Student Government Association’s Programming Council will fade away this semester as it transfers university programming responsibilities to the Brown-Lupton University Union in a new organization called The Crew.
Programming Council Chair Alex Collins, a junior broadcast journalism major, said the main difference between the two programs is that The Crew would have paid directors, where the PC did not. The Crew will also have directors for each day of the week and one for the weekend, instead of working as a group on one weekly project, she said.
“I think the fact that (The Crew) is more of a job offers a professional environment for the students to work in and allows for a greater incentive to produce constant programming,” Collins said.
She said the set-up of the PC did not allow the greater number of events that The Crew would.
“The directors [of The Crew] have the obligation to perform three events per day, where there could simply not be those regulations on unpaid directors,” Collins said.
The PC aimed to plan about one program per week, she said.
Justin Paxton, an entrepreneurial management major and leader of the new organization, said The Crew would plan a wide range of events on campus and get more people involved in the idea-generating process.
Paxton said PC will be eliminated after the semester, but would continue to plan events this semester with the help of The Crew.
“There’s more of an idea-sharing space where they might get better ideas and more collaboration than just 12 people [on PC],” Paxton said.
University Union Activities Coordinator Brett Phillips said the students formerly involved in PC would continue to work on their same roles this semester.
“It’s sort of PC having a rebirth, and really trying to rebrand it,” Phillips said. “It’s still really connected with SGA, it’s just kind of adding a new, different twist.”
Phillips said that Collins would continue her current role in planning big events for Programming Council during this semester.
Freshman Crew member and international political science major, Katie Sheridan, said The Crew gave out free cotton candy at the BLUU Tuesday afternoon and had a poker night that evening, an example of events that the organization will hold in the future.
“We just make people’s day better,” Sheridan said. “We don’t charge anything. It’s just different activities each day of the week.”
Phillips said nearly 125 people attended a general meeting about The Crew Monday evening, and more than 200 have already applied. There is no current limit for a maximum number of members, he said.