As night falls over the University Student Center, most students shut their laptops and flee the area to return home or go out on the town — but some head to the building’s basement, plug in their computers and queue up songs for their late-night radio shows.

Those students are among the few who host shows into the wee hours of the morning on WRGW, GW’s student-run radio station. These intrepid, night-owl broadcasters said jamming in the studio as campus sleeps helped them relax and feel more connected to their intimate listenership during the darkest hours of the night.

The radio station bustles with students during the day, lounging on comfy couches and admiring the signatures of past hosts on the wall decorated with outlines of District landmarks like the Washington Monument and signed concert posters. But the room becomes hushed at night with just GW Police Department officers and cleaning staff passing by the station’s broad windows in the basement hallway of the student center. 

Junior Khushi Hemrajani, an entrepreneurship student, said she co-hosts a show called “Feudz” on Wednesdays from 1 to 2 a.m. She said the show has had a late-night slot for four years and she inherited the mic after the founding host graduated this past spring.

Hemrajani said they break down “iconic rivalries” between musical artists during the show, like the beef between Arctic Monkeys and Wet Leg, or the love triangle between Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello and Sabrina Carpenter.

“We love giving our listeners an inside look into these very iconic pop culture moments,” Hemrajani said. 

Hemrajani said her late-night show can be tiring since she has a 9:35 a.m. class the next morning, but the drowsiness the next day is worth it because the nocturnal time slot makes the show a “little secret” between her and her listeners.

She said typically one to five friends, parents and even on occasion a couple random listeners tend to tune in and leave comments on WRGW’s website as the show airs.

“There’s something special about having a late-night show,” Hemrajani said.

Junior Rob Brown, a political science student, said he runs a show called “Deep Dive Into the Dead + More” from 11 p.m. to midnight on Sundays. Brown said he doesn’t have trouble staying up for his show since he’s so “engaged” with queuing up the “psychedelic” tunes he features, from the likes of the Grateful Dead and Eric Clapton. 

He said the show is relaxed because he’s already hammered out all his homework for the day before he gets into the studio.

“It’s really just hanging out in the studio, pressing the play button, talking about the song and different artists I am going to play,” Brown said.

Brown said a “laid back” environment can sometimes become a bit more stressful — he said the cleaning staff have confronted him about staying after typical hours in the student center, which closes at midnight from Monday to Wednesday and at 2 a.m. from Thursday to Sunday, and have asked him to leave a few times. Brown said in these cases he firmly holds his ground, telling the workers that he won’t be leaving because his radio show allows him to be there, and they let him stay.

“I don’t think a ton of people know what is going on in the basement of the student center, but they’re usually pretty understanding,” Brown said. 

Junior Henry Scriven-Young, a political communication student, said he hosts “!Uptime,” a midnight Saturday show highlighting video game soundtracks that focuses on the songs from one game per week. He said staying up past midnight with no company, but the station’s switchboard helps him relax and “embrace the music” after a tiring week.

“Being in the studio late at night, it makes me feel really calm, so I try to transmit those good, calm vibes through the radio,” Scriven-Young said. 

Scriven-Young said there’s been times when those good vibes get disturbed. He said as his show ended last year on the evening of Friday the 13th, he unplugged his computer without realizing that the music was still playing, and the “Friday the 13th” soundtrack blared through his laptop speakers.

“I jumped so high I thought I hit the ceiling,” he said.

Sophomore Aidan Penna, an international affairs student and an operations assistant for WRGW, said he holes up in the radio station from midnight to 1 a.m. on Sundays for his show “The Butterfly Effect,” in which he explores current popular artists’ past musical influences like Vince Staples and Björk.

He said he wanted a late-night show because WRGW only allows hosts to play explicit music after 8 p.m., which broadens his options while selecting songs. He said he’s already up late doing homework most nights so just “chilling” and listening to music he enjoys after dark is no problem.

“I’m a night owl, so I knew I’d be able to handle a later show,” Penna said. 

Penna said his show’s timing means that a couple of his college buddies tend to tune in, but he keeps track of the locations of any random listeners who hop on through the station’s computer. He said the WRGW station is cozy late at night, with dim lighting and nobody around to disturb him. 

“I can’t explain it, just being there at night is like a different feeling,” Penna said.