It may not be easy scheduling events that appeal to the large student population of one of the most diverse Universities in the country, but that’s the job of the Rutgers University Programming Association, an organization run entirely by students.
Although many students may not recognize what RUPA is or how it operates, most will recognize the events they plan, such as Hot Dog Day and Rutgersfest, concerts like as Lupe Fiasco and Cartel as well as several smaller events, some occurring on the same day, said RUPA President Ismanie Guillaume.
“RUPA is the embodiment of all the former campus and college programming councils, such as Douglass College Student Activities Office, Livingston’s Own Concert Organization and Rutgers College Programming Council,” Guillaume said. “From education lectures, to entertaining video game extravaganzas, we aim to program over a wide range and variety of tastes and interests in order to give as many Rutgers students as possible an opportunity to enrich their experience as a student.”
RUPA is composed of student committee groups, each headed by a vice president and a graduate advisor, with the president presiding over all the committees, said Rutgers College junior Laura D’Allesandro, a member of the Films and Media committee. Other committees include Arts and Issues, Entertainment, Music, Trips and Leisure, Public Relations, Spirit and Special Events, Financial Affairs and Human Resources.
Each committee has specific events to program and for some like Entertainment, or Spirit and Special Events, it can be harder to decide which events to plan, Guillaume said. In order to decide this, committees meet and brainstorm ideas and goals, which can vary from year to year.
“This fluidity is part of the fun,” Guillaume said. “It gives us a chance to be creative and not have our ideas boxed in, and to shake it up and bring something new to the students from semester to semester and year to year.”
While many of RUPA’s student volunteers work hard on programming, there are also opportunities to volunteer in a non-programming aspect.
The Financial Affairs committee’s job is to deal with budgets, contracts and the allocation of funds, said RUPA Vice President Vaibhav Sharma. The Human Resources committee is another non-programming committee whose job is to recruit, select and train new members, according to the RUPA Web site.
Although the organization is student-run, there is a selection process to join the organization that is primarily done once a year or even mid-year, depending on the need for additional help, she said.
And because RUPA is a time commitment, applicants must have a minimum GPA of at least 2.5 and cannot be a resident assistant or an orientation leader, Guillaume said.
“These students are responsible for coming up with and putting on a semester’s worth of events, and along the way, will have to deal with agents, contracts, vendors and managing a budget responsibly, among many other things,” Guillaume said. “The committee members are some of the hardest working student volunteers that you will ever meet.”
Some students like School of Engineering senior Jon Buchalski thinks RUPA members do amazing work for the lack of thanks they receive.
“They organize activities for crowds of thousands of people, which is something that even many professionals could not imagine,” said Buchalski, who has attended Hot Dog Day, Rutgerfest and the Homecoming Carnival organized by RUPA.
Mason Gross School of the Arts junior Vinny Picone said he appreciates the hard work RUPA does for the University, even though many students may not recognize it.
“The work that RUPA does is definitely important because without them, there wouldn’t be anyone to organize these events,” Picone said. “Plus, they are students so they know what other students want.”
Aside from past RUPA events this semester, including a trip to the Eastern State Penitentiary’s Haunted House and Election Day Coverage at the Red Lion Café, there are many events coming up such as a Physics Fair, Mystery Movie nights, a NYC trip to The Little Mermaid on Broadway and Rutgersfest in the spring, according to the site.
A full listing of events can be found on the RUPA Web site at rupa.rutgers.edu, D’Allesandro said.
“I look forward to continuing on with the success that we’ve been having and a RUPA legacy to be proud of,” Guillaume said. “It’s only our second year in existence but we’ve made some great things happen.”
RUPA works to bring entertainment to U.
Published: Thursday, November 6, 2008
Updated: Thursday, November 6, 2008
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