Shaping Campus Culture

Every student pays a few hundred dollars a year to the College in the form of the student activities fee. The College immediately gives that money back to the student body to do with as it wishes, from bringing speakers to campus to having concerts nearly every weekend.

Any student can have a say in how the money is spent.

The student activities fee is split between the Student Government Association (SGA) and the Student Publications and Radio Committee (SPARC). Two-thirds goes to SGA, and one-third goes to SPARC.

SGA further divides its portion of the money between a number of committees, which take recommendations from students on speakers and performers to bring to campus. The students can also serve on any of the committees — Concerts, All-Campus Events, Student Planning, and Service. “Grinnell’s student government has a lot of freedom and money,” says former SGA treasurer Gargi Magar ’16. “It’s up to students to determine what kind of things they want on campus.”

The two committees with the most funding are the Concerts Committee and the All-Campus Events (ACE) Committee. The ACE Committee handles events that are open to all students on campus — mainly speakers, but also Harris parties and other events not connected to a specific student group. “ACE Committee serves as a conduit to the student body, both to turn their ideas into reality and answer questions that they may have regarding events and policies,” says ACE co-chair Abby Goreham ’15. “As chair, I enjoy doing my part to make sure that the Grinnell traditions I've come to love in my time on campus continue.”

 “SGA at Grinnell has more independence and ability to create student events than most other colleges,” says ACE co-chair Ryan Hautzinger ’15. “The All-Campus Events part of SGA is a perfect representation of that power. The money is there solely to put on events students want.” Last semester, ACE brought Malcolm London, a Chicago poet, and Hudson Taylor, who founded Athlete Ally, to campus. This semester, the committee is working to bring standup comic and frequent visitor Hari Kondabolu back to campus.

The Concerts Committee brings more than 50 artists to campus each year. This semester, Concerts Chair Violeta Ruiz Espigares ’15 is especially excited about Baltimore-based rapper-producer duo TT The Artist; Mighty Mark; Lust for Youth, a Swedish dream-pop group; and Saba, an up and coming rapper from Chicago.

In addition to suggesting speakers and performers, students can propose and vote on initiatives each semester to address issues on campus. In the past, successful initiatives have resulted in more printers being installed in academic buildings and a swingset being constructed outside the Joe Rosenfield ’25 Center.

Each year, students host more than two dozen concerts; 100+ all-campus events ranging from speakers to parties in the Harris Center to the Grinnell Relays; events, such as an Eid al Adha dinner and the Titular Head film festival, which are hosted by student groups; and more. Most importantly, though, any student can have a hand in shaping the culture on campus.

Abby Goreham ’15 is a political science major from Queen Creek, Ariz.

Ryan Hautzinger ’15 is a history and political science major from Grand Junction, Colo.

Violeta Ruiz Espigares ’15 is a German and philosophy major from Granada, Spain.

Gargi Magar ’16 is a chemistry major from Plainfield, Ill.