Hall Councils Come Together for Mardi Gras

The Hall Councils of Loeb and 13th Street came together to host a Mardi Gras party at Loeb on Fat Tuesday 2012.

There was a live band of New School students, plenty of green, yellow and purple decorations, and food for all to enjoy.  The night was topped off with authentic king cakes ordered from the Mardi Gras capital, New Orleans, Louisiana.

The event really brought the two buildings together, creating a successful and well attended multipurpose program (social and multicultural) and encouraged collaboration between buildings, using the resources and talents of  both the Hall Councils and RAs.

- Laissez les bons temps rouler 

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.

Hall Councils Come Together to Exchange Ideas and Inspire

Sunday, December 4, all The New School Housing Hall Councils gathered at Loeb Hall for the Annual Fall Summit to discuss and exchange ideas. Each hall attended with representatives from their respective Hall Councils. Everyone was able to hear what each building had been doing this semester, discuss the qualities that make up a good hall council, exchange programming ideas and plan for next semester.

It was a very successful program that allowed the individual buildings to put names with faces and open up to collaboration for the spring semester.

The event was coordinated by Joelle Riffle, RA and Hall Council Adviser at Loeb Hall, with assistance from Allysha Fabe, also an RA and HC advisor at Loeb. The event was also attended by Loeb's Hall Director, Chasity Wilson and William Street's Graduate Hall Coordinator for William Street, David Howe.

For more pictures, visit the Loeb Hall Facebook Page 

Special Interest Community Highlight: Alison Schuettinger, 20th Street Green Community

Originally from Fredrick, MD, Ali is currently a second year masters student studying psychology. She is interested in applying psychology to environmental sustainability in order to combat global warming using behavior change. Ali’s interest in being a Special Interest Community R.A came from her interest in living a sustainable lifestyle and how that relates to well being.

Q. What is your favorite part about the 20th Street Green Community?
A. The garden, the people that care.

Q. What has been your favorite program with your community?
A. I conducted environmental health and safety inspections right after (the regular health and safety inspections) and people paid attention to the signs I posted on doors and turning off lights and AC and unplugging electronic devices when not in use. One resident in 2F had all lamps, devices unplugged with cords out on floor and nothing left on. I will conduct these monthly.

Q. What’s one goal you have for your community?
A. For residents to use less energy. For students to become aware of environmental concerns and become aware of environmental concerns and easy behaviors they can acquire in their lifestyle that produce zero to less carbon emissions (compost, recycle properly, take the stairs)

Q. What is the most memorable thing that has happened in your community?
A. The first week this resident who I had just met volunteered to stand by compost bins and educate students that all NS products are biodegradable and organic waste can be thrown away in compost not landfill.

Q. What is your dream, no-budget, no restriction program?
A. To measure the ecological footprint of the (20th Street) Green floor. We applied for green fund, let’s hope we get it.

Introducing The Program Perks Card

So you have a coffee perks card, you have a deli perks card and now you can have a Program Perks Card!

What is the Program Perks Card? It is a card you get stamped for the different types of programs you attend in the residence halls over the term. Once your card is full (one stamp for each program type) you return your card to your residence hall office for a chance to win a $100 gift card!

There is one catch - you have to have your card full and returned to the hall office by December 9th, but with all the cool programs going on every week in the halls, getting a full card will be easy and fun!

Program posters will start to carry the following logos to let you know what you will get a stamp for, so keep an eye out.


If you have any questions contact your hall office, ask your RA, or you ask about the card at the next program you attend.