Sarah Shelton – Features Editor
The 80s was brought back to life when Resident Hall Association, RHA, and Recreation and Fitness, Recfit, teamed up to have a glow skate event.
On Thursday, Oct. 7, the basketball court by the parking garage and Wilkinson hall was full of glow-in-the-dark panels and rental skates, and right outside the court were free t-shirts and Dippin’ Dots.
“The Resident Hall Association, also known as RHA, is a board of Southern students who basically get together and make events for residents on campus. We advocate for changes, and things like that,” communication disorders major Alonna Thompson, a junior, said. “So we put on an annual roller skating event every year.”
Thompson said how this event works is, RHA and Recfit reach out to a vendor who provide the skates and panels and even though Recfit has access to the campus gym, she believes the easiest place to set all of this up is the basketball court.
“The basketball court is in the residence quad area so most of the residents live on this side of campus, so this is the area that is easily accessible by walking or a car,” Thompson said. “So we do the basketball court because it is enough space for us to layout the panels for all of the residents to roller skate.”
The panels in which to skate on seemed to only cover half of the basketball court this year, which early childhood education major Josie Kendrick, a sophomore, points out.
“I’ve roller skated but I’m not good,” Kendrick said. “It definitely looks cool, I like the lights, it was bigger last year though. It was the full court instead of half the court which is kind of, not disappointing, but different because I was expecting the full court.
As the skates were handed back, they were sprayed down by RHA workers to be handed out again. They were organized by different sizes on the side of the court next to the panels.
“I am handing out skates, but I’m also making sure everyone is having a good time right now skating,” said communication major Alex Grant, a junior.
Grant said he enjoys putting on events like this, and this particular event is always successful.
“We did it [the event] last year and it was very popular with the residents so we thought why not try it again and it was a success,” Grant said. “We had 250 entries and they’re all full.”
The only problem which seemed to arise was when Grant had to announce to stay on the pad so students do not get injured on the concrete, but otherwise, it was a pretty easy and safe event.
So far we haven’t had any issues and everyone is having a great time,” Grant said.
One student, health science major Ange Bamureke, a freshman, only had one suggestion: the time slots should be longer.
The way this event worked, students had to sign up for a 45 minute time slot from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
“They should make it an hour or two,” Bamureke said. “I feel helpless and I hate feeling that way. I want to learn.”
However, she still had fun trying to learn how to skate, since she never had before. She said she was struggling, but still loved it.
“I wanted to try something new,” Bamureke said.
