Behind the Scenes: How SNAs Are Selected
October 17, 2018
Over the years, Peddie’s Saturday Night Activity (SNA) has evolved into a weekend-long series of events organized to provide sources of entertainment and leisure for the community. However, members of the Peddie community began to express concern regarding this year’s SNAs and what appeared to be a reduction in the spending allocated to them. Director of Community Life Michael Agosto sought to quell this unease by explaining how a one-time donation years ago had “provided opportunities to offer more of the higher cost events,” but that this did not change the quality of the activities significantly. Agosto added that there are generally sufficient funds for most student-requested activities. Higher-spending SNAs, such as Broadway shows, NBA games, and food trucks, however, are difficult to hold as frequently as some students might like.
Agosto noted that the changes made in SNAs each year are not due primarily to funding, but rather to student input on surveys. Agosto emphasized that he runs the activities that generate the highest student interest. Thus, as the student body cohort changes every year, the list of preferred activities changes accordingly.
When asked about the way in which he arranges activities for each weekend, Agosto said he tries “to balance each weekend with high energy-output events and low energy-output events.” He determines which options have the most student interest; then he pairs each high intensity activity with a low intensity activity. This results in options such as bubble soccer and movie shuttles being paired together. The purpose of this approach is to to diversify the SNA options each weekend and cater to the needs of the study body.