"Interhall Council is supporting the event, but each hall council is closely supporting our efforts," IHC chairperson Vanessa Witt '07 said.

Each residence hall council toured the rooms nominated by either the inhabitants or their friends. All the councils in each residence hall then judged by a set list of criteria. The judges looked at creativity, whether a room was inviting, use of space, coordination of furniture or colors and comfort.

First place winners of each hall received $20 Target gift cards and second place winners received $10 gift cards. All winners were then entered into the All Hall competition between all the winners from each of the residence halls. There will be a winners’ showcase on March 6 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. IHC will do the final judging that day, and the winners will be announced March 7.

IHC hopes that the tours of the rooms will encourage students, especially first years, to look at other residence halls on campus, especially as room draw approaches.

"Many of us have not scoped out our potential rooms for next year and this would be a great opportunity for us to see rooms in Larson, Hilleboe, et cetera," Kildahl Hall president and creator of the competition Karl Olson ‘08 said.

Olson said the idea for the competition arose after chatting with friends. "Mike Burrows ['07] and I were sitting at my kitchen table over Christmas Break and we were talking about rooms," Olson said. "Mike said if there was a contest between rooms, he would surely win."

Olson proposed the idea at the next IHC meeting and "everybody thought it was a great idea," Olson said.

IHC had been looking for new ways to engage the entire campus, according to Witt. "IHC is trying to expand our realm of service to the St. Olaf community by incorporating more programming," she said.

IHC is encouraging all students to view the rooms on March 6.

"Who knows," Olson said. “It could be your future room."

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