From barbecues to ski trips, West Campus quadrangle councils are busy bringing events to their respective residents.
Since West switched from its previous house model to the current quad model in 2001, quad councils have now become one of the biggest sources of programming for students living on West.
To better foster quad unity and tackle the issue of low attendance at quad events, Campus Council is hoping to initiate a new program next semester, through which each quad council will host a barbecue on its respective quad at the same time once a month.
According to the Campus Council constitution, the primary purpose of the quad council is to promote a greater feeling of community within the quad.
"In the first six weeks of the fall semester the quad council is asked to bring a sense of cohesion to the community and a sense of belonging for the residents," said Deb Lo Biondo, assistant dean for residence life on West Campus.
She added, however, that because some of the six quads host more than 500 residents, this is hard to do.
"The events are planned knowing that not all of the residents will attend," Lo Biondo said, adding that over the years Campus Council has tried to remedy the problem through the addition of requirements and new programming.
The Council hopes next semester's simultaneous barbecue program will address some of the present issues.
"Everyone's doing something so it's kind of like a large-scale event," said Campus Council President Jay Ganatra, a senior. "Each quad can contribute to it for their members, use their combined powers to do a big event that's still personal for their residents."
The program is scheduled to begin next semester, when the weather becomes nicer, Ganatra said.
Programming effectiveness in quad unity
Many students said it is harder to form a sense of community on West compared to East Campus because of the different residential system.
"The point of Campus Council and quad councils is to improve the residential experience," Ganatra said. "There's no better way to do so than to make people enjoy who they live with."
Some quad council representatives said they think quad events help improve unity.
"[Quad events] are beneficial to student interaction," said junior Ryan Todd, a Few Quadrangle council representative. "It's difficult to meet new people on West because it's not the same set-up [as East]."
Sophomore Maggie Scarborough, a Kilgo Quadrangle resident, said she was able to meet fellow residents during a quad barbecue.
"It's a good way to meet new people, although I'm not close to them now, but I say 'hi' when I see them in the hallways," she said. "It's good to keep some sense of community in quads-these events are worthwhile."
Junior Daniel Phan, former Edens Quadrangle resident, however, disagrees.
"They don't help unify the quad," he said. "As you get older you only hang out with your own friends-it's sad but that's how it works."
Ganatra said bigger events would help foster more of a sense of community because they would create reasons for interaction, which is less prominent on West than on East.
"When you're just standing in line, you can strike up a conversation and that guy might live three doors down from you," he said. "There you go, you've got a new friend."
The presence of selective living groups may also create divides, quad council representatives said.
"To some extent, selective living groups isolate stuff," said sophomore David Asher, an Edens quad council representative. "[Quad events are] something neutral that everyone is welcome at, which is the best part of it-it does foster some interaction between people we wouldn't normally see."
Sophomore Molly Bierman, a Kilgo quad representative, said that having representatives from selective living groups on the quad council helps to encourage the groups' members to participate in quad events.
Attendance at quad events
Many quad council representatives have reported consistent resident attendance at events this semester, especially at barbecues-a staple quad program.
Sophomore Kevin Thompson, a Craven Quadrangle council representative, said all the food provided was gone by the end of the quad's first barbecue.
He said this indicated a good attendance, estimating that approximately 250 to 300 students showed up.
Other quad council representatives also reported high attendance at their quad barbecues, although estimated numbers ranged from 60 to 200.
Sophomore Ashley Banks, a Crowell Quadrangle council representative, said barbecues easily attract people because of their centralized locations.
"A lot of people won't necessarily travel somewhere to be with people they live with," Banks said. "Barbecues are really good-people just come outside."
But quad events encompass more than just barbecues. For instance, the Wannamaker Quadrangle council hosted a number of breakfasts on Saturday mornings during tailgate this semester.
"A lot of people came by," said sophomore Zach Goodman, a Wannamaker quad council representative. "Over half of the dorm was at one point at the breakfast."
Attendance at other events, however, is not as high.
A laser-tag trip the Kilgo quad council was planning was cancelled due to a lack of interest from its residents, with only five to 10 people signing up, Bierman said.
Similarly, sophomore June Choi, a Keohane Quadrangle council representative, said only five residents attended a movie night hosted by the quad council.
"It was really poorly attended-people got bored and just left," Choi said, adding that the lack of interest could partly be due to low publicity and the location of the commons room.
Quad council representatives cited more advertisement, interesting programming, free giveaways and centralized location as possible ways to help increase the number of attendants at quad events.
Requirements for quad programming
Funding for quad events comes from students' residential fees. Quad council representatives said funds are allocated based on the number of residents that will benefit from the event.
"We do a qualitative assessment on whether it is worth spending the money given how many or how few people plan on showing up," Bierman said.
Lo Biondo said that in the 1999-2000 academic year, Campus Council imposed new requirements on quad councils to ensure they were better serving all members of the community.
Quad council representatives said each council must host two community interaction, two cultural, three faculty interaction, two wellness and five social interaction events per semester.
"We want to see groups doing different kinds of programs," Ganatra said. "We want to make sure not all the money is being spent on free food and quad T-shirts, although those things are great."
Quad council representatives said they do not feel restricted by these requirements, although they push them to think outside of the box.
"It gets hard to come up with creative ways to incorporate good ideas," Bierman said. "When you get really creative, it gets weird and harder to attract students."
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