The Residence Hall Association members will be hosting their ninth annual weeklong competition, ROCFest Monday through Friday.

Each day, students within the residence halls and Geek Court will be able to participate in competitions of the day. 

Every competition will provide points for their hall, which ultimately might win them the RHA award. 

Residence hall students will be pit against other hall members in order to win their hall the ROCFest guitar with signatures of all the winners from previous years.

Mark Hudson, the director of Housing and Dining, said this will create a bond and memories between students in the residence halls. 

“It is an opportunity to put the gas in the motor of your community,” Hudson said. “It puts a face on RHA.”

Each hall is designated a specific theme for the week, for instance Pemberton Hall’s theme is “Rockin’ the Red Carpet” while Thomas will be “Rockin’ around the clock.”

These themes dictate the window paintings for their hall. 

Two RHA advisers and two executive board members will judge the residence halls on their window paintings at 8:30 p.m. Monday.

The RHA Vice President Patrick Morrow, who is running the event, said the judges have not been decided yet. 

The RHA will kick off ROCFest week with the Boat Relay Race at 5 p.m. Monday at the Campus Pond.

In the race, students from each hall will be racing their cardboard and duct tape boats through the cold pond water in hopes they will win as well as not sink. 

Only five people from each hall can participate in the race. 

However, others from the halls can be there to sign up and cheer on the participants in the competition, which will provide points for their hall.

There will be two launchers and three drivers per team. 

Some changes were made this year to ROCFest including the addition of the RHA community service component.

The RHA executive board will be presenting an item drive for Camp New Hope.

The RHA Secretary Dawn Howe said they will be donating items to New Hope because they provide the RHA members with a setting for their Fall Retreat.

Camp New Hope has a list of items wanted for donation are provided on the Camp New Hope website.

“The items really are not expensive,” Howe said. “The most expensive thing they have on (the list) is the Wii games.”

The scavenger hunt at 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday has been reworked as well.

Those caught following the executive board when they are hiding the “Panther Babies,” which are small origami panthers that will be strewn across campus, will be disqualified.

The obstacle course is another big competition for ROCFest. 

Teams of four from each hall will have to run as fast as they can through an inflatable obstacle course at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the South Quad.

The ROCFest week will end with their closing picnic 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, which will have food and entertainment such as inflatable jousting. 

Jarad Jarmon can be reached at 581-2812 or jsjarmon@eiu.edu.