University of Georgia Residence Hall Association Wins Awards

The Residence Hall Association has received top honors from two professional member groups¬—the South Atlantic Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls and the Georgia Residence Hall Organization.

UGA’s RHA program is the second largest student organization on campus and is the coordinating organization for the various residence hall governing bodies. RHA’s goal is to develop residence hall policies, procedures, programs and facilities to best serve the interests of students living on campus.

Presented at the annual meeting last month at Valdosta State University, the SAACURH regional honors for UGA included:

• School of the Year
• Commitment to Diversity
• First-year Experience presented to James Han, a student assistant in Reed Hall
• Adviser of the Year presented to Tamara Burke, coordinator for student leadership and RHA adviser at University Housing at UGA.

The state awards were presented earlier and included:

• School of the Year
• Emerging Student Leader of the Year presented to Amber Painter, a student assistant in Creswell Hall
• Adviser of the Year presented to Burke.

“The Residence Hall Association is honored to have received the recognition we have this year," said Mallory Whitfield, RHA president at UGA.  "Our biggest goal as an organization is to cater to our residents, and I feel like we’ve really done that throughout the year.

Although the awards are nice, the most rewarding part is having other RHAs from across the state and region commend the programs and activities we do for our residents.”

According to Tamara Burke, the University of Georgia Residence Hall Association is the best. 

"Not only in the state," she said, "but in the nation because the students are active, dedicated and believe in the work they are doing on behalf of all students in our residence halls. I enjoy advising RHA because I never have to remind them of why we do what we do. They tell me the reasons behind their dedication.

The students in RHA, National Residence Hall Honorary and Residence Hall Studios believe that University Housing helped them find their niche at UGA. I enjoy attending the conferences with the students because I enjoy seeing their pride in the University of Georgia and University Housing.”

UGA’s RHA will be represented at the National Association of College and University Residence Halls conference June 1-4 at Colorado University in Boulder, Colo., where it will have the opportunity to receive additional recognition.