RHA Club Spotlight

Published 4 years ago -


Samantha Surowiec – Staff writer

There’s a new club entering the big leagues, and that is the Residence Hall Association (RHA). At the beginning of this year, we relocated our office to Hagan Campus Center, in between the Student Government Association (SGA) and Campus Ministry, making RHA the newest member of Assumption’s “six major clubs and organizations.” As a member of the Executive Board of RHA, I often get asked what RHA is. What does RHA do on campus? What does RHA even stand for? Well, I am writing this article today to shed some light on the club, and hopefully help you understand what we do on campus.

To start, RHA stands for Residence Hall Association. A common misconception is that the club is closely affiliated with Residential Life, and members must be involved in Res Life in order to join. That is not the case, for anyone from any part of campus can join and participate in RHA. In fact, a majority of our Executive Board members and our General Body members are just regular students, not Resident Assistants. RAs do play a role in the club, however, since overseeing the Hall Council within their residence hall can be their secondary duty.

RHA actually has a much bigger role on campus than you might realize. As a club, we oversee all of the Hall Councils in every residence hall on campus, ranging from first year dorms like Alumni to senior dorms in the Valley. Individual Hall Councils are responsible for holding monthly programs for residents or fundraisers to buy new things for their residence halls. If you were ever wondering where that TV in your common room came from, it was probably bought by your dorm’s Hall Council. Fundraisers may include raffles, bake sales or competitions amongst residents or residence halls. Just like being a General Body member of RHA, anyone can take part in their Hall Council. There are executive positions available within them, and we encourage Hall Council members to attend RHA’s weekly meetings. Each Hall Council is assigned an RA advisor and an RHA Chairperson whose jobs are to offer guidance and answer any questions the Hall Council members may have.

Members of RHA are comprised of General Body members and the Executive Board. General body members do not necessarily have to be a part of their residence hall’s Hall Council, and some of our members only come to RHA meetings. We meet once a week to discuss events Hall Councils are planning, fundraisers for RHA, our late nights that we hold on campus or anything else that comes up on the agenda. At our meetings, we approve the proposals brought to us by Hall Councils, so they can be allotted a budget for their events.

Most recently, RHA held a fundraiser at Woo Berry, and we have also sold pumpkin donuts in Hagan. That money is going back to our club members in the form of t-shirts to thank them for their participation. Every member that attends five meetings will receive an RHA t-shirt. Every year, RHA holds two late night events. Last spring, we partnered with the Class of 2021 and the Class of 2020 to host our Duck Hunt, where ducks were numbered and hidden around campus. Ducks could be returned at the prize table for a prize of varying value based on the duck’s number. This winter we will be holding our first late night of the year, called “A Not So Silent Night.” It will be November 30th. As the date gets closer, we will be releasing more information.

Our club is not the biggest yet, but we have been growing every year. I hope this article helped give you a better idea of what RHA’s role on campus is, and that you are now interested in joining. Meetings are every Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Student Activities Resource Room (S.A.R.R.), which is located in the basement of Hagan.

Samantha Surowiec, a sophomore, studies History. She is a staff writer for Le Provocateur.

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