The Lincoln Hall Council Executive Board members wanted to put together a program for residents to get to know the current Hall Council Executive Board and other important members of the community. The idea of a social program was best fit for their goal starting the new school year.

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The Lincoln Hall Executive Board decided to have an opening program instead of a meeting to start out the school year. The idea of a social program came to mind first. The ideas of members start flowing in and the one that stood out the most was an ice cream social. Instead of having all of the toppings in one area with the ice cream, the Executive Board wanted to make it a traveling ice cream social. The social would start in the pit of Lincoln Hall and work its way through the floors. The Hall Council President started with the ice cream. The Resident Assistants of each floor and other Executive Board members had an ice cream cone door decoration on their door. The residents then traveled to each door with an ice cream bowl to find the toppings best fit for their taste. Each room they stopped at gave the residents an opportunity to interact with the Resident Assistants and current Executive Board members. They were then familiar with where the Resident Assistant rooms were located, as well as, what Hall Council has to offer. After receiving the different toppings, the residents of Lincoln Hall could eat their ice cream in the pit of Lincoln or take it back to their rooms. The residents that chose to go back down to the pit, then received more information about Hall Council opportunities and what positions were available.

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The goals of the Ice Cream Social Program were to allow time for residents to interact with each other, get to know current Hall Council Executive Board members, find the location of all the Resident Assistant's rooms, and enjoy a big bowl of ice cream. The Hall Council Executive Board wanted to reach out to get more residents excited about Hall Council and introduce the positions available in the following weeks meeting. They also wanted to form a bond with the Resident Assistants and work with them to show we can make a great team. The Resident Assistants were able to support them and get residents involved on their floors.

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The positive effects of the Ice Cream Social Program were getting residents out of their safe environment and into the opportunities to get involved within the Residence Halls. Week one of the school year is always stressful and overwhelming for students, so this program allowed them to take time to relax and socialize with other residents within Lincoln Hall. The Hall Council Executive Board will now have new members to fill the space needed on the Executive Board and more members to attend programs. The environment was very welcoming and provided great information to carry throughout the school year. Residents asked questions about Hall Council and questions to each other.

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After the program, the Executive Board received two residents interested in being on Hall Council. The residents wanted more information about the Vice President position and the Publicity Chair. If this program was not created, then residents would not have known what positions were available and what the positions require. The program was successful in getting residents out of their rooms and interacting with each other. I believe this program made a significant impact on residents and their interest in getting involved at Eastern Illinois University. The Hall Council Executive worked hard in getting this program ready so early in the school year. Part of this planning took place before residents even arrived for the 2012- 2013 school year.

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This program could be adapted by creating a program like this to get residents informed about Hall Council. Some residence halls struggle with getting residents to be involved on campus. I believe this program was very informative and could easily be adapted on other campuses. It worked best in a community where there was no elevator separating the floors. A way to change this would be to have the toppings at different locations on campus, so residents can get familiar with the program. Another idea would be to have stations where they go around a room to get informed by different leaders in that community. This program is a well known socializing program, but Lincoln Hall Council Executive Board put a twist on it to achieve the purpose of the event.

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