Coming to games since he was three years old, Assistant Director of Development; Communications and Engagement for Rutgers University Michael Greengarten eats, sleeps, and breathes Rutgers Athletics. However, it was on Jan. 29, 2003 when the men’s basketball team defeated Carmelo Anthony’s Syracuse squad by a final score of 68-65 that a then 11-year-old Greengarten knew Rutgers was going to be where he would create a future for himself.
“I was sitting in the front row and we were playing Syracuse, we ended up winning on a bank three by Hervé Lamizana and after the game he [Lamizana] threw me his headband and I was like, ‘I love this place but I love it even more now,’” Greengarten recalled. “That’s the moment I remember that my fandom went from, ‘I love this place’ to ‘There’s no place I’d rather be.’”
One of Greengarten’s responsibilities is to build a connection with the Rutgers Athletics fan base through a variety of ways. One of these instances included the time where he provided Joe Koslowski and his 10-year-old son Joseph, who battles Castleman Disease, tickets and a parking spot to watch the men’s basketball team take on Northwestern back on Feb. 9.
“My dad passed away from pancreatic cancer five years ago so I think it’s important to make the experience of people that are going through struggles as helpful as possible,” Greengarten expressed. “Joey is one of those people who’s a strong kid and his dad is a great guy and I wanted to make sure that they were able to come out and come to a game. No matter the struggles he’s going through, hopefully this one experience helped him enjoy things a little bit more and can help him get through the fight that he’s going through.”
In a game where Rutgers trailed Northwestern by 18 points, the two Koslowskis witnessed the Scarlet Knights make a ferocious comeback to defeat the Wildcats by a final score of 77-73 in overtime.
“My son Joseph has a rare disease and once Mike Greengarten learned of my son’s illness he reached out to me and let me know the entire state of Rutgers is behind him,” Koslowski explained. “A couple of weeks ago my son was feeling okay and he wanted to go to a Rutgers basketball game, it was one of the few times my son was out of the house/hospital since July.”
Due to Greengarten’s efforts, Joe and Joseph Koslowski were given an experience that will last them a lifetime.
“The game was sold out and I put a post on Twitter about tickets but Mike told me to hold on and see if he could get tickets, this was around 3 p.m. and the game started at 7 p.m. Within 30 minutes he told me he had tickets and a great parking spot for the game,” Koslowski said. “Once we got to the RAC he treated us like celebrities. My son said the next morning, ‘Dad that was the best moment of my life I love you.’ Thanks to Mike Greengarten and everything he did for us it was a memory that will last forever.”
Along with his efforts to create new Rutgers fans, Greengarten tries to keep current ones engaged in the product they are watching too. An example of this being back on Jan. 23 when Dave White, a contributor for SB Nation’s Rutgers blog “On the Banks” and a big Rutgers basketball fan, discussed in a series of tweets how Greengarten was able to keep his faith in the program alive even in hard times.
“Mike Greengarten is one of the reasons you keep your season tickets in the lean times,” White said. “Whether it’s making sure you get a box of popcorn when you miss the game where your row wins the lucky row or getting your son to take a picture with his favorite players, Mike keeps fans engaged.”
Thanks to Greengarten’s determination to keep him invested in the program, White has not only seen its rejuvenation under Head Coach Steve Pikiell, but he has developed a friendship with the 28-year-old as well.
“If Mike hadn’t reached out to my family and me and made sure we were happy and having a good time I would probably be a former season ticket holder,” White conveyed. “This basketball season has been great and I am a Rutgers hoops diehard, but Mike has made being a season ticket holder and fan extra special.”
For Greengarten, it was an example of how a small favor can go a long way in keeping support for the product even with somebody he did not know beforehand.
“I didn’t know Dave personally I just knew him through Twitter but I knew that Rutgers basketball was for him,” Greengarten said. “He loves this place and Rutgers basketball so much and you could tell the passion that he exudes on Twitter and in person how passionate he is and how much he loves this place.”
In a season where the Scarlet Knights sold out the RAC a program record 10 times, the demand for student tickets became much higher. As a result, Greengarten worked to find a way where he connected students with alums who were willing to donate their tickets to the Feb. 1 game against Michigan at Madison Square Garden.
“We have really good alumni and donors and some brought to my attention that students were looking to go to the game,” Greengarten said. “Once a student posted on Twitter that they were looking for tickets an alum reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, how can I buy the tickets for the students?’ So, I was able to connect the student with the alum via a direct message.”
Although the Scarlet Knights ended up falling to the Wolverines by a final score of 69-63, the Hillsdale, New Jersey native came away feeling proud that he got to witness a moment of solidarity within the Rutgers community.
“We probably got out 70-80 extra tickets and 25-30 donors donated those tickets,” Greengarten said. “It was just a great experience watching it happen and helping connect the students with these alumni and donors.”
Greengarten’s passion to work for Rutgers Athletics can be traced back to his days as an undergraduate student where he held a variety of roles within the university. Some of his tasks included working as a branding and social media intern, ticket operations assistant, and football operations assistant. However, it was through what some might consider an unconventional method that he got his start in the business.
“All I did was shred, I shredded paper, playbooks, anything, but that's how I got to meet people because I also got to shut the doors of all of our coaches and support staff,” Greengarten described. “Another thing I did that first year was deliver packages, I’d go around and deliver packages from the Hale Center to the RAC and that’s how I got to meet people in other departments and how I got internships. When you get to know people face-to-face they trust you more.”
Upon his graduation in 2014, Greengarten went on to become the Assistant Director of Marketing & Promotions for Rutgers in 2015 where he spent two years as the marketing contact for men’s basketball, field hockey, rowing, women’s golf, and tennis.
Prior to his current role, Greengarten served as the Director of Marketing & Fan Experience for Rutgers until 2019.
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