Anthony Juarez
Staff Writer
The University’s Residential Hall Association upheld its successful reputation by winning two awards at the Pacific Affiliation of College and University Residential Hall Conference.
RHA captured the Small School Spirit Award for the sixth consecutive year.
“It feels amazing winning this award again for the sixth time,” said Shelby Griffin, sophomore history major and PACURH Bid Team Co-Chair for RHA.
PACURH allows colleges and universities to collectively promote the participation of students in the college community and design programs and services for them.
“We have made such a huge impact for such a small university, and it makes me so proud to say that I’m part of this team and a Leo,” Griffin said.
The Small School Spirit Award at the conference is given to the delegation that upholds the most spirit throughout the whole conference by the means that include leadership, sustainability and networking.
“It’s basically the most prestigious award at the PACURH conference,” said Michael Cesena, a sophomore PACURH Bid Team Co-Chair for RHA.
This was Cesena’s second time attending the conference.
Cesena explained how nervous he was before they announced the winner for the Small School Spirit Award.
“I was really scared, and I almost passed out,” Cesena said.
“I thought we were not going to win the award at all. La Verne is a very prestigious university, so we did not want to be the ones who messed it all up,” Cesena said.
The way to win the award was to earn the most spirit points.
Points were earned for the most cheers for the best costume within each college’s delegation.
“The theme this year for PACURH was ‘No Place Like Home,’ so we all were Monopoly pieces for our costumes,” Cesena said.
RHA also won the Best Small School Display Award. They built a display made of recyclable materials, that incorporated the University and RHA. They earned extra points toward the Spirit Award for the display.
The delegates were able to dedicate part of their time to having fun. The conference held socials, a dance, a movie night, and a swap shop for those who attended. However, for some, their job was a little bit more business than fun.
Ricardo Orozco, a freshman political science major and delegation member for RHA, said his first time at PACURH could have not been described into words.
“The best part of PACURH, in my opinion, was all the spirit everyone had,” Orozco said. “As well as knowing that everyone there doing the same thing I do, helping students feel more at home while living on campus.”
Although RHA won two awards at this year’s conference, they still have some goals they want to accomplish for the University.
“The ultimate goal would be to host PACURH; however, since La Verne is such a small university, we might end up hosting No Frills, which is a smaller version of PACURH,” Griffin said.
RHA is preparing to place a bid to host next year’s conference.
Anthony Juarez can be contacted at anthony.juarez@laverne.edu.
