This year’s Battle of The Buildings took place on Thursday, Sept. 24 throughout the day on the residential quad, naming Elmwood Hall as the winner. Battle of the Buildings is an annual event that the Residence Hall Association (RHA) holds every year for resident students.
The battle consists of each residence hall competing in a various number of activities to earn points. The competition gets heated between residence assistants, who each strive for their building to take the gold.
“As a first year student it is hard to adjust to so many new things. Battle of the Buildings was a great way to make new friends, work together and have fun,” says Natorye Miller, a junior communication major and Pinewood RA.
The battle began with a t-shirt tie dye event. Students were asked to bring in a non-perishable food item to donate. In return, students received a 2015 Battle of the Buildings t-shirt to tie dye.
Miller also added, “[Because of] living [in] and being an RA in a first year dorm, I really do love Battle of the Buildings. From this past weekend I really have seen the word community play a major role in how each of the students interact and participate in all the different activities.”
On Friday, Sept. 25 there was a buffalo wing eating contest which took place in Magill Commons Dining Hall. The winner of the contest took home a $100 Visa gift card.
Later that evening, RHA and the First Year Service Project put together their annual Houseless Not Hopeless event. Students slept on Shadow Lawn, in front of Wilson Hall, in cardboard boxes. Events were planned until 2 a.m. for students to participate in. Some of the activities included a shelter building contest, a peanut butter and jelly relay, and a scavenger hunt.
The event gave students the opportunity to spread awareness about homelessness within our county.
All food items donated during Battle of the Buildings will be donated to homeless shelters within Monmouth County.
Finally, on Saturday, Sept. 26 the day of the big tournament arrived. Battle of the Buildings began at noon and teams assembled from each building. The teams that won the events leading up to Saturday were awarded additional points, however, the actual competition took place on Saturday.
A volleyball tournament took place on the court in front of Elmwood Hall. Field games such as tug of war took place on the residential quad. Despite the field game activities, the big attraction from this year’s Battle of the Buildings was the inflatable obstacle course.
Amber Nolan, a junior criminal justice major and Vice President of the RHA believes the event had a really great turn out. “A lot of people really enjoyed the obstacle course races and the people from Party Perfect really made it a fun experience for residents partaking in the experience,” Nolan said.
At the conclusion of Battle of the Buildings, residence assistants from each hall tallied up the points from each activity. Each residence assistant was responsible for announcing the winner to their building.
Although many residents on campus look forward to and enjoy the event, the main goal for the future is to have all residents participating, rather than mostly freshmen dorm buildings.
“At the end of the day the event was not as much about a winning team as it was about having a good time and making new friends at Monmouth,” mentioned Miller, “It is amazing to see how a big event can lead to such an awesome encountering between students.”
Alysse Kavanagh, Area Coordinator of New, Cedar, and Redwood Hall, agreed that the event was the perfect way for resident students to interact.
“I feel as though the program in its entirety was a success. It is a chance for residential students to engage with each other for some friendly competition. RHA’s vision for the future, is to turn Battle of the Buildings into a social event, an event that would celebrate students residing in MU housing,” she said.
RHA’s next program will be Fall Fest on Friday, Oct. 23 on the quad.
