Each year, Pitt-Johnstown Housing staff members conduct programs  to keep residents informed and involved.

Oak Hall Resident Director Nolan McGuire said that, each semester, budgets are set for programs to cover expenses.

He said that, if a resident director has a program idea, they must get it approved by their area coordinator and turn it into the Housing Office.

Resident assistants receive approval from resident directors and area coordinators before finalizing the program.

McGuire said some of his programs this semester include a fire-safety program and a drunken-driving program.

“Next month, I’m also having the police come in for a drug-and-alcohol awareness program,” he said.

Hemlock Hall Resident Director Stephen Torquato is to host a Murder Mystery event at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Cambria Room.

The program began three years ago and is an original idea of Torquato’s with the help of a few residents.

“I am so excited that this event has become a campus tradition that students look forward to each semester,” he said.

Torquato writes, casts and directs the mystery each year. Work begins in the summer and rehearsal starts early ffall semester.

The event includes a three-act play with a student cast. Students participate by asking questions about the crime. At the end of the play, students turn in a form for their accusation, and the mystery is revealed.

Previous mystery themes have included “Monster Mash and Murder” and “Clue: the Murder Mystery.” This semester’s mystery is “Once Upon a Time: A Murder in the Enchanted Forest.”