The new Inter-Hall Council at Seton Hall hosted several events this semester, with more coming up soon.
The Council, which is in its inaugural semester, is intended to engage and connect residential students, according to an Instagram post.
The Council hopes to host programs that bring “the community together and promote inclusion,” bring attention to residents in Seton Hall through a monthly newsletter and “develop initiatives that support the needs and interests of residents.”
The Inter-Hall Council’s post also says it hopes to “develop strong leaders who are committed to building community, promoting inclusion, and enhancing the residential experience.”
According to Adrienne Neste, the Council’s first-year area president, while the Council as an organization formed back in September, the members have only been working with each other for about a month.
“I think we have done a great job getting our name out there and making residents aware of who we are,” Neste said.
The Council hosts two events per month, one hosted by the “first-year area” and one by the “upper-class area.” The first-year area focuses on events for Aquinas and Boland, while the upper-class area focuses on events for Xavier and the Complex.
Emily Guerrero, Vice President of the Council, said she works regularly with the upper-class area to help host events.
Guerrero said one such event was ‘Spooky Scav,’ a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt around campus.
Neste has also been in charge of planning the first-year area events the Council has put on. This past month, she helped coordinate weekly Halloween movie nights “in hopes of getting people to know others in their own building and comfortable with the people around them.”
Also in honor of Halloween, the Inter-Hall Council set up an area in each building for people to take pictures.
The Council has also ensured that all residence halls now have a vacuum, broom and dustpan that residents can sign out at the front desk.
Already, the Council has made plans for the upcoming months, according to Neste.
“For our November event, we are planning an event to give back to the staff that keep our residence halls clean and to the students who help us achieve that,” explained Neste. “We will have gift baskets for staff and are asking residents to write a thank you card to them in return for a goodie bag.”
The upper-class area is also planning for Thanksgiving with an event “to give back to some of the essential workers on campus,” according to Guerrero.
The Council plans to bring both sections together for a joint event, which will be announced on their Instagram, @interhallcouncil, in the coming weeks.
For students looking to get involved or have their voices heard by the Council, each residence hall has a governor, Guerrero said.
“Students can go to their hall governor anytime for questions, concerns, or to talk about things they would like to see in the residence halls,” Guerrero said. “We want students to know that we are here to help make their ideas a reality.”
Zach Dora, a junior diplomacy student, said that he was excited to see what the Inter-Hall Council could do next. “They seem like they have a bright potential to further establish a tight community at Seton Hall.”
