I'm not sure how your school does it, but at my school, the intellectual/educational events invloved guest speakers. Some of the ideas I used that might be helpful:
* Self Defense - we invited a police officer from our local police department and it involved an entire one hour session. He taught us several self defense moves and the residents loved it.
*Jazzercise - We invited instuctors from our local Jazzercise center. They gave a short speech about health and nutrition and then led our entire group of residents into an hour Jazzercise session. Keep in mind I worked at an all-female hall, so maybe that's why we got a big turnout!
Some social programming events (also keep in mind this is an all female hall!)
Usually for *all* programs, we do "icebreakers" so if the girls don't already know each other, they can get somewhat aquainted.
*Mardi Gras - All the girls made their Mardi Gras masks, had a bead toss, and ate Lousiana-style food
*Dorm Decorating (although "Dorm" is a no-no word.. it's supposed to be a
residence hall .. you'll hear that at TRHA or SWACURH conferences

) - For this social, we went to a local home improvement shop. they donated several fabric swatches. The girls made throw pillows with the fabric pieces, decorated them with items like ribbon (some girls even put their greek letters on them!) buttons and other types of trim. Another event we did at this one was make flower arrangements to add color to our room. We used several pieces of those silk flowers, round pots, and that green stuff (i don't know what it is called.. but you put it in the pot and stick the flowers in the green stuff to keep it in place.).. the flower arrangements came out really nice & colorful!
*****when you are looking for social programming, try looking at upcoming holidays for ideas! February for example, have a valentine's day social... we had valentine bingo, and made heart shaped pillows for our men!
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i really hope this helps you! best of luck with the job!