General RA meetings arere throughout the semester and will be open to everyone to get an update on events that RHA is doing.
Courtesy of Blake Thomas

University Housing hosts programs throughout the semester to engage students in events revolving around education, recruitment, socializing, culture and other special interest groups. The same traditions will ring true this upcoming semester.

Each Residence Hall planned to host welcome events for their students, but the recent flooding has impacted the normal scheduling of the events due to the university’s changes in the academic calendar. 

“Our staff is very concerned for the communities involved in the flooding and want to plan events when all will be able to participate,” said Assistant Director of Residential Life Amanda Robbins.

According to Robbins, despite the schedule change, events such as the German celebration Oktoberfest will occur on Oct. 25.

Robbins revealed that larger events such as Oktoberfest and the Fais Do Do crawfish boil, which is scheduled for the spring semester, are intended to engage the entire university community. Smaller hall events are used to build connections between students who live together.

“We want our students to be connected to each other and their communities,” said Robbins. 

Although most events are targeted towards those living in dorms, senior history major and Resident Assistant 2 over the Departmental Programming Committee John Collum admits that some larger scale programs require on campus partnerships to appeal to all students. 

“Often times, DPC (Departmental Programming Committee) will partner with another department such as CAB or Campus Dining,” said Collum. “While our programs are held for residents, all students are welcome to attend, as it may encourage them to live on campus.”

Other upcoming events will include the RHA Bake Sale on September 6 to 7 in the Student Union from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mocktails will return on Sept. 28. The Boo Grams sale will be held in the Student Union on October 10 to 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. On Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. in the Mane Dish, Fear Factor will be held. The Halloween Door Contest will close out the events of October beginning on Oct. 24 and ending on Oct. 31. The RHA food drive will begin on Nov. 14 and end on Nov. 22. On Dec. 2, RAs will pay a local nursing home a visit.

RA in Hammond Hall Ash’leightatia Gaines serves as RA 1 on the Recruitment Committee. According to Gaines, the building staff helps choose ideas for programs and events that would be beneficial to residents.

“Some major qualifications deal breakers that we have for our programs in Hammond Hall is that it has to be either educational or fun active program and it can happen at a time that our residents can attend,” said Gaines, a sophomore psychology major. 

Collum believes that interaction between RAs is one of the most important parts of his job.

“The connections we make with our residents help us to provide them with the resources they need to be engaged and successful students at Southeastern,” said Collum.