This week, all Fordham students who live on campus will have the chance to vote for the general board of the Residence Hall Association for each building. The potential board members announced their candidacy late last week and have been campaigning.
In each residence hall, the board members (president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and programmer) act as representatives for the residents.
They also work to bring fun and exciting activities to the students in their residence halls with help from the buildings’ staff.
Students who lived on campus last year have an idea of some of the events that were put on, and many want those events to continue to flourish in the future. Kristin O’Grady, FCRH ’16, enjoyed the events that she attended in Alumni Court South, where she lived last year.
“My favorite South RHA events were the midnight breakfasts before midterms and finals…taking a break to eat breakfast with our friends made the studying a little better,” she said.
She also expressed high expectations for the upcoming year in O’Hare.
“I expect that RHA will have similar programs that will help all the residents bond with old friends and meet new friends,” O’Grady said.
Students new to Fordham hold similar expectations for their RHA boards.
“I want to see better ideas and communication of the events and program ideas going on in my res hall…fliers don’t always do the trick; perhaps emails [would help].” Matt Manzione, FCRH ’17, said. His desire for more communication from Residential Life is one that many students share, including Loschert resident Andrew Freire, FCRH ’17.
Freire said that he would like the RHA board “to keep us well informed about what’s going on, both in and outside the dorm.” With better communication between the RHA board and the residents, the residents would have a better chance to attend these events.
The RHA representatives can communicate with the students in their residence halls at general board meetings, which students are invited to attend. At these meetings, the board works with students by telling them about upcoming events and listening to them.
Through these interactions, board members learn of the students’ concerns, expectations and opinions on how residence halls and policies can be improved for the future.
Each building’s board then works with the RHA executive board and Fordham’s staff and administration in order to share student opinions and bring any ideas that they have to fruition.
The elections are taking place on Tuesday, Sept. 17 and Wednesday, Sept. 18 in McGinley Center.
