NIU’s Residence Hall Association has been keeping busy.

The organization brought home a slew of awards from the Illinois Residence Hall Association conference this weekend, and is planning numerous activities for RHA week, which goes from today until Saturday.

Conference

Twenty-one RHA delegates traveled to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for the conference, which lasted from Friday until Sunday.

They were able to share ideas, show school pride and learn about becoming better leaders, said Sarah Cooper, public relations officer for RHA and a senior Spanish major.

The highlight of the conference was the awards RHA and its members took home.

In the large school division, NIU won Best RHA, RHA President of the Year (Alex Underwood), Illinois Communications Coordinator of the Year (Angie D’Ambrosio), Most Spirited Delegation, Best Display and Best Banner.

Andrea Baker, RHA programming vice president and a junior elementary education major, attended the conference.

“We worked really well as a team to represent NIU,” Baker said. “We have a lot of Huskie love. People from other schools came up to us to say they wished they went to NIU because we have so much spirit.”

RHA Week

Led by Baker, RHA members have been working since last semester to put together RHA Week Spring 2003.

The week’s events are geared toward students living in the residence halls, but are open to all students. This excludes the trips that are reserved for students in the residence halls.

The week will kick off today with Wax Hands, where students can dip their hands in colored wax to make decorative molds.

One highlight is IDOLS, an “American Idols” spinoff in which student can showcase their talents in non-competitive or competitive segments. Competing students will be commented upon by several judges, but similar to the television show, the audience ultimately will decide the winner. RHA still is accepting acts for IDOLS.

Two trips are planned for the weekend, one to the Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago and one to Antioch, Ill., for snowboarding.

The final event will be a Believing in Culture Mardi Gras Festival. The clothing recommendation for this event is “dress to impress.” Costumes are optional.

Individual residence halls will hold their own events throughout the week.