Centenary residence hall association hosts regional conference; wins awards
SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary College hosted the 2024 Southwest Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (SWACURH) Regional Business Conference on campus in early March, welcoming 13 other delegations from colleges and universities in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. SWACURH is a regional affiliate of NACURH, the National Association of College and University Residence Halls, and one of the largest student-run corporations in the United States.
NACURH provides leadership training and service opportunities for students working in residence life at member institutions. Centenary has been a member institution since the early 2000s and is the smallest affiliated school in the southwest region. The College’s Residence Hall Association (RHA), individual hall councils, and National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH) send delegates to three annual leadership conferences sponsored by NACURH.
Kaleb Atkinson, Raiyne Brant, Madilyn McCrary, and Payne Mills represented Centenary as delegates to the SWACURH Regional Business Conference, while Julianna Malloy, CJ McCulloch, and Jennifer Saldana assisted as part of the conference planning committee.
During the conference, Centenary’s RHA won the SWACURH Building Block RHA of the Year Award, an honor created to recognize an RHA that has made significant steps in the development of its organization and displays tremendous effort and improvement in its residence hall environment from the previous academic year to the present.
Two Centenary community members also received individual awards. Payne Mills was presented with a Silver Feather Pin by the regional director of SWACURH for his efforts as conference chair, and Katherine Shamburger, director of residence life and student conduct, earned the Minor Award. Named after Valerie Russell-Minor, who served as Regional Advisor from 2005-2007 and helped oversee the growth and rebuilding of the region, this award recognizes advisors who show outstanding service to the Regional Advisors’ position and to the region.
“RHA and its sister organization, NRHH, have been working hard this year to grow their organization on campus and within our region, which culminated in our hosting of our annual business conference on campus,” said Shamburger. “Our award for Building Block of the Year was the region’s recognition of those efforts.”
During the current academic year, Centenary’s residence hall organizations have doubled their active membership, hosted an on-campus leadership retreat for Hall Council members, and put on a large-scale campus event each month. In the fall semester, Centenary sent a delegation of 17 students to a SWACURH virtual leadership conference and won several awards, including four First Place spirit awards, a Second Place in the case study competition, and seven regional “Of the Month” event awards, including one event that went on to win a national prize. In addition to these group awards, Julianna Malloy presented an educational session that placed fourth overall.