The Residence Hall Association is kicking off their year with an open meeting Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Andrews Hall basement.

Morgan Blackmore, the National and Illinois Communication Coordinator, explained what the general meeting topics would be about.

During the Resident Hall Association meeting this week, they will discuss Residents On Campus (ROC) Fest, Camp New Hope leadership retreat, and the GLACURH conference.

The ROC Fest is a weeklong competition of events between the residence halls.

ROC Fest is scheduled for Sept. 28th through Oct. 2nd.

This meeting the executive board will be handing out information to each representative so they can go back to their hall council.

The information given out will be the schedule of events and the rules for each event.

Another big topic they will discuss is the GLACURH conference, which stands for the Great Lakes Affiliation of Colleges and Universities Resident Halls.

The GLACURH Conference is a weekend leadership retreat for students to go learn how to better their campuses.

Blackmore said through email that they will also discuss another small event referred to as Camp New Hope.

“Camp New Hope is a leadership retreat where we get together, learn to be better leaders, and basically make new friends and have a lot of fun,” Blackmore said.

The Resident Hall Association is the voice for on-campus residents.

They provide leadership and programming support to make sure the resident halls and Greek Court are the best places to live.

The executive board consists of five positions including the President, Vice President, National Communications Coordinator/Illinois Communications Coordinator, Secretary and Treasure.

Each residence hall council elects a specific resident to represent their hall at the weekly meetings.

The RHA representatives from each hall have a time during the agenda where they give an update on what their hall is planning.

Some halls plans events that are open for students across campus to attend, such as the Andrews Hall Monster bash.

The RHA representatives from each hall are the voice for that hall, but the meetings are open to anyone who wishes to attend.

The meetings follow a specific agenda where the topics for each week change based on what is happening on campus.

Meeting time vary based on what items are on the agenda.

Each meeting is called to order by the executive board of the hall the meeting is taking place in. RHA meeting locations vary depending on the week.

Mariah Scott can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected]