The Residence Hall Association returned from a regional conference this past weekend with more than it expected.
Eighteen students from RHA attended the Intermountain Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls regional conference at Northern Arizona University, where they received two awards and permission to host the next big regional conference.
We pretty much rocked the conference this weekend,” said Jessica Behl, RHA president.
Behl was named regional president of the year against some pretty stiff competition, said Aramis Watson, assistant director for student and academic initiatives for RHA.
RHA, which reconstructed its organization this past year, also won the Building RHA Award for the most improved program in the region.
The U’s chapter eliminated the area councils by creating an executive board and committees, such as the first-year student board and the media and marketing board, to cut down on middlemen and bureaucracy. RHA will move on to nationals for this award and will compete against seven other schools for the national award.
RHA members said they were excited to win the award after all the work that was put into the reconstruction.
“It’s just really cool to do all the work and see the impact on our residence and be recognized for it by the region,” Behl said.
“Our students really deserve it,” Watson said.
RHA also won the bid to host the No Frills conference in February, where 90 people for the regional RHA organizations will conduct elections and legislative business at the U. The conference will feature two delegates from 25 schools from New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana and Canada.
“I was very happy and very pleased with the possibility to bring students to our campus,” Watson said.