February's Program of the Month - Now and Then: The History of Black Music

Stuyvesant Park RA Bianca Mills' program "Now and Then: The History of Black Music" was a program about exactly that.

In honor of Black History Month, Bianca thought it would be interesting as well as important to depict how music played a role in African American Culture both in the past and the present. The program was a semi-elaborate way of comparing and contrasting the similarities of today's music with the music from the past. Everything was covered, from old time Jazz to current Hip-Hop, Rap, and R&B.

In order to best capture the essence of what Bianca wanted to portray, she asked Music Professor Richard Harper to come in as a guest speaker to educate residents about the different messages that music sends in Black Culture. Having him as part of the program is one of the things that made it so successful. He is very knowledge on the topic and new exactly how to bring this program full circle.

Another reason this program brought great success is because there was just the right balance of hands on interaction and discussion as well as learning. Since the program covered music from both the present and the past, residents were able to learn a few things as well as relate and participate.

In addition to all of the elements of the program itself, the overall success of the program heightened from the contributions of Dan Spicer, Alex Gleason, and Jacob Hernandez. They were all there to lend a helping hand as well as give their input to make this program possible.

January's Program of the Month - Begin.Eat.Balance

Soon after the January new student check-in, the William Street RAs put together a program designed to help the 60+ new students start off on the right foot academically, and also to adapt to some of the special challenges that living at William Street presents for new students. 

The program, "Begin.Eat.Balance", consisted two distinct parts. The first phase featured several different "stations" around the student lounge, each offering different information and one-on-one counseling to help new residents begin the semester properly. Some of these stations included a table with information on where to purchase cheap art supplies, a table with information and counseling on time management and organization, a table with subway information and maps, and a table with information and assistance just for the new Pace University students living amongst our New School students. 

The second phase consisted of a fun "cooking show", where three RAs provided recipes and showed new residents how to use the convections ovens located in each apartment. A convection oven was brought down to the lounge, printed copies of recipes including gnocchi, cornbread, and chili were provided, and residents got to actually sample the tasty delight of each of these. 

Later on, all recipes were posted on the very active William Street facebook page. All in all, this program served a great need, and was a blast for all involved!

Here are some of the great resources from the event:

A list of ingredients for a great meal for 10 under $10!

December's Programs of the Month - 20th Street and Stuy Park

We tried and tried, but with the great programs that happened in December we couldn’t pick just one!

Here are the 2 programs that tied for Program of the Month for December 2011:

20th Street – Loving Lampposts

RAs from the 20th Street staff, led by, Joel Arken, and in collaboration with Hall Council, screened the film "Loving Lampposts" in November 2011.

This film is about the autism spectrum and the many responses to the crisis of autism diagnoses and was shown to a group of residents in the 20th Street Residence Hall. After the film, there was an hour-long discussion about representations of people on the autism spectrum and the different strategies to better understand autism. Several residents had experience working in nonprofits or having family members on the spectrum, so there were many diverse experiences that helped shape a fascinating discussion. Due to the success of this event, a follow-up program might take place in the spring semester!

Stuyvesant Park – Be Good, Be Green, Be Glamorous!


Stuyvesant Park RA, Ayanna Heaven, noticed that our students have a passion for clothing and for sustainability. She saw this as a great need for students to be given different options for accumulating clothing and introduce a new way of thinking about consumerism. The idea of a Stuyvesant Park clothing swap event was born!

When a student gave an article of clothing, he/she received an entry ticket to come to the event. After 2 days of clothing collection, the big swap event occurred on November 17th. At the event, the clothing and accessories were arranged on racks and tables in a retail fashion. The Stuyvesant Park Study Lounge was truly transformed into a clothing boutique. It was very reminiscent of a Fashion's Night Out event, promoting residents to give pieces so that they were given a ticket to come. There were hors-d'oeuvres, music, and goody bags at the event for them. Residents seemed to really dig the clothes that they got, and it was a good turnout.

Help for Haiti is just beginning at William Street

The tragedy in Haiti is receiving less media coverage than it did a month ago, the devastation is far from being settled. The William Street residents and staff know that and have set three major goals for the semester to help raise funds for relief.

In January, William Street students and staff met to discuss how they could make a difference and help the people of Haiti. The discussion turned into a series of fundraising events that will take place throughout the semester with all proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders.

The first event is the Valentine's Day candygrams that will be sold and distributed for Valentine's Day (and the totals are in and they've raised over $200!), the second will be a silent auction of donated student work and the third is a proposed 5K fun run/walk in collaboration with the Office of Recreation and Intramural sports (more info to come).

A huge thanks goes out the RAs responsible for making this Program of the Month Happen! Emily Markley, Iskander Ahmed and Jackie Delsandro all lead the way with a great amount of help from the residents of William Street. Keep an eye in William Street and your hall for more events to support this great cause.

Want to know how you can get involved in planing a fundraising event in your hall? Talk to any Res. Life staff member in your hall or look for the green logo (above) on flyers around the building. This indicates that proceeds from that event will go to benefit Haiti relief efforts.

Thanks William Street residents and staff and congratulations on receiving Program of The Month!

The Moon is Brighter at 20th Street

Congratulations to Kristina Koelle and Morgane Moulherat, the 20th Street RAs who implemented the November Program of The Month - "Moon over Manhattan"! The event was co-sponsored by William Street RA, Jeff Barton, 20th Street Hall Council, The ActiveMinds student organization and New School staff members Eric Garrison and Mike Corbett.

Students who attended this event were provided with a relaxing environment where they learned techniques that focused on health and wellness and taking care of ones self during tough academic times such as mid-terms and finals. Active Minds, a peer health education group on campus, worked with the RAs to make "mar-TEA-ni's" (tea-based mocktails). Students also found a stress ball-making station set up for them and were invited to participate in a live Jazz session.

Having staff members at this event allowed opportunities for residents to speak with professionals at the University to learn more about campus resources and how residents can find support throughout the year when times get tough. Among the resources discussed were The University Writing Center, Student Health Services and Career Development.

Runners up for November's program of the month include:
Rock Band Night at 13th Street hosted by RA Mark Josephson and the 13th Street Hall Council; Flava of Loeb sponsored by the Loeb Hall staff; Poetry Slam at William Street sponsored by RA, Jeff Barton and resident Imani Sutton; and Dodgeball at Stuy Park hosted by RAs Markesha McCoy and Katie Saunders. Congratulations everyone!

October’s Program of the Month Proves: There’s No Place Like Home…on Halloween!

A round of applause goes out to October’s Program of the Month at Stuyvesant Park Residence, where each floor participated in a Halloween Decorating Contest. The result? An eclectic hodgepodge of spooky, silly, and spectacular hallway artwork!

And while each floor had an original budget for their decorating supplies, some thought outside the box and used recycled materials, making for a sensational yet sustainable outcome!

Pat Pellicano, the RA on the 6^th floor, knew just what to do with all of those leftover Trader Joe’s paper bags, which helped his floor tie for first place. Reversed, cut and pasted, the bags became the ground to the floor’s videogame fantasy ‘Mushroom Kingdom’ theme, which included eye-popping walls of tinfoil, yellow stars, and a sneaky Princess Peach inside the trash chute! Hey, the rules never indicated that the decorations had to be scary!

Also sharing the win was the first floor, who took their festivities to a theatrical level. RA Ariel Redmond watched her residents collaborate in a rousing rendition of the murder mystery, ‘Clue.’ The judges were escorted by a butler and maid into a dining room full of hors d'oeuvres, until a sudden scream stopped everyone in their tracks. A once lovely Miss Scarlet hung from the rafters, while a mysterious body was found sprawled out on the carpet. Passing down the hall, one saw how residents had utilized their bed frames and doorways as jail cells to contain any suspects in the crime. Red hands and questionable faces were everywhere among this floor’s creepy creativity!

But what made this program a success was not the array of cobwebs, fake blood, and plastic road-kill (gross!) alone. The true key to success? Teamwork. This was the first program of the year where an entire residence hall got involved, and it showed. RAs did their part in tying the event to the larger community of New York City, offering holiday safety tips for residents during their individual floor meetings. Hall Council stepped up to the creative challenge as well with floor liaisons helping delegate tasks, and healthily competitive attitudes from residents made it all happen!

Congrats to all for helping make Stuyvesant Park a funky, fun-filled community. You rock!

For a photo-recap of this program, check out the New School’s Stuyvesant Park fan page on Facebook (http://tiny.cc/1031SPR).

Special congratulations to RAs Nina Barry and Elaha Astanaha over at Loeb Hall, whose Art Therapy program placed them in second place for October’s Program of the Month!

September Program of the Month

Congratulations to Liz Irwin, Loeb Hall RA, for her September program about Self-Defense!

Liz and fellow RA Markesha McCoy (Stuy Park) introduced special guest, self-defense instructor Primwatee Groover (Prim) in the Loeb Hall art studio on September 9th. Prim was invited to teach residents how to defend themselves in threatening sitations, become more aware of the increased risk of attacks in the first few weeks of school and learn facts about New York City attacks. A former trainer to Olympic fighters and world champions, Prim volunteered her time outside of her studies as a student at The New School for General Studies.

In addition to Prim's presentation, those in attendance were given information about a local organization, Safe Horizon, whose mission it is to provide support, prevent violence, and promote justice for victims of crime and abuse, their families and communities. Donations were collected for the organization as well. Learn more about Safe Horizon by visiting their website at: http://www.safehorizon.org/

Great job, Liz!