Get Involved in a Leadership Role

Looking to get involved and take a leadership role? At SMU, three kinds of student organizations help shape life in the hall:

Residence Hall Association (RHA)

The Residence Hall Association is the governing body of all residential communities and is open to all students living on campus. RHA was established to ensure a system of self-governance for the residential communities. The objectives of RHA are: to be the voice of 2,000 students living on campus; to promote community councils within residential communities; to communicate and present suggestions and concerns to RLSH leadership; to annually review the community standards; to provide programming and activities to the on-campus students and to represent SMU on the regional and national levels.

SMU RHA is a member of the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH) and the Southwest Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (SWACURH). These affiliations enable RHA to send delegates to leadership conferences which provide students with an opportunity to meet college students from across the country and develop new leadership skills. Conference attendance and leadership opportunities are some of the best parts of being involved with RHA!

For more information on RHA, ask a residential staff member or call the RHA office at 214-768-1791.

President:  Mesa Thomas
Executive Vice-President:  Jarret Shook
Vice President for Business Administration:  Brad Graves
Vice President for Public Relations:  Deionna Hill
National Communications Coordinator:   Ryan- Patrick McLaughlin
Advisor: Adrienne Patmythes

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Community Councils

Community councils are the governing and programming body within each hall community. These organizations address concerns of the residents, help identify and make community improvements, and provide social and leadership opportunities. If you are interested in being a partner in making your residence hall a great place to live and learn, please consider a role with your community council. It is a wonderful way to meet many people, learn how to organize events, tackle issues and gain invaluable leadership experience.

National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH)

NRHH was founded in 1964 by the National Association of College and University Residence Halls Inc. in order to provide service to member schools and to promote recognition of residence hall leaders. Today, over 170 chapters are affiliated with the National Residence Hall Honorary National Office, including the SMU chapter. NRHH sponsors many recognition awards including Of The Month awards for hall programs.

Activities vary from campus to campus. Some simply induct new members at an annual recognition banquet each year, thus, an honorary chapter. Others are extremely active on their campuses and in their communities, coordinating leadership retreats, conferences, socials, hall or campus wide programs, fund raisers, and a whole host of other events. Still others have found a middle ground which suits their campus. Membership selection is conducted by each individual chapter. The chapter members represent the top 1% of the student leaders on campus and are those who have contributed extraordinary amounts of personal time and energy in order to make the residence halls more than a "dorm."

New for NRHH: Submit Of the Month Awards online:

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Residence Life and Student Housing is a department of the Division of Student Affairs.