RHA sponsors numerous events and programs for students in residence halls, such as RHA Day. Purdue's chapter of RHA was named the 2023 GLACURH School of the Year due in part to its excellence in programming.

This past October, 10 student leaders involved with Purdue University Residences' chapter of the Residence Hall Association (RHA) attended the annual Great Lakes Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (GLACURH) conference hosted by Western Illinois University. The GLACURH conference invites student leaders from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Ontario to participate in a weekend of leadership development sessions, collaboration and networking with peers across the region and recognition for superior involvement and contributions on each home campus. 

During the weekend, Purdue student leaders represented their Boilermaker spirit throughout all aspects of the conference, from performing a kazoo-assisted version of the Purdue fight song to creating Purdue-themed table decorations to adorn our table at each meal. In addition, they participated in leadership development sessions with topics about how to better advance the Purdue leadership program through RHA and the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH). Those leadership topics ranged from learning about how to better run effective meetings; diversity, inclusion and belonging; and effective marketing strategies to get Purdue students more involved in their residence hall clubs and programming. Purdue students walked away from the weekend excited and motivated to do even more on campus for our residents and even spent our early morning drive home planning out the annual RHA 5K run, walk and roll that will take place in April 2024.

One aspect of the annual conference is the awarding of recognition for outstanding leaders, advisors and programs that occurred during the past year on each home campus. Prior to October, RHA put together award bids to bring recognition back to Purdue for all the amazing accomplishments achieved during the 2022-2023 academic year. We were fortunate to be awarded two GLACURH awards at the end-of-conference banquet. 

Coree Burton, assistant director of multicultural education, was named GLACURH Advisor of the Year.

Our first honor was for GLACURH Advisor of the Year, which was awarded to Coree Burton, assistant director of multicultural education. The award is given to an advisor who shows outstanding service and goes above and beyond their job description while serving in an advising role to their university and residence life community. Burton currently serves as the primary advisor for UR Global and UR Multicultural Connections (URMC). Since joining the leadership team in November 2022, his passion and excitement for working with students has been evident from day one. He has taken the time to truly get to know the students he serves and sacrificed a lot of time to help them be successful in programming and their personal development.

In addition to the Advisor of the Year award, the Purdue Residence Hall Association was honored as the 2023 GLACURH School of the Year. The School of the Year award is the highest honor a GLACURH member school can attain. The award recognizes outstanding achievements on the campus level by a residence hall organization and associated groups, as well as contributions on the regional and national levels. The School of the Year award is bestowed based on contributions, activities and other pertinent information occurring over the past year.

We submitted a 30-page award bid that covered the highlights of the past academic year and we were honored to receive it despite stiff competition from other regional bids. The selection committee recognized RHA’s commitment to developing programs to better the on-campus experience. Programming efforts include the annual RHA day event in August, the annual Jay Severson Student Leadership Retreat, developing and creating opportunities for student leaders and emphasizing diversity, inclusion and belonging throughout all of our programs.

Written by: Jen Bannon, associate director of Residential Life