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Residence halls, students awarded for year-long achievements at RHA banquet

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Kevin Brost
Kevin Brost / Arizona Daily Wildcat New members of UA’s Residence Hall Association executive board are sworn in during the Residence Hall Association’s End of the Year Banquet in the SUMC Grand Ballroom on Sunday.

Hundreds of people gathered Sunday to celebrate the accomplishments of UA’s residence halls and hall council students.

The Residence Hall Association presented awards in the Grand Ballroom of the Student Union Memorial Center to residence halls and individual students for their work throughout the year.

Awards included Hall of the Year, Student of the Year and Most Sustainable Hall.

“This year the goal is making sure everyone feels recognized,” said Anthony Salas, RHA vice president of public relations and political science sophomore. “We want to make everyone feel that their work was valued and has had an impact on campus.”

The room was decorated with a Hollywood awards show theme with golden blow-up award statues flanking the stage and black movie clapboard on each table.

The banquet opened with a slideshow of pictures and videos of RHA events during the year. The ballroom filled with laughter and cheers as students recalled memories from all the events and programs they put together throughout the year.

Though not every hall received one of the 11 main awards, all were recognized.

This year, there was a new award created called the Four Year Outstanding Service Award.

Graduating seniors were honored by having their names engraved on a plaque as a symbol of their commitment to serving the UA community.

RHA also honored Jessica Crombie, the senior coordinator for leadership programs. Crombie has been an adviser for six years, but is leaving RHA at the end of the school year.

In honor of Crombie’s work at the UA, the RHA executive board renamed the Advisor of the Year Award after Crombie. Crombie will also be honored with a brick engraved with her name in the Women’s Plaza of Honor in the coming weeks.

The Jessica Crombie Advisor Award went to Lexie McGarvey, a graduate community director. Award presenters said McGarvey has helped create a unified and positive community.

“I’ve been really honored to have been able to work with everyone,” McGarvey said.

One of the biggest awards of the evening was for Hall of the Year, which Kaibab-Huachuca won for the third consecutive year.

Their winning bid said “the hall council in this hall has been a powerhouse all year long.”

Melissa Conrad, the Kaibab-Huachuca Hall Council president and a public health freshman said she was extremely proud and honored to receive the award.

“I feel like it’s a very empowering experience for all of us,” Conrad said.

Award winners

First Year Experience Award: Jordan Levine
Student of the Year Award: Gretchen Koch
Resident Assistant of the Year Award: Daniel Talbot
Most Improved Hall of the Year: Parker Hall
Program of the Year Award: Espresso Yourself
Act Rep of the Year: Karissa Sorensen
Eco Rep of the Year: Christopher Crawford
Sarah Herndon Distinguished Service Award: Joshua Connors
Most Sustainable Hall of the Year Award: Navajo-Pinal
Most Spirited Hall of the Year: Apache-Santa Cruz
Hall of the Year Award: Kaibab-Huachuca

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