President for a day

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: KERRA SEAY
Fanshawe president(s) Peter Devlin and Prashant Agarwal attended multiple events on and off campus thanks to Agarwal's winning bid to be Fanshawe's president for a day.

Prashant Agarwal, an international student in the Project Management program at Fanshawe, is the first ever student to win the bid to be the president of Fanshawe College for a day.

Agarwal placed a bid in a silent auction to raise money for Fanshawe's contribution to their United Way fundraising campaign.

Agarwal's bid of $204 secured his win and led to what he called a once in a lifetime experience.

“It's amazing. I'm liking it because I get to see all that the president does in a day,” Agarwal said.

Agarwal won two bids at the silent auction: the Fanshawe President for a Day bid as well as the Fanshawe Student Union (FSU) President for a Day bid. He said he chose the former because he may never get the opportunity to have an experience like this again.

He said he was hesitant at the beginning of the day, but was quickly welcomed by Devlin and his staff.

“I was nervous, but as soon as [I was welcomed] it was really warm. I was happy, the schedule was sent to me long before so I knew what the day was going to be like.”

Agarwal has been the vice-president of the Fanshawe Lions Club and already has experience running an organization, but said he still wanted to see what it was like to be the president of Fanshawe, even if it was just for a day.

Agarwal was accompanied by Fanshawe president Peter Devlin to many events throughout the day including the First Nations Centre's Year End Gathering, the opening ceremony for the curling championship hosted by Fanshawe, the Business Achievement Awards at London Convention Centre and lunch with Devlin in Oasis.

“[Devlin] preferred Out Back Shack but I said, ‘Let's go to Oasis, many more students will be there',” Agarwal said.

Fanshawe president Peter Devlin said it's phenomenal that a student took the initiative to win the bid this year.

“It's awesome to have a student who is the president for a day, and an international student,” Devlin said. “Prashant is a marvelous young man and has just embraced the opportunity to understand more and to be exposed to a bunch of things that he otherwise wouldn't be exposed to. I hope that he finds it an awarding and special day, like I find it a rewarding day to find out more about student life for an international student courtesy of Prashant,” Devlin said.

Agarwal reflected Devlin's sentiments.

“What I took away from this day was learning what a president does, his responsibilities and his roles… and as a student I got to freely get to know Peter Devlin,” Agarwal said. “It was worth more than the $204.”