Three residence halls were named 2012-2013 Halls of the Year last Wednesday. Lewis Hall was honored as overall Hall of the Year, while Pasquerilla East Hall (PE) won Women's Hall of the Year and Knott Hall won Men's Hall of the Year.
Junior Maura Jones, former president of Lewis Hall, said there were many factors she thought helped Lewis capture overall Hall of the Year, including improving existing events such as Lewis House of Pancakes, planning new events like a Father-Daughter Weekend and creating a Freshman Hall Council.
"I don't think I could even begin to name all of the factors that contributed to our success this year, but I think the combination of really successful signature events, winning Frosh-O, new social and multicultural events, and really dynamic faith and service events were all contributing factors," Jones said.
Jones said winning Hall of the Year was not a specific goal she had for her presidential term. She said she placed a high value on the happiness of Lewis residents instead.
"I think every dorm measures success in a different way, but Lewis measures success by the happiness of our girls," Jones said. "Because we met our goal of creating a great community and making our residents happy, I think Lewis was a huge success this year," Jones said.
Junior Gwen Hooley, former president of Pasquerilla East, said PE's Hall Council collaborated with other dorms through events like Mod Quad's Drip n' Dodge dodgeball tournament. She said PE's Hall Council also built a community within the dorm through service events, guest speakers and supporting the men's swimming team.
"Prior to this year, PE was the only dorm of 29 that had never won a Hall of the Year Award, ... so one of my goals at the start of my term was to accomplish that," Hooley said. "However, that wasn't my main goal, and I often reminded the commissioners of that. I would have considered it a successful year if the girls really got a lot out of our events and really enjoyed living in the dorm. Hall Council is about building community, it's just nice to get the recognition."
Junior Denver Lobo, former co-president of Knott, said a main goal for the dorm was to [to target] the mind, body, and spirit to build a well-rounded resident who was constantly trying to go above and beyond the status quo.
"[The goal] transformed Knott Hall into becoming more than a dorm or a community, it started to become a home and a family," Lobo said. Lobo said Drip n' Dodge, hall retreats and winning the Flanner Cup and the Fisher Regatta, along with the hall's family atmosphere, all contributed to Knott's selection as Men's Hall of the Yead.
"We had a surprise birthday party for our rector a month ago," Lobo said. "We all gathered outside in the chapel lounge as he came out of the chapel after Mass. With tears in his eyes and being completely overwhelmed, he said, 'This is the happiest moment of my life in Knott Hall.'
"The inclusion, the community and the brotherhood created this year, wasn't only because of the commissioners and head staff, it was full participation of everyone in Knott Hall."
Seniors Matt Lynch and Dennis Smith, former co-chairs of Hall Presidents Council (HPC), said Hall of the Year selections are based on Rocknes, which are(monthly summaries of each dorm's events) and an eight-minute presentation by each hall to the HPC chairs.
Lynch sait he and Smith considered several factors when selecting the Halls of the Year, including how well each hall met the needs of its residents, improved over the year and became a more tight knit community.
"We know that each dorm has unique goals and needs, so there are 29 different definitions of success on this campus," Lynch said.
