Jay was a Riverside city college transfer to UCLA where he studied music education (BA) and choral conducting (MM) and was drum major of the Bruin marching band. On his way to a teaching credential, he stumbled into a job at the UCLA alumni association. From there he built a career in higher education fundraising and is currently the Executive Director of Alumni Relations for UC Berkeley. Jay lives in San Francisco with his wife and son, who is also a redhead. His only music claim to fame is that he wrote the current Pepperdine fight song.