East Hall, the new residential hall that opened up this fall for upperclassmen, has found some of its very first hall presidents. With a total of 11 halls in East Hall, each one must elect members for their hall government. Seeing as East Hall has just opened this year, however, those elected have more say in the culture and traditions than those elected into established halls.
One of the elected hall presidents is Sean Willoughby, a second-year student studying robotic engineering. He was elected on Aug. 26, with his hall still deciding a name for itself. When asked about how it felt being one of the first hall presidents for East Hall, Willoughby said, “It’s fun. I like the responsibility of it” and that “It’s nice to have that kind of like, appreciation, and feel seen from the rest of the people in the hall.” When asked what his plans were, Sean brought up how his old hall at DHH had previously bonded by doing sidewalk chalk and other lawn games, which he wanted to emulate.
Additionally, Willoughby also wanted to help the residents of his hall by providing more storage. “[T]he new furniture in East Hall is wonderful. …[I]t’s modern, but modern also loves minimalism, and minimalism loves getting rid of storage and so now nobody has any storage, so I’d like to give storage back to the people,” explained Sean.
The resident assistant of Sean’s hall, Jordyn Hoffman, was confident in Sean’s abilities. “I think Sean’s going to do absolutely amazing. I think he’s got a lot of good ideas and a lot of good plans that I can really see him going and following through with.”
Another one of the new presidents in East Hall is Nathan Lithgrow, a second-year student studying both mechanical and computer engineering. He was also elected on Aug. 26, for the hall Waterdeep. When asked how it felt being one of the first presidents, Lithgrow said, “I’m excited to start some traditions and do some things for the first time, and I think East Hall Council could be a super cool experience.” Lithgrow also expressed excitement towards writing the first founding documents and initiating the first events for the East Hall Council.
When asked about any traditions Lithgrow wanted to pursue, he commented that he wanted to do something similar to the Wadsworth Hall traditions, like Weenie Wednesday or the Coffee House. “Anything like that that would bring East Hall together seems super cool.”
Ryan Childers, the resident assistant of Waterdeep, was supportive of Lithgrow and his new position, saying, “I like that he has some traditions in mind that he wants to start” and “I’m glad he has the ambition, especially with East Hall Council, getting those documents written, setting the precedent for that and all that that entails.”
Any resident of East Hall who wants to join the East Hall Hall Council E-board can attend the first council meeting being held on Sep. 9 at 8 p.m.
