC, I'm also the seating manager for the American Black Film Festival (ABFF), an annual event held in Miami that is dedicated to showcasing quality film and television content by and about people of African descent. I am responsible for seating the assorted VIPs, talent (celebrities), and sponsors at all the festival screenings and panel discussions. I also manage the VIP section at all the ABFF parties.” Who knew that Black folks were doing jobs like this? Let alone ones that are born and bred right here in Newark...

Now, before embarking on his exciting career his life’s journey started right here when he entered University in the 7th grade and stayed until he graduated at the top of his class in 1998. (I’m aware that he went to school somewhere else. But for the purposes of this article, it’s all about UHS.)

I’m extremely grateful that he took time from his busy schedule to give me his time and answer a few questions about his time here at the University High School.

After high school Mr. Rollins attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick. He entered as an EOF student majoring in Electrical Engineering. Sophomore year he changed to a double major in Communication and Africana Studies. See, don’t worry if you don’t have everything all figured out -- it is okay to change your mind and your major.

When asked if he thought University adequately prepared him for college and/or a career Mr. Rollins had this to say,

“Most certainly. I was fortunate enough to attend UHS when Latin was offered to 7th and 8th graders. And Latin greatly prepared me for SATs and writing in general. Aside from that, during my years at UHS, my classmates and I regularly did homework together before hanging out, which I carried over into my college years. I will say that although UHS was more academically rigorous than typical high schools in Newark, I was definitely taken aback by the amount of work my professors handed out versus my high school teachers. But if you take your high school studies seriously, you'll naturally carry over those behaviors into college.”

Looking back, what do you think is your fondest memory from University?

“Ahhh....so many wonderful memories to share.

Arriving at school at 7:30am for zero period chorus class with Mrs. Juanda Boxley.
Playing with my friends in the lunch room.
Hanging out with friends after school.
Most importantly, my closest friends to this day are folks that I met at University almost 25 years ago. Yes, I'm that old.”

Lastly, what advice would you give to current University students.

“Extract as much information from your teachers as possible.
Know that your teachers' sole mission is to shape you into the best student, and therefore the best person you can be. For example, to this day, I cannot, in good conscious, utter the words "being that," "seeing that," or "due to the fact that," because my former English teacher, Mrs. Marilyn Louis Howard ingrained in us that those terms are not to be used in standard English. Also, whenever I have to read something important, I pick up a pencil or pen because Mrs. Marie Gironda taught us to read with a pen.”

Enjoy this time of your life, and cherish the friendships you've made. They just may still be your best friends 20 years from now. I can attest to that!

I took away a lot from my interview with Mr. Rollins but the thing that stands out most to me is this-- enjoy high school,’cause it could very well be the best time of your life. There will be no other time when we will be as carefree as we are now. I, like most kids my age don’t look at it like that. But when you stop and think about it, it just makes sense.