Freshmen face off in dorm competition

We attend classes in a suspiciously castle-like building, and some of us might even live in… We attend classes in a suspiciously castle-like building, and some of us might even live in towers. But it’s the First-Year Cup, a competition among freshmen resident halls, which most firmly cements Pitt’s tie to the magic academy’s annual Hogwarts House Cup.’ The First Year Cup is a program for first-years (a Harry Potter-esque, politically correct term for freshmen) that was established last year by Residence Life and Student Life. Students earn points by attending various social and educational campus-wide events, and the winner is the hall with the most points at the end of the term. A cup is given out both fall semester and spring semester, which means that there are two chances for each hall to achieve glory in the form of a trophy that is the hall’s to display. Last year this accolade went to the Quad and Tower A for fall and spring term, respectively. There are additional personal prizes distributed throughout the year, as well as that essential element of attracting college students to any event of any kind: free food. ‘The Cup is basically to promote all the events we have on campus and help first-years get integrated into the University and feel pride in their residents’ halls,’ said Dawna Jones who, with Johanna Novacky, is in charge of the FYC program. This year, with the introduction of the Outside the Classroom Curriculum program, students can earn OCC credit for attendance at each event as well. Somewhat perplexingly, however, all FYC events are OCC events, but not all OCC events are FYC events. Karin Asher, who is the assistant director of Residence Life, explained, ‘We try to highlight programs for the FYC of specific interest to first-year students from different areas in the Outside the Classroom Curriculum, as well as social programs.’ Jocelyn Cilik, a staff member of Student Life, said, ‘We plan at least two or three events a month ‘mdash; one that we create, one that’s already established and one that we co-sponsor with another University organization. It’s sort of an extended orientation process for new students because there’s so much activity in the first week in school, and we want to keep them involved and connected.’ The eight residence halls with significant freshmen populations participate, and commuter students participate as well, a least in theory. ‘Unfortunately, it’s hard to get [students who live off campus] to evening programs, but we’re hoping to see more in the future,’ said Jones. The ranking system is based on percentages rather than on the actual number of attendees as a way to prevent the more populated halls from having an unfair advantage. Currently, Forbes Hall is in the lead with 21 percent of the total first-year participation, Tower A is in second with 17 percent, and Tower B is close behind with 16 percent.’ Holland is in fourth with 14 percent, Tower C and Sutherland are tied with 11 percent each, Lothrop has 9 percent, and the Quad has 8 percent. FYC events are promoted on Facebook and with fliers posted around campus. ‘The FYC logo seems to be a stamp that students recognize now,’ says Cilik.’ Asher attributes the success to kicking off the FYC during new student orientation, which exposed students to the program earlier. ‘There’s been a huge increase in attendance this year compared to last year,’ said Asher. ‘They saw the quality and were excited.’ Tailgates before the football games have been some of the best attended events, at least partially because of the popularity of student season tickets this year. Other events have included the PPC Bonfire and Pep Rally, the volunteer fair, the international fair and Pitt Make-A-Difference-Day. The final events of the season will be the Bowling and Bingo Extravaganza that will be held at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association on Nov. 21 and ‘Stay up with the Cup,’ a program co-sponsored by the Academic Resource Center and Pitt Program Council that is geared toward finals prep.’ ‘All the major rooms in the student union will be open for quiet study and group tutoring. There will also be snacks and stress relief activities,’ says Asher of the Stay up with the Cup event. The winner for fall semester will be announced in January at the kickoff event of the spring semester FYC programs, which is rumored to be a breakfast karaoke event at Nordy’s. Programs in the works for spring semester include a Pitt Arts co-sponsored event, a program for Black History Month and a sexual health program around Valentine’s Day.