Other schools may have larger rooms or more residence halls, but NIU’s Residence Hall Association recently was voted the top large school RHA in the state for the third straight year.

The award is given to schools based on their involvement with students and activities offered.

The School of the Year award was one of three major awards RHA grabbed at the annual residence hall conference at Bradley University. RHA President Keith Kruchten won President of the Year for his work in the past months. RHA also took home an award for most school spirit.

“I’m extremely proud of our delegation,” Kruchten said. “When we go to these conferences, we see how fortunate we have it.”

To win the awards, RHA members had to submit written bids, some totaling 40 pages, detailing why they were good candidates for the honors.

The submissions were intensive and detailed, said Batuhan Acar, RHA administrative vice president.

Kruchten, Acar and Hayley Thrasher, national and Illinois communications coordinator, collaborated on the writing.

Kruchten said he thinks the RHA’s efforts to be more involved with the university and not just the residence halls helped. This year, RHA worked closely with the Student Association, which helps with programming.

“We’ve won more awards in the past,” Kruchten said, “but this year we made a big contribution to the future.”