The collection documents some of the history of the CMU. RHA in constitutions, bylaws, programs, photographs, scrapbooks, booklets, webpages [added by the Archivist], and a few meeting minutes. The majority of the collection consists of the scrapbooks, all eighteen of which are oversized volumes of varying completion. Some of the covers and scrapbooks are particularly beautiful, creative, and well identified, including 1995-1996 (Cover of cotton flannel with cars design); 1996-1997 (Cover of bright tie-dyed material with PEACE); 1999-2000 (Cover words in pink, green, and silver sparkle paint on black scrapbook cover); 2006 (Cover of red satin cover with black RHA, 2006, and trim); and 2006-2007 (Cover of beautiful tie-dyed material with white rope and purple ribbon trim, RHA).
There are a number of organizations represented in the collection to which CMU. RHA belongs to and interacts with, including:
GLAUCURH [Great Lakes Association of College and University Residence Halls] is a student-run organization which works to promote and improve student life at college and university campus in the region including Michigan, Ontario, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. It focuses on providing quality programming and activities for on-campus residents to improve their college experience. It was founded in 1968. The organization works with the NCCs [National Communications Coordinator]s who each represent their school. There are conferences, regional and national awards and regional directors and national officers of the organization;
MORHA [Michigan Organization of Residence Hall Association] which is the related state organization;
and, NACURH [National Association of College and University Residence Halls] which is the related national organization, which has a program of the month competition in which CMU routinely competes.
Processing Note: Approximately .5 cubic foot of materials, duplicates and reading or reference materials, were returned to the donor as per his request on May 23, 2014.
Organizational History:
Central Michigan University (CMU)’s first residence halls, or dormitories, were Old Ronan (for women, built in 1924), Keeler (for men, built in 1939), Sloan (for women, built in 1941) and Barnard (for women, built in 1948). University staff headed the residence halls not students. Of these buildings, Old Ronan and Barnard are gone and Keeler and Sloan are now classrooms and offices, not residence halls. With protests in the 1960s, changes came to CMU, including new and co-ed dorms, and shared governance between administrators, faculty, staff and students. One of the organizations that helped accomplish this is the Residence Halls Assembly (RHA).
The CMU. RHA is the governing body of all residence halls. Its purpose is to facilitate a line of communication between residents and the Office of Resident Life regarding policies and regulations concerning all residence halls, improve residence life by maintaining a volunteer organization for an organized forum of shared governance, construct a dynamic cultural community and diverse atmosphere to foster resident recruitment and retention within their respective halls and within the assembly, provide new and innovative programming for residents, and promote student leadership and service within each residence hall. RHA executive board members are elected each spring by voting members of RHA. Officers are the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Communications Coordinator, Student Resource Consultant, and Programming Coordinator. Each hall council presidents gets a vote in RHA and each hall gets two votes in RHA. These are the RHA Representatives. The Hall Council President and RHA Representatives are required to attend weekly assembly meetings. The NRHH (National Residence Hall Honorary) also gets two votes. Meetings are usually held Mondays in the University Center. DREAM is an annual one-day conference sponsored by RHA for the purpose of getting residents excited about where they live and to help them find new ways to make their experience as enjoyable as possible via programs with speakers and sharing of information. (This information is from the CMU. RHA website, accessed in May 2014.)
