Students gather in Rotary Hall for RA Alex Hamilton’s Centenary trivia event.
Resident Assistant events are held at least once a week and are hosted by various RAs and in various residence halls.
There are two different types of RA programs, active and passive events. Most students only think of active events, which are the programs where RA will set up different types of fun activities for students to participate in. Passive events are things like the corkboard displays that are spread throughout the halls. They tend to relate to first-year advice or information about the different aspects of TREK. Passive events can also be door-decs for all of an RA's residents or informational posters in the bathrooms throughout campus.
Each RA has to do a program every six weeks. They get a budget of 80 dollars per semester to do all of their events. Some events this semester have been cupcake decorating, trivia night, SUB game night, coloring pages and pumpkin painting.
Senior RA Alex Hamilton’s favorite event he hosted was a dodgeball event in the FIT because all of the students who participated were very competitive. He says that he finds RA events a good time for students to do “things that you maybe haven't done since you were a kid, so whether that be drawing, painting, or making something.”
RA events on campus let students express themselves creatively in a fun and relaxed manner.
Although the events are normally not elaborate, they almost always have free snacks and drinks for the students and act as a respite for students to unwind and stop stressing about classes.
Sophomore Liesel Haus-Smith says that RA events are "just a great way to wind down” and “a good way to meet people and connect” that you might not meet otherwise.
Junior RA Jay Scott says that his favorite part of the events that he hosts is that it is a chance for all of his residents to get together, meet each other and hang out.
RA events give “a chance to all my residents to come together at one time,” he says.
Even if students tend to be busy, it is a low-pressure event that gives people an opportunity to relax with each other. Because of that, Scott’s favorite event that he hosted was a simple event with cookies. Around 50 people showed up, and James Hall was filled with people talking and hanging out the whole time.
To know when RA events are happening on campus, keep an eye out for flyers across campus and on the weekly “What’s Happening?” email from Centenary Student Affairs.