After a year riddled with internal conflict in the Residence Hall Association (RHA), including the executive board being up for impeachment and the president’s resignation, the new executive board is looking for a fresh start this semester.
“We’re trying to breathe life back into the organization,” said RHA president Reaghan Murphy.
In their work to re-energize themselves, the group has started to standardize the way that hall governments for each residence hall work by creating a Hall Government Guide. This guide is designed to help leaders within each residence hall ensure that residents across campus have a great living experience.
“We want the halls to feel like they’re receiving the same level of commitment across the board from the exec board,” Murphy said.
The organization partnered with Student Life for Welcome Week, helping out with with First Night Carolina along with putting on a Lunch and Luau at Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center and a Silent Disco at Capstone.
“We really haven’t done any campus-wide programming before,” said Murphy. “And that’s something we’re trying to move towards, is trying to create a more unified campus and resident body.”
Every on-campus student funds RHA events through paying their Housing Activity fee of $50, with the RHA receiving $9.50.
“Not all the halls have equal events, but every student pays the same activity fee, so for every student to be able go to these all-hall events is really what prompted us,” said Sarah Eissmann, the RHA public relations director.
The Residence Hall Association wants to ensure that everyone at USC is informed about what is going on internally and externally for the organization.
"As a member of the RHA senate, we did not get all of the information as clearly as we would have liked, so this year we are really working on making sure that everybody on campus knows what RHA is and what we do with the money that the people who live on campus pay towards their activity fee," Eissmann said.
They have set out to let every student know who they are and how they can serve them, and have created new social media pages on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, along with working to create a better page on the university website.
173 students have signed up to run for a hall government position across the 17 residence halls on-campus. Those who are elected will become members of the RHA.