SpiderBoard hosts SpiderPalooza event to kick off Pig Roast weekend

SpiderBoard brightened Friday’s cloudy afternoon with a successful SpiderPalooza carnival event for all students on the Westhampton Green. 

SpiderPalooza featured a bungee jump run, petting zoo, ferris wheel and zip line, among other attractions. The event also had free food for students to enjoy including candy apples, kettle corn and funnel cake.

“It was intriguing and pretty cool when you first walked onto the green,” senior Cindy Portillo said.

SpiderBoard is the largest on-campus programming group at Richmond. It works to bring different entertainment to campus and put on campus-wide events such as Friday’s SpiderPalooza to promote school spirit and create an inclusive and fun campus environment.

Junior Jodie Thompson, president of SpiderBoard, said that the idea for the spring event had been suggested last year, and SpiderBoard members had been working tirelessly to make the event a success.

Friday’s event served as a fun weekend alternative or addition to Saturday’s Pig Roast, the annual social event hosted by fraternities at the on-campus fraternity lodges each spring.

“[SpiderPalooza] was designed in response to feedback that claimed that, besides Pig Roast, campus doesn't really have any spring events – whereas in the fall we have homecoming weekend,” Josh Chawla, sophomore and vice president finance chair for the SpiderBoard, said. “We hope to make it a tradition moving forward, making changes that reflect what the student body wants.”

Thompson said student surveys were a major tool in guiding SpiderBoard's event programming. 

Not only did SpiderPalooza serve as an opening act for Pig Roast, it also served as the main event of the weekend for many students who choose not to attend Pig Roast for various reasons. Pig Roast is known as a fun social event that allows students to get together during the day and alumni to come back to campus. The event is also known for its underage drinking, which is why SpiderBoard and SpiderNights make a point of offering alternative events for students who aren’t attracted to the Pig Roast scene.

“SpiderPalooza could be a great tradition if it continues,” Page Soper, a freshman, said.

The attractions and food at SpiderPalooza, in conjunction with the social media campaign for the event, garnered large attendance and enthusiasm from the student body.

Thompson said that she thought entertaining events like Friday’s SpiderPalooza promoted a sense of community on the Richmond campus, which gave meaning to her work as president of the organization.

“I realize how much entertainment and positive programming can bring a group of people together,” Thompson said. 

Contact news writer Claire Comey at claire.comey@richmond.edu