The Residence Hall Association serves as a community government for residents at AU. RHA advocates on behalf for residents, programs events for them, and seeks to create a sense of community among those living in the residence halls.
To vote, go to your myAU portal, and click on the first option under Life @ AU. Students can vote April 2 and 3 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Here's a run-down of all of the candidates on the ballot:
President
Alex McQuade is a sophomore in the School of International Service and is the current president of the McDowell Hall Council. He feels that RHA is not as visible as it could be considering it is one of the largest organizations on campus.
As president, McQuade said he would change that.
"I want students to know what RHA does, what RHA is doing and most importantly, what RHA can do for them," McQuade said.
Reiter Boldt is a freshman in the School of Public Affairs and is currently the president of the Hughes Hall Council.
Boldt said he wants to increase cooperation between RHA and other on campus organizations, hold more joint events between the halls, push for greater student involvement within RHA, call for more volunteerism and return RHA to an advocacy-focused organization.
He feels that despite being a freshman, his leadership experience as president of the Hughes Hall Council qualifies him for the position.
"My effective leadership has played a role in ensuring things get done and go smoothly," Boldt said.
Vice President of Advocacy and Community Coordination
Rajita Sanji is a freshman in SIS and is currently the vice president for advocacy for the Letts, Clark and Roper Hall Council. She said she sees voting and student involvement itself as a key issue in the RHA elections.
"To ensure that the candidate is who the residents truly want for the upcoming year, a large percentage of residents need to vote," Sanji said in an e-mail.
Specifically she focused on alerting residents via social media and bathroom flyers, like "Toilet Paper" in Letts Hall, "Flushington Post" in Anderson Hall and "Hughes Gives A Crap" in Hughes Hall.
"The Toilet Paper serves as a constant reminder [of what is going on], something other methods do not do," Sanji said.
Sanji is running unopposed.
Vice President of Finance and Administration
Devon Wallick is a freshman in the Kogod School of Business and the current vice president of finance for Letts, Clark and Roper Hall Council. He sees voter turnout as a key issue in the elections.
"In past elections, only a fraction of the residents voted, and I want to try and make the elections this year a true measure of what the residents want," he said.
"I know it will be difficult to be able to reach out to all the residence halls on campus, but I'm up for the challenge," he said.
Wallick is running unopposed.
Vice President of Programming
Annie Onofrio is a freshman in SIS the current vice president of programming for the Hughes Hall Council. She emphasized RHA's importance as AU's Campus Plan is implemented in the coming years.
"RHA as an organization fulfills many more functions than [Founders' Day and Hall Wars], including a lot of advocacy and planning that are going to be even more important as the campus undergoes all the changes planned in the next few years," Onofrio said.
She said making students realize how much of a resource RHA is will boost turnout.
"I want to make sure that students understand how important elections are and how much they affect the student population," Onofrio said.
Hayat Abu-Ghazaleh is a freshman in SIS and the vice president of programming for the Letts, Clark and Roper Hall Council. She also said she wants to make students more aware of RHA.
"I feel that the RHA is sometimes put on the back burner, so highlighting who we are and what we do is very important during elections so we can get a high number of voters and participation in RHA later on," Abu-Ghazaleh said.
dmitchell@theeagleonline.com
