American University
Residence Hall Association
c/o Housing & Dining Programs | 4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW | Washington, DC 20016-8142
Phone: (202) 885-1878 | FAX: (202) 885-1154 | E-mail: info@aurha.org | www.aurha.org
General Assembly Minutes
February 26, 2015
Megan O’Toole
President
202-885-3606
megan@aurha.org
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Joanne Frangias
Vice President of
Administration & Finance
202-885-3676
joanne@aurha.org
Nate Warszawski
Vice President of
Advocacy &
Community Coordination
202-885-1878
nate@aurha.org
Sarah Nylen
Vice President of
Programming
202-885-2774
sarah@aurha.org
Jody Gregory
National Communications
Coordinator
202-885-2179
jody@aurha.org
Devin Moore
Chief of Staff
202-885-1742
devin@aurha.org
Daniel DeHollander
Advisor
202-885-3138
deholla@american.edu
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Call to Order
o Meeting called to order at 9:04 pm
Attendance
o Anderson
 7/7,
 Proxies: 0
o Cassell
 2/7, 3 late
 Proxies: 0
o Centennial
 5/7, 1 late
 Proxies: 0
o Hughes
 7/7, 2 late
 Proxies: 0
o Leonard
 6/7
 Proxies: 1
o Letts Clark and Roper
 4/7, 1 late
 Proxies: 1
o McDowell
 6/7, 1 late
 Proxies: 0
o Nebraska
 1/7
 Proxies: 0
Minutes Approval
o Motion- made Jose V.- to approve last GA’s minutes by unanimous consent
 Seconded by Saagar
Agenda Approval
o Motion to remove Student Trustee from Agenda- Joe
 Seconded by Matt
o Motion to amend- Justin
 EcoOlympics first
 HOTY third
 Seconded by Saagar
o Motion- made by Saagar- to approve last GA’s agenda by unanimous
consent
 Seconded by Jaime
Hall Reports
o Anderson
 All wearing red
 Anderson culture night went well
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 Mental Health programming
 Instagram: andersonhallcouncil
 Highlighting residents on and off campus
o Cassell
 Valentines day candy grams
 Big RHA March Madness co-program
o Centennial
 Sex politics and pizza at the Perch tomorrow
 Wellness Cabana coming
 Solidifying programming
o Hughes
 Ra Appreciation day
 De-stressor
o Leonard
 Finished Valentines day cookie grams
 Taste of Leonard planning
 Condom bingo
o Letts Clark and Roper
 RA Appreciation coming up
 Talent show coming up
o McDowell
 Frozen-theme de-stressor
 Hall Wars
 Late night pancake program planned
o Nebraska
 Tabled
Executive Board Reports
o President
 What I did
 Breakfast club meeting talked about the budget
 Alcohol policy questionnaire
 What I didn’t do:
 Presidents roundtable biweekly
o Vice President of Administration and Finance
 Everything has been updated in the budget
 Finance Roundtable
 Passed two Grant Fund Requests
o $200 left in the account
 No final care package provider chosen
o Vice President of Advocacy and Community Coordination
 Hall Wars
 HOTY update
 EcOlympics Meeting
 Sayings & Sigils
 Not done:
 Nothing
 Will do
 Hall Wars till the cows come home
o Vice President of Programming
 What I did:
 Leo, McDowell, Anderson Event
 Founders Day
 One on One with deputies
 Met with Cassell
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 Transition location solved
 Founders s'mores event
 Hall Wars purchases
 Hall Wars packet to each hall
 Ecolympics meeting and s'mores event with Green Eagles
 Organize budget for rest of semester and receipts
 What I didn't do:
 Order transition food
 What I am going to do:
 Transition food
National Communications Coordinator
 What I Did:
 Met with Daniel
 Met with Arthur
 Outlined SOY Guidelines
 Reviewed/Revised Advisor Manual
 What I Didn't Do:
 Attend VPR Roundtable/EBoard (sick)
 What I'm Going to Do:
 Meet with Daniel and Arthur about the Advisor Manual
 Work on the SOY outline
Chief of Staff
 What I Did:
 Met with the delegates
 Met with the Administrative Board
 Updated the RHA Website
o And posted links on the RHA Facebook page
 Admin Board Updates
o 1000+ likes on Facebook!
o Max and Eboard are working on the Election packet
o Change wars is done and the hall raised over $430
o Arthur working on SOTY bid for 2016 and the Hall
Council advisor manual with Jody
 What I am going to do:
 Social media over Spring Break
NRHH
 No Update
Advisor
o Advisor No-Frills Recap
 Please continue to think of ways to host events where you also collect
Soda Pop Tabs
o What Daniel Did:
 Met with Max, Megan, Devin
 Processed all CAACURH No-Frills payments and refund checks with
Joanne and Jody
 Assisted with bussing for Founders Day
 Attended S’Mores Event
 Reviewed RHA Executive Board Election materials
o What Daniel Did not Do:
 Meet with Joanne
o What Daniel Plans To Do:
 Meet with Max
 Finalize Advisor Training Development Plan using recent feedback
from advisors
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 Support Updates of Bylaws, Financial Policies, Advisor Manual
o Let’s talk about marijuana
 AU's policy on marijuana possession, use, growing, and distribution
supersedes DC law - Marijuana is still not permitted on the AU
campus;
 AU is a Smoke Free Campus, which includes the restriction on any
form of smoking, including marijuana;
 While off-campus in DC, possession is limited to individuals 21 years
of age or older;
 While off-campus in DC, possession and smoking is restricted in public
places, including outdoors and federal lands;
 While off-campus in DC, the sale of marijuana is still illegal;
 While off-campus in DC, personal possession on private property
where marijuana is permitted is limited to up to 2 ounces only.
 Failure to adhere to these policies may result in arrest and are
violations of the AU Student Code of Conduct.
o 2015-2016 Housing Selection Process
 http://www.american.edu/ocl/housing/roomselection/?utm_source=w
eb&utm_medium=CMS&utm_campaign=OCL%20HDProomselect
 STEP 3: Room Selection, February 25th – March 5th
 Information Sessions
o Tuesday, January 20th at 6:30pm in Nebraska Hall
Lounge
o Thursday, January 22nd at 6:30pm in The Hatch
(Transfer Students only)
o Wednesday, January 28th at 6:30pm in Letts Hall
Formal Lounge
Old Business
o None
New Business
o Student Trustee Presentation
 Student Trustee not present for presentation
o ECOlympics
 ECOlympics is a competition where residential hall go head-to-head
 Kick off event- Mar 16
 Smores Event
 $800 from RHA
 Week 1-Pledging: Mar 16-22
 Week 2 Eco Carnival: Mar 23-29
 Week 3 Closing Ceremony: Apr 6
 Eco-Concert
 RHA participation
 Educational events for each floor
o Mar 24 and Mar 30
 6pm to 7:30pm
 Involvement from Hall Council Specific point person
 RAs assisting
 Hall Wars Closing Ceremony
 ECOlympics hoping to celebrate achievements during Hall
Wars closing Ceremony
 Green Eagles will help with promotion and attendance of the
Hall Wars Closing Ceremony
 Question: Is it by hall or floor?
 By Hall
Marketing
 Facebook page creation
o Highlight RHA events as well
 Posters and stickers
 What do the Hall Wars promotional materials look like
o Logo on ECOlympics posters etc.
 Question: would anyone be interested in appearing in the
“pass the torch” promotional video?
 “Earth is Bae”
 “Gabby Douglas sorts her trash/ you can too!”
 Points
 Final inner of ECOlympics could receive a sizeable amount of
HOTY points, however, our competition runs a little over your
closing ceremony
o Potentially can do weekly energy-reduction
 Prizes
 The winning hall receives a $200 food-related party
 Weekly raffle for individuals
o 1-3 winners per week
 Question period
 They will let RAs know that they are doing a waste audit
o Clean and educational
 No disadvantage for larger halls- based off percent change
 Contact information in the minutes email
OTM Presentation- January OTMs
 Desk Attendant of the Month- Campus Winner
 Adam Mildon
 Residential Community of the Month- Campus Winner
 Community-Based Research Scholars Program
 First Year Student of the Month- Campus Winner
 Chelsea Cirrruzzo
 Student of the Month- Campus Winner
 Martin Slezak
 Organization of the Month- Campus Winner
 Chi Alpha Ministries
 Bulletin Board of the Month- Campus Winner
 Rebecca Day
 Advisor of the Month- Campus Winner
 Rachel May
 Resident Assistant of the Month- Campus Winner
 Sean Baird
 OTMs due 3/5
HOTY Presentation
 First place: Hughes: 422
 Second: Anderson: 350
 Third: LeCloper: 237
Hall Wars Presentation
 Details in presentation (in the minutes email)
 Arrive to “Red Wedding” on Tuesday, Mar. 24 at 6:15pm and
leave at 9:20pm
o Trivia the same night (after “Red Wedding”)
 Search for Arya
o Takes place on three different days- 25, 26, and April 1
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THERE HAS TO BE A HALL COUNCIL MEMBER ON
EACH TEAM- 7 max teams per hall
o Clues will be released via email
o Be ready with your team by 8:50pm
 Tug-of-war
o Saturday March 28th at 10:30am and leave at 1:45pm
o Bracket system
 Battle of Blackwater
o Saturday March 28th, arrive at 10:30am and 1:45pm
o (Same date and time as tug of war, can split hall
council members between the two events)
 Closing Ceremony
o Wednesday, April 1st
 Get there at 9:10pm and leave at 11:20pm
 RESIDENTS AND HALL COUNCILS, not just hall councils
 Questions?
 Reserving and distributing shirts
o If you are using a check-list system, you must have a
RA or DR that has access to list of residents in your
halls
o You can stamp
 When do the hall councils get T-shirts?
o When they get in the office, we’ll notify you
Alcohol Policy Discussion
 Looking for constructive criticism
 Alcohol will still be illegal on-campus if you are under 21, regardless
of this policy decision
 Safety problems with off-campus safety, including sexual assault
 GA’s Response
 Adrienne- A good idea for 21+ residents to have a student
space to drink on-campus
 Josh- Students 21+ are more comfortable on-campus, helps
with safety
 Terry- Go through the alcohol policy and the dangers on
alcohol policy. Know what’s okay and what’s not okay
 Underclassmen could easily get alcohol from 21+ on campus
o Federally illegal
 Saagar- Tavern used to be a wet-zone in regards to alcohol.
Students have to go off campus to drink, opens up a lot of
dangers: DUI, Sexual assault. There is a controlled
environment on campus. Have a different color id for those
who are 21+, allowing the administration to know
 Jaime- Devil’s Advocate: Cassell has 21+ and under 21, there
could be a blurring of who drinks
 Mark- restricting how much alcohol is in a room, so limits
distribution
 RA Sam- it is really expensive to get alcohol off-campus,
having a bar on-campus would mark up the price
 Christina- having a bar or tavern wouldn’t be most beneficial,
thus, selling alcohol at games easily manageable. Nice idea
to control amount of alcohol, but it is really hard to manage
unless you are doing room checks manually
 Sarah- Allowing residents to drink on-campus will be safer,
you do not feel like you have to drink once a week off-campus
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and binge. It is better to have a more open conversation
about getting sick with alcohol. You do not have to hide the
fact that you are drinking, and possibly die
Meghan- Will there be 21+ floors?
o Megan- will have to be in Cassell or Nebraska
Josh- you have to think on the other side. How people will
react to drinking and alcohol
Sarah M- Educational Programming with alcohol, making more
of an impact
Alex- We can increase the options for substance-free housing
There would be more management within the campus
Daniel- Response different (with Police, etc.) if we become a
semi-wet campus
Saagar- If you are 21+ up, you will be written up for drinking:
unfair and causes smaller retention rate. Would lessen the
annoyances by 21+’s outside campus, improving relations with
outside community
Mark- is this for the residence halls or all of campus
o Megan- this is just a “dip in the pool” not a major
change, so would only affect residence halls for right
now
 With the creation of a taskforce, you would look
up more statistics, etc.
 If there is a lot of volunteers for
taskforce, Megan will send out a google
form
Christina- Keeping the Good Samaritan rule on campus
o Daniel- First transport, not a conduct violation, but if
you are being transported multiple times, conduct
issues will get involved
Michaela- using two of the halls as 21+, but do RAs have to
be 21+ to be in Nebraska or Cassell? You would be treating
them unfairly just because they are not 21+. And what about
classifications, residents can be under 21 and a Senior
Adrienne- look at restricting certain types of alcohol served. If
you sign up to be an RA, you should be aware that you are a
role-model and would be exempt from being allowed to drink
Megan- policy changes might not change over-night
Josh- there might be some talks about money to get to the
hospital and a delay in calling
o Megan- if there is an emergency and you need a
transport, an ambulance should be there for a resident
regardless if they can pay or not—Safety first
East campus will be open in 2016, will increase sophomore
housing, allowing Cassell and Nebraska to become more junior
and senior housed
Sarah M- could we poll people in the residence halls who are
already 21+, to see what residents want
o Megan- definitely will happen later on in the process,
but right now this is to bring it to Chris Moody
You cannot always trust the bartenders at parties. There will
be in a safer environment on campus rather than off-campus
Daniel- if alcohol is/or isn’t allowed, we should look at the
conduct code and see if it needs to be reformed
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AU selling to 21+ students would raise liability and wouldn’t be
cost-effective
 Nate- if you want AU to sell alcohol, you would have to pay
more money in tuition
o “The Joanne Show Part II”
o Executive Board Election Update
 Executive Board Election packet will go out next Thursday
 President, VP of Administration and Finance, VP of Programming, and
VP of Advocacy and Community Coordination positions available
 Talk to the corresponding positions to understand the position
better
Open Forum
o Newspaper Poll
 4 GA members know about the Collegiate Readership Program
 21 GA Members use it for actual
 26 GA members use it for other purposes (including actual
reading)
 22 GA members would feel strongly against moving newspapers only
to the library
o Laundry Dollars
 Overpriced to do laundry to do laundry
 Laundry swipe-system
 $25 for laundry is not that much, increase money from the laundry
dollars
 Won’t make laundry system any better
 We will probably have to pay into the system more, we already have
EagleBucks
 Important for Eboard to talk to SG about this
o Founders Day
 Vote to Table the Forum
 19/17/1—Open Forum topic not tabled
 Maybe changing Founder’s Day to an all-day event on the quad
 Dinner was not served
 We shouldn’t change the way Founder’s Day is doing
 It is a tradition, we will not be able to fulfill everyone’s needs
 If you want food, pay for it yourself
 Founder’s Day is not a dinner, it’s more of a networking event and
having fun
 Food was anticipated, people were cranky
 Founder’s Day ball- music did not reflect a ball-type music
 Tradition, once a year event, and people are happy and it is very fun
 Disconnected, had it in all the big locations.
 Sarah’s reflection
 Funding is a major issue with all issues raised tonight
 You are going to cut things when you want less in tuition
 Decided to cut back on food this year because they wanted to
increase the amount of people to go
o Biggest founders day ever
 Certain caterers get more expensive as the amount of people
is increased
 Location was big, but they wanted people to be entertained
 Music has been a recurring issue for the couple years, but you
would have to pay for a better DJ
 Is there a way to get more funding?
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Sarah- reached out to Alumni to increase the funding of the
event, but they did not want to this year
 One suggestion for the future RSVP for the day of?
 Waitlist was going until 1pm
 Live Band instead of DJ?
 Had one last year, but it was expensive.
 Sarah- so having less people go to the event and focus more on other
parts of Founder’s Day
 Try different things every time
 Students should go to this, do not cut back on amount of
people to go
 Verify if the people who go to Founder’s Day are residents
o Sarah- there are more residents going than what RHA
is paying for residents to go
 People complained about the food for a second and then
enjoyed the rest of the night
 Cap the amount of Freshmen going
 The choice to go with sending more people to Founder’s was a
good idea, and the night was very enjoyable, continue on this
trend
 Motion to leave open forum, seconded, approve
General Announcements
o VP of Rec- send OTM ideas to Jody and Arthur
o Sex, Politics, and Pizza event tomorrow
Recognition
Adjournment
o Motion to adjourn by unanimous consent by Michaela
 Seconded, adjourned
Respectfully Submitted,
Devin Moore
RHA Chief of Staff
These minutes were approved by unanimous consent by the 4/02/15 General Assembly