RPC gets Esperanza right

By Staff Editorial     11/13/08 6:00pm

After years of declining attendance and profit loss, Rice Program Councilhas found the key to hosting a successful Esperanza.

The tent was well decorated; the drinks were flowing; the food was amazing; and the chocolate-covered strawberries were scrumptious. All in all, Rice Program Council put together an excellent Esperanza (see story, page 1).

We have no critiques at all of the way RPC handled and prepared for Esperanza this year, save that maybe students could have used a little more updated notice as to the remaining number of rapidly-selling tickets.

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Instead, we simply want to offer our general praise and applause, and encourage RPC to commence planning for next year's event as soon as possible.

This year's dance was a bit of a perfect storm. The Rice Centennial Campaign was already using the temporary tent between the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School for Management in order to kick off the $1 billion fundraiser, and RPC tacked Esperanza along for the ride. Next year, it is likely that there will be no pre-constructed, readily available tent, and if the planners

want to keep the dance on-campus (which we hope they will), they will have to undertake the task of still managing to give it a fresh, off-campus feel .

To us, this means choosing a location off the beaten path for on-campus events (i.e. not the Grand Hall), and one that is upscale enough to capture Esperanza's elegance (i.e. not a gymnasium).

While we have no brilliant ideas of our own to offer at this time, we strongly encourage RPC representatives to ask for advice from any and all who are willing to give it. Students know what they want and like, and they generally have no qualms about expressing exactly what that is. With any luck, well-planned and excellently-staged Esperanzas can be Rice staples for years to come, and the hard times that befell the dance just a few years ago can be little more than distant memories.

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