I was wondering what type of social events your house council held every so often? For example, we held a Super Bowl party with buffalo chicken dip, which was pretty fun.
My only idea included random activities on Friday/Saturday nights from like 9-12 to give people other options besides partying. Movies/TV shows, group activities, circle discussions about anything, etc. I’m just not sure if the CA/RA’s would approve of my idea due to the late hours, but honestly, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea.
I know that my friend had a ramen party. Essentially all they did was make huge pots of noodles and just hung out. I bet they only paid like $20 to cook all the food. If you guys did that every night you bet that I would be stopping by every night cause of free food.
Actually ask your RAs if they would help publicize your ideas… I would include Board Game night, Movie Night, Video game night (if feasible), Ethnic food nights (mexican, etc), or watching a sports game
During my freshman year our RAs used to host nights where we would watch a few episodes of Friends and then do little circle discussions about friendships and relationships. Sounds cheesy but it was actually kind of cute and fun and definitely helpful for that phase where you’re just starting out in college and trying to navigate your old relationships and new ones. So theme nights like that might be fun!
Once upon a time, when the drinking age in Connecticut was 18, my freshman hall did an international wine and cheese night fairly early first semester. We bought wines and cheeses from lots of different countries (the school had funds available for hall programs), nothing terribly expensive, of course. We put a little table in the door of each room, each with one kind of wine and one kind of cheese. We invited a couple of other freshman halls. It started with all of us more or less manning the table in our own room and the guests wandering from room to room, but eventually we left our rooms. It wasn’t about getting drunk, it was about trying a bunch of different things and meeting a bunch of new people. It was a fun evening. Also, I met the really cute guy I dated for the rest of the year, so, all in all, a success!
So maybe something like that with non-alcoholic beverages.
Cheeses and non-alcoholic cocktails.
Baked goods and hot chocolates, coffees and teas.
You can also take advantage of what is available in the local community. I was at UMiami so a group of RAs arrange for us to go out on a sailboat. They used the meal cards to get to-go sandwiches bags from the cafeteria and we carpooled to the marina. I remember the cost was very low.
Look to see what seasonal festivals,or farmer’s markets occur near your school.
I like the idea above of board game and card games nights since they are cheap, easy and can include lots of people. You could do late night waffles or pancakes since they are cheap to make for a group.