With Purple and Gold Week now taking place during Homecoming week, a new event Hall Brawl, will take place in the spring semester. This year, Marc Smithers came up with the alternative of Hall Brawl, a week of competition between the four residence halls. Krista Maroni, Residence Director (RD) of Lambein Hall, described the event as “Harry Potter” style, with opportunities for students to earn points for their affiliated hall in events ranging from “funny” to “strategic.”
Smithers’ idea “is a blend of what many other institutions are currently doing,” explained Shenawana Residence Director, Jason Stephens. Houghton’s Hall Brawl event will borrow from what other colleges and universities have successfully done, combining it with the creative ideas of Smithers and the campus RDs. “With RDs coming from various institutions, we have been able to take many of their ideas to come together and make it fit within the Houghton context,” Stephens said. “Other campuses have class competitions,” Smithers said, but at Houghton he feels students have greater affinity with their residence halls.
With the competition occurring between the four residence halls, each RD will oversee an activity. “The activities are touching on creativity, trivia, adventure,” said Smithers. Stephens described Shenawana’s event as “a challenge between the different buildings to protect your RD while attacking other RDs and trying to get them out.” Stephens noted “all my RA’s are really excited about it.” Maroni, noted the various “active events,” and explained Lambein’s trivia night, which she hopes will attract students “who wouldn’t come to the active events.” Maroni noted that Lambein’s event will not only award points for the overall Hall Brawl event, but have separate awards as well. Gillette will be hosting a game of human checkers, and Rothenbuhler will host a box sledding event down Roth hill.
Not all students, however, live in one of the four residence halls. The townhouses play a large role in Houghton’s residence life and though they are not part of the main competition, they will be hosting their own event. They will hold a knock-out competition during the halftime of the men’s basketball game that week. The townhouse residents themselves will participate by competing for the residence hall with which they most identify. In addition to the evening residence hall events, Smithers himself will be in charge of what he calls the daily “ Hall Brawl Hunt.” The hunt is an opportunity for students to earn 60 points for their residence hall by answering a question.
Maroni said the intention of Hall Brawl is “healthy, friendly competition that brings students together,” as “a positive way to build identity.” Stephens noted, “We are hoping to allow students to feel more connected to the building,” and in effect, be more connected to Houghton. “I’m excited to see how interested students are in it,” Smithers said. He explained that events such as SPOT have been propelled by student interest. He and the residence directors hope the event will become a tradition. Smithers said “The biggest thing is to help students feel more connected to this place and each other.”