On Thursday, May 30th five Southern Oregon students set off to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and started their great expedition to the NACURH annual conference. NACURH stands for the National Association of College and University Residence Halls, and it’s a nationally recognized organization that advocates for students living on college campuses. NACURH is comprised of eight regions: IACURH, CAACURH, GLACURH, SWACURH, SAACURH, NEACURH, and our institution falling under the pacific region PACURH. Student leaders in the Residence Hall Association (RHA) and National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) across the eight regions gather for one weekend in May to celebrate camaraderie, learn new skills, and pass legislation. Lucy Parades, Noheli Serrano, Hayley Sharpe, Kristina Wexler, and Cassandra McDade bared the humidity and represented our campus RHA and NRHH Siskiyou Chapter on the regional and national level during the weekend of May 31st through June 3nd, this year being hosted at Louisiana State University. Our student leaders learned how to better SOU’s residence halls and grow as a leader through attending a variety of programs being taught by delegates across the nation. Lucy Parades and Noheli Serrano represented SOU in corporate boardroom where they heard, voted, and passed legislation that would affect NACURH and students everywhere. Noheli, SOU’s NRHH representative, had another objective at NACURH: being sworn in to PACURH’s regional board of directors. The regional board of directors is comprised of six students who take their passion for NACURH to greater lengths by representing PACURH nationally. This weekend, Noheli was inducted as PACURH’s Associate Director of NRHH, being the third AD-NRHH to serve PACURH that is hosted at SOU in the past four years.

RHA and NRHH are relatively unknown organizations on SOU’s campus unless you live in the residence halls, but their impact extends beyond Ashland. The student leaders of these organizations work tirelessly to serve SOU students and work even more when a regional or national conference rolls around. They find new ways to engage residents, collaborate with other on campus organizations, and grow as student leaders. Next time you find yourself in the Greensprings Lobby, stop by the Student Leadership Center located next door to Crater Lake Hall. Say “hi!,” ask those student leaders what they did at the NACURH conference, and see how you can get involved with these amazing organizations.