The SUNY New Paltz Residence Hall Student Association (RHSA) was recently honored with several accolades for their region.
RHSA received The School of the Year (SOY) award, National Communications Coordinators (NCC) of the year award and third place for most funds raised, all from North Eastern Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (NEACURH).
“It was a huge honor because philanthropy is important to RHSA,” President Ranysha Ware said.
NEACURH is an entirely student run organization bringing together college institutions and student leaders from more than 400 schools from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and Qatar, according to neacurh.nacurh.org. NEACURH said they are the
largest student run organization in the world.
In order to be considered for the award, each campus must first make a bid, according to Vice President Matt Eitelberg. RHSA bids for SOY and NCC of the year. Ware said all bids were placed at the 2011 Mini No-Frills Conference held at Rhode Island College this past spring break.
According to Ware, the SOY award recognizes the accomplishments the RHSA organization has achieved throughout the past year on a campus level.
“In the region, SUNY New Paltz has shown that we build connections between our students,” Ware said. “Our RHSA is very involved on a national and regional level so we were really happy to receive this award.”
The regional NCC of the year award honors the dedication the NCC has shown throughout the school year. NCCs are in charge of conferences and communication on the national and regional levels. The RHSA at New Paltz has two NCC’s, Jennifer Maurer and Jonathan Freifeld, who received this award.
“They are really at the heart of our success at this conference, and received the highest honor an NCC can receive as they were named NCC’s of the Year,” Ware said. “They set ambitious goals to make SUNY New Paltz more present in the NEACURH region and on a national level, and they consistently achieve everything they set out to do. As their president, I am so proud of them.”
RHSA also won the third-place award from NEACURH for having the most money raised for their focus project. They did this by raising more than $400 for Mother’s Against Drunk Driving by holding a Penny Wars Competition throughout the Residence Halls as well as having a winter formal.
Bouton Hall RHSA representative Corah Walker said RHSA is looking toward the future and working toward their goals for next semester.
Next fall, RHSA will be attending the NACURH National Conference at the University of Boulder, Colo. There they will be bidding for the national SOY, NCC and Program of the Year awards. According to Eitelberg, the national SOY award is the highest honor RHSA can receive.