Spreading The Awareness About RHA

When Shaun Huffman came to The University of Tampa, he had no idea that he would be highly involved with campus life. He just wanted to fit in and be social with everybody but getting involved with Residence Hall Association changed his life. As Assistant Director of Residence Life Ciarra Joyner said “Picture this it’s Fall 2007, I am waiting in the Vaughn Community Room to start the first Hall Council Meeting in walks amongst all of the girls a tall, slender male. He is silly and outgoing and asks if he can be the SG [Student Government] Rep. Fast forward two years later he is the President of RHA, had attended and presented at national conferences and helped make change at UT and he is just beginning.”

Huffman started off his freshmen year being involved with his hall council, he then started attending RHA meetings as a part of his position on the hall council board, he gained even more interest in RHA when he attended his first conference through RHA. “I remember being nervous about how the conference was going to go, but seeing the highly motivated and fun environment at these conferences you just want to make a change on campus.” Huffman states, when asked about what his plans for the upcoming year were he mentions “I want RHA’s name to be out there, and this year our theme is Diversity. I am in the process of talking to all diverse organizations on campus to plan something big for the students.” He also plans on building a better resident community on campus, and spreading awareness about RHA so that residents can come and discuss their concerns and suggestions.

Huffman still enjoys hanging out with his friends and socializing in the Vaughn Courtyard, but he definitely enjoys being a leader on campus and encouraging freshmen as well as returning students to join and be a part of the Residence Hall Association. As Senior Nikkia Parchment states “Shaun is always around people, he likes the attention but at the same time he always thinks about RHA first, that is one of his major priorities.” Huffman is not only involved with RHA but Student Government as well. “I have to head up the residence and commuter life committee, I am pretty excited about it because my committee members seem fun and they have a lot of enthusiasm so I know that it’s going to be a good year.” said Huffman. Many are very impressed by Huffman’s excellent leadership qualities as well as his ability to make people feel comfortable around him. As Director of Residence Life Krystal Schofield said “Shaun has a positive attitude and the and ability to get people to work together. He is working to get RHA’s name out there and is already off to a great start for the coming year.”

Huffman held the position of Vice-President for his first year in RHA, he accomplished a lot while he was in this position. He appointed members from each hall council to be on the food committee, this committee met every month to discuss any issues on campus regarding the food, the staff or any other complaints. If you ask some of the executive board members on RHA what they thought of Huffman, they had nothing but good things to say. As Sophomore Kaneesha Heath [who holds the National Conference Chair – In Training position] states, “Shaun is a good campus leader and RHA president, I think the best qualities are that he is able to be sociable with everyone. He never seems to block out a group of people or anything of that matter. He is very approachable and always has a smile.” Another one the members on the board, Director of Public Relations Senior Mike Seitzler states, “Shaun’s best quality is his charisma and friendliness, he's always easy to talk to and very approachable. Within the last year I have seen Shaun grow in a very professional manner, he knows how to present himself in a very professional way to the staff of our school and higher.”

When asked who can attend the meetings, Huffman states that "Anyone who lives on campus is more than welcome to attend our meetings. Residence Hall Association meets every Tuesday at 8:30PM in the Brevard Community Room. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at rha@ut.edu or add us as a friend on Facebook - Residence Hall Associationtampa."