By Rory Dulock | Staff Writer
While every residence hall on Baylor’s campus boasts its own traditions for its residents to participate in, there is only one that offers Sunday community dinners every week and Tuesday Tea with their faculty steward: Brooks Residential College.
Dr. Rishi Sriram, faculty steward of Brooks Residential College, said it is his job to help lead the residential college, which houses freshmen through seniors, and to serve as a mentor, resource and sense of support. Sriram said he is also there to help them integrate their academic, social and spiritual lives.
“A residential college seeks to bring holistic integration into students’ lives where the very place they live is where they can learn, where they can make friends and where they can encounter God to deepen their faith,” Sriram said. “And I have the joy and privilege of getting to be a part of that.”
According to Sriram, the residential college honors many traditions throughout the academic year and is the only residence hall to have Sunday community dinners every week. Every Sunday night, the Brooks Great Hall is closed to campus except for residents as they eat their community dinner.
“We have a meal together, and it is served family style rather than a typical dining serving situation,” Sriram said. “It is meant to symbolize that we’re a family, that we’re a community and to really help students get to enjoy one another’s presence. We also often invite a guest from the Baylor community or beyond the Baylor community to come join us for dinner so that students can meet a leader on campus or a leader from the Waco community.”
Another tradition is held every Tuesday at 4 p.m., where Sriram opens his home for what is called Tuesday Tea. The same guest that would be at dinner on Sunday night comes to Tuesday Tea and speaks to students for about 15 minutes on a topic of their choosing. What follows is 15 minutes of questions and discussion with the speaker. Sriram said there’s always food, and students come and go throughout.
In the fall semester, there is an event called Brooks Extravaganza, where the different floors compete against each other in a variety of activities. The events range from ping pong, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, dodgeball and even a Smash Brothers tournament, Sriram said.
In the spring, three residential colleges compete against each other in a tradition called the Tri-College Tournament, which pays homage to “Harry Potter’s” Tri-Wizard Tournament. The three residential colleges compete in ultimate frisbee, volleyball and other games to win the trophy.
Houston junior Annalyn Henry, community leader for the Brooks Residential College, said she has the opportunity to work and mentor both fellow CLs and students at Brooks Residential College. One of the events she is familiar with is Open Door Night. The event is every Thursday night at 9 p.m., and all the community leaders put it on for the residents.
“Our events look different depending on the week,” Henry said. “We try to incorporate learning goals — so self-advocacy, intellect, all of those things — and we incorporate that into events so that residents can get connected with each other. It’s a really great way to socialize.”
Brooks Residential College also has a college council, Henry said. The council is a group of students that have been selected from the previous year that put on events throughout the year. According to Henry, there are four major committees. Once committee focuses on community and traditions, another on recreation and leisure, another on arts, culture and academics. The last focuses on service and ministry.
“We have a weekly Bible study that meets, and they go through a specific book of the Bible and talk through it with other residents. It’s a great way to grow in your faith and community with residents here at Brooks [Residential] College,” Henry said. “They also do service events throughout the year. They do real talks where they’ll watch a movie and discuss it afterwards. We also do poetry songs and pastries, which is a fun one where we have people come and they present a poem or a song that really resonates with them. Yule Ball and May Ball are really big traditions for Brooks College.”
What makes Brooks unique is how many events there are, and Brooks is always doing something, Henry said. Because of the amount of events, Brooks has a strong community among freshmen and upperclassmen.
“I would say that these traditions really [are] what builds our strong sense of community here at Brooks,” Henry said. “We’re always experiencing life together, and it’s really sweet to see.”
