Tuesday, Oct 25, 2011
Students representing their respective residence halls competed to earn points, prizes and pride from October 17 to 20 during Rider's annual Battle of the Buildings on the Lawrenceville campus.
by Andrea Panno '12
There’s nothing wrong with a little friendly competition, which is why Rider University’s Residence Hall Association hosted the annual Battle of the Buildings on the Lawrenceville campus from October 17 to 20.
Students who live in Rider’s residence halls competed in daily events across campus, hosted by the Residence Hall Associations’ Executive Board. Their dormitories earned points by winning events, as well as spirit points for having the most supportive audience. Lincoln Hall captured the title this year, gaining a sum of money to be put towards their building to buy, replace or add new items to help set their residence hall apart from the others.
“The students are passionate about bonding with other students, not only in their dorm building but in other residence halls as well,” explains RHA Vice President Brittany Blythe. “Students enjoy being able to compete in a healthy manner against other dorms to win points, as well as meeting new students and having fun.”
This year events included wing eating, trivia, basketball, a relay race, dodgeball and an ice cream-eating contest, as well as BOB of Service, a year-round community service competition between the different halls to earn points. A new addition to Battle of the Buildings this year, BOB of Service is the brainchild of Anthony Maddaluno, RHA’s community outreach chair.
“I’m hoping that BOB of Service will get new people involved in the community, and make Battle of the Buildings based more on the amount of effort put in rather than just relying on ability to win a particular event,” stated Patrick Shevlin ’14, RHA’s chief financial officer.
Points can also be earned throughout the year by attending Hall Government meetings, voting in the Student Government Elections during the spring, and participating in Senate or food committee meetings. The points earned throughout the year are vital not only to winning the Battle of the Buildings Championship, but to earn free pizza parties, as well.
“As a junior being involved in RHA for multiple years, I have never seen so many people come out for BOB before,” explained RHA President Rachel Guida. “With some really great RHA executive board members this year, as well as Hall Government members, BOB really succeeded at bringing the campus to life and adding more Rider spirit to our community.”
To find out more about Battle of the Buildings or how to get involved with the Residence Hall Association, contact [email protected] or ‘Like’ the Rider RHA page on Facebook, or follow @RiderRHA on Twitter.