Jacob Farris doesn’t want to spend his life in a cubicle, surrounded by papers, a worn-down office chair and cookie-cutter desks repeated in rows.

Farris, next year’s Student Entertainment Board director, wants creative thinking and an out of the ordinary thought process — things required for working with SEB, he said.

The junior marketing major dedicated a majority of his college career to the organization, which puts on entertainment events for the WSU community.

Farris served on the special events committee as an Up All Night programmer and in his current position as the Special Events Programmer.

"I strongly believe that SEB is one of the most important organizations at the school," Farris said. "And that makes me have so much motivation for this position."

Farris said he writes and performs music, and he wants to work in the entertainment industry after college.

Keenan Dolan, a special events committee member, said he noticed Farris' passion for music from the start.

"Since I joined my fraternity, Farris was the one guy that would always jam," said Dolan, who is a member of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity with Farris.

And Farris has big plans for the future of the organization. Farris plans to learn about the student population with focus groups, as well as find other ways to get to know the students, he said.

"I want to be doing what students want at the end of the day," he said.

If students want to see something, he wants to know, he said.

Additionally, Farris said, he wants to create a five-year plan for the organization, work with registered student organizations on campus and challenge the board to have no two similar events.

"I want to branch out and make as many connections as possible," Farris said.

Part of branching out includes looking for more money and sponsorship, too, he said.

Current director Brian Logan said he and Farris share a lot of the same goals, including the goal of programming to a variety of students.

"I think Jacob is very aware of the fact that you need to program to as many people as possible," Logan said.

A passion for entertainment, Farris said, drives him to be a programmer.

"Once you’re at an event and you’re seeing people have fun and all the work you have
put into it pay off,” he said. “There are no words to describe that feeling."