Thanks to Residence Life and Student Housing, SMU is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.After a month of planning, the north quad residence halls celebrated their first annual Christmas decorating competition Nov. 20.

“We wanted to create a sense of community amongst the halls,” says Amy Schofield, Virginia Snider Residence Hall Director.

Students living in Virginia Snider, Shuttles, Boaz, Peyton and Mary Hay spent the weekend hanging posters, ribbons, and other festive ornamentation in hopes of earning coveted spirit recognition.

Lucky for Shuttles residents, their hard work paid off. Residence Life and Student Housing staff members Christina Yao and Amber Kosik granted the hall first place.

“We liked Shuttles because of the combination of the outdoor decorations as well as the lobby decorations,” says Kosik. “It was obvious they put a lot of effort into them.”

Students wrapped the first-place building in multi-colored gift packaging and bows to look like small Christmas presents. Inside they had a tree that was “decked to the nines,” Kosik says.Judging took place in the north quad area around 5:30 p.m. last Monday. Students gathered for cookies and hot chocolate while the results were tallied.

“It was nice to see the communities embrace the Christmas spirit,” says Yao, Assistant Director for RLSH. The officers hoped to do some caroling, but the cold weather drew a smaller turn-out.

“I think as the tradition progresses residents will become more dedicated,” said Kosik, Cockrell McIntosh Residence Hall Director. “The competition was successful for its first year.”

In honor of their effort, Shuttles residents received a plaque with their hall name engraved on it. The winner of the competition will be added to the plaque each year.