I don’t know about you guys, but Dispatch at Homecoming fulfilled almost every dream I’ve had since I was nine years old (except for marrying a Backstreet Boy, but I think that ranks pretty high on the improbable scale [although if anyone could make it happen, it would probably be this week’s celeb!]). Dispatch not quite your speed? I bet Danny Avila or Passion Pit were. Regardless of what your music taste is, you have to hand it to the Student Programming Council (SPC) for bringing some awesome names to campus. To get you pumped about Dooley’s Week in the spring and some other really cool events that SPC has planned for the upcoming semester (it’s not all about concerts!), I sat down with SPC President Raghvi Anand to find out a little bit more about her experience as President and to try to figure out what other goodies they have planned for us next (spoiler alert: she is very good at keeping surprises surprises).
Raghvi, SPC Vice President Graham Brooks ’13, and Julia Baker
HerCampus Emory (HCE): For those who still don’t know, what is SPC?
Raghvi Anand (RA): We are the primary programming board that puts together the major student events on campus, like concerts, Homecoming Week (including this year’s very first Swoop’s Week) and Dooley’s week, and other small events. For example, you might walk through Asbury Circle and see that we’re giving out 2,000 free King of Pops or walk over Cox Bridge and have the chance to make your own apple cider. (editor’s note: According to their Facebook page, they also do Dooley’s dirty work)
HCE: Is that a preview of things to come? *silence* Raghvi? *Raghvi checks her email*
HCE: So… Tell me about what it was like when you won.
RA: It was sooo overwhelming because I was just so happy and so excited. I’ve wanted this since freshman year, ever since Eric Ward, the SPC president then, followed by Lindsey Bomnin and then Will Levinson, who was last year’s president. I really wanted to make my mark like they did. I just love it, it’s my passion.
Raghvi and DISPTACH!! 9-year-old me is dying of jealousy!
HCE: We’ve seen some pretty cool, pretty big name people hitting campus this year. How do you decide who to bring to campus?
RA: There’s actually a pretty long process to decide who to bring. We actually have two people on SPC who are our band chairs and their sole job is to contact agents to try to bring artists to campus. What we do is we look at the general time that we want to be having events, so around the general time of Homecoming and the time of Dooley’s Week. So then we look at who’s going on tour and who will be in Atlanta around the time that we want to host concerts so then we reach out to agents and sometimes, we can’t afford them but other times, especially if they have their own equipment, we can afford them. It’s a lot of work, but also a lot of luck. So if the stars align…
HCE: This sounds like a lot of work. How do you balance your time?
RA: If anything, I think having all these activities keeps me on track. When I know that I have a busy day ahead of me, those random 20 minutes you get free throughout your day, you just have to do things during them. Also, sometimes just a lot of dumb luck.
ISC President, Lauren Browning ’13 and Raghvi
HCE: For those who want to be you in the future, how do you get involved in SPC?
RA: We’ll release applications after Dooley’s Week and they’ll be open until August. We only accept applications in the beginning of the year. But I encourage everyone to apply and talk to a member of SPC if you’re interested and/or have questions. You can also email me! (I’m an obsessive emailer).
Dooley’s Week dates are still to be decided, but stay up to date with all SPC news and events by liking them on Facebook! Until then, you’ll probably see Raghvi bopping around Wonderful Wednesday or making apple cider (I’m still really hoping that this is a real thing!). If you see her, make sure to thank her and the rest of SPC for amazing programming thus far (she’s probably the one rocking pink, which is her favorite color, when her favorite color isn’t blue… and blue.)