RHLO has grown from representing 5 residence halls to all 13 on campus over the past year. They have strengthened partnerships with other campus organizations and now have over 100 active members. RHLO's goals for the year included fostering community, establishing an RHA at Barnard College, and providing diverse educational programming. RHLO has evolved its structure to better represent all residents and sit on several advisory boards to advocate for policy changes. They provide substantial programming events and collaborate with other groups like Eco-Reps and NRHH to engage the residential community.

2. Table of Contents
Background 2
Goals & Accomplishments 3-4
Evolving Structure 5-7
Policy 8-10
Programming 11-13
NRHH Involvement 14-15
Regional & National Involvement 16-17
Letters of Support 18-19

3. Background & Theme
Like a house suspended in the air by countless balloons, Columbia’s Residence Hall Leadership
Organization (RHLO) is supported by our hall councils, our partnerships with other
organizations, and the NEACURH region we call home. Because Columbia’s school color is
pantone 290, or the color of the blue sky, we find this theme particularly resonant. Together, we
have grown from an organization of five all councils to a powerful campus presence that spans
all thirteen residential areas, and boasts over one-hundred active members. This Fall, more
people voted in Hall Council elections (35% of first-year students) than in student government
elections. This year, for the first, second, and third time, RHLO has been featured on the front
page of the school newspaper – the Columbia Spectator. We have also brought about significant
policy changes across the campus, given that representatives from RHLO now sit on several
advisory boards. In this way, over the past year RHLO has fundamentally changed as an
organization in affairs both internal and external. We’ve begun a journey that has created a home
for people who come from innumerable places in the world, facing any storms that cross our
path.
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4. Goals & Accomplishments
One of our most important goals for this year has been to strengthen RHLO’s connection with
other campus organizations. This goal is particularly important to us because we want to foster a
greater sense of community, which requires engaging students from multiple angles. Our
progress toward this goal has come in many forms. For instance, at our weekly Executive Board
meetings, a Co-President of Eco-Reps (an organization devoted to sustainable living in the
residence halls) is always present. This has helped
us develop programs that are sponsored by each
organization, such as the Energy Challenge, which
gives out prizes to residence halls that lower their
energy consumption by reducing water, heat, and
electricity usage. This serves to create good
sustainable habits in our community. While we experienced growing pains in this partnership
due to communication issues last semester, we have mitigated them by having a Co-President
attend the weekly Executive Board meetings, and by having that
person communicate with the new Sustainability Reps (who are
discussed in the next section). We also signed our first official
partnership with Housing, which netted us $2,000 dollars each year
to our budget which has grown to $7,000. We also re-negotiated our
contract with OCM in order to have the care packages better meet
our students’ needs. We also added in sales for bedsheets for first
years as well as diploma frames. Furthermore, we also moved all of
3

5. the accounts for the hall councils to agency accounts, meaning that our money now rolls over
year to year, whereas in previous years whatever we didn’t spend went back to ResLife.
Additionally, we redistributed the amount of money that each Hall Council receives by changing
it from a number-of-students-based system to a one based on their large-scale programming
needs.
Another important goal of ours for this year has been to establish an RHA at Columbia’s sister
school, Barnard College. Our programs draw several Barnard students, and every year at the
activities fair we find that several of them want to join a Hall Council but end up unable to do so.
In terms of the progress made, we’ve begun the conversation with Barnard’s Student
Government Association (SGA), and anticipate the creation of an RHA at the start of next school
year. We are also gathering support through petition from residential leaders on their campus.
Yet another important goal of ours was to foster diverse and educational programming in order
to match our extremely diverse student body. For instance, there was a “Chopped” style
competition between the residence halls. The prompt given to each competitor was that the food
must be cheap to make on a college budget, which aligned with our desire to have inclusive
programming and foster education and perspective. We even had a campus celebrity judge the
food, Jonah Reider, who was featured on NBC for starting a restaurant in his residence hall
room. Another example of educational programming is that John Jay Hall Council threw a dance
party in which the central theme was staying safe at parties. Another example of educational
programming was Sexcapades, which helped destigmatize talking about sex in a healthy, safe
environment. This program was run by East Campus Hall Council.
4

6. Evolving Structure
This year, we finally expanded our network of hall councils to all thirteen residential areas, from
twelve the previous year. By doing so, we have succeeded in reaching all 5700+ undergraduates
who live in campus housing (around 95% of students). Because some of the residence halls are
smaller and further away from campus proper, we chose to combine some residence halls into
blocks. While this is not new to this year, we re-arranged some of the groupings in order to
combine ones with similar year-groups, as well as physical locations. Furthermore, we
incorporated Special Interest Communities into the Hall Council Structure. For instance, we have
consistent and enthusiastic participation both on the Hall Council and at their events from these
areas.
In order to account for the larger number of “RHLO Reps” that each Hall Council has, we
decided to change the structure of the Executive Board meetings. For instance, each Executive
Board member has been assigned two residential areas in a “buddy Hall Council” system. This
relationship has allowed Hall Councils to get advice from our more senior members.
Furthermore, during the Executive Board meetings, we hold a board meeting that includes
representatives from every Hall Council so that their ideas may be heard.
Another critical change this year for RHLO has been the finalization of our constitution. The
rules for elections, appointments, the amendment process, among other features have been
written into law. Furthermore, we clarified several position descriptions at both the Hall Council
and Executive Board level. This is especially critical because this year was the first one in which
the Executive Board was elected and not appointed by ResLife. In previous years RHLO was
still a budding organization, and now we have gained the autonomy we deserve.
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7. New to this year, monthly general body meetings have consistently drawn over one-hundred
members of RHLO. These serve to set the agenda for each month, for each hall council to hear
what others are planning, for each hall council to
meet with another and therefore foster synergy
between them, and to strengthen our newfound
relationships with other campus organizations such
as Counseling & Psychological Services (CPS).
Each meeting we have a speaker from one of these
organizations give a talk in order to notify student
leaders about upcoming initiatives that student leaders might want to get involved in. Our
budding relationships with campus partners along with the impressive turnout of our meetings
has brought attention to all of the work that we are doing to bring the community together,
including a front page feature in the Columbia Spectator that was alluded to in the introduction.
In terms of the structure of each Hall Council, we also decided to add a new position this year,
the Sustainability Representative. They are responsible for disseminating information to each
residence hall about mitigating their environmental footprint, and working with our new campus
partner – Eco-Reps. They are also responsible for creating their own green initiatives, such as the
Schapiro Hall Council Energy Bike Challenge. This last point is of significant importance, given
that one of our major goals is to work with other organizations to reach a wider audience. This is
a critical stepping stone towards that goal.
In terms of the structure of the Executive Board, the positions of Director of Programming and
Director of Resident Advocacy and Policy were created this year. Both positions illustrate
specific objectives that we hope to achieve, and better organize the responsibilities that we
6

8. partake in on campus. Additionally, we created three committees: Communications,
Programming, and Policy. These committees are notably open to all residents.
A significant event at the start of each school year is the RHLO Leadership Retreat, in which
each person elected to a position on a Hall Council attends the first general body meeting, and
goes through several leadership and programming workshops. This also serves to introduce
different Hall Councils to each other to encourage collaboration. Though this has been run a few
times in past years, we made several improvements this year alone. For instance, we paired Hall
Councils in similar areas and with similar age groups together so as to foster synergy between
them. This resulted in several collaborations, such as a Haunted House event that was held
between both the Living-Learning Center and John Jay Hall Council. We also had speakers from
several organizations with which we are partnered, so that incoming RHLO members now know
more profoundly what resources are available to them. These speakers included Hall Directors,
the Director of ResLife, the Director of Housing, the Dean of Undergraduate Student Life, and
the Co-Presidents of Eco-Reps.
7

9. Policy
Over the past year, RHLO has evolved from a predominately programing organization to one
that is adamant about empowering the voices of the residential community that are otherwise
silenced. For instance, RHLO now sits on several advisory boards, such as the Sexual Violence
Response Advisory Committee, which is responsible for designing sexual education programs
that are mandatory for all Columbia students. This connection also led to several SVR
workshops being held in the residence halls and hosted by the Hall Councils. We were also
added onto the ResLife Advisory Board, the Dining Advisory Board, the Facilities Advisory
Board, and the CUIT (Columbia University Information Technology) Advisory Board. Sitting on
these advisory boards has allowed us to provide student input on monumental changes in the
community such as residence hall renovations. Our input has been influential in two residence
hall renovations – John Jay and McBain. Importantly, this included the installation of gender-
neutral bathrooms, which we feel is important in order to foster a more inclusive community for
those who don’t identify on either side of the gender binary. Furthermore, we advocated to make
sure that all renovations were still wheelchair accessible, which is a problem that is ubiquitous
for our campus with a lot of steps and uneven masonry.
With our commitment to promote the policy agenda of the Columbia residential community,
RHLO started this academic year strong. For instance, RHLO’s consistent advocacy work with
Columbia Housing was instrumental in getting free laundry for all Columbia residents. This
netted us a great deal of publicity and support from the student body, and we look forward to
making more improvements to people’s lives. This change is especially close to our hearts
because of RHLO’s focus on making everything inclusive no matter one’s economic, social, or
8

10. physical status – programming and living alike. In addition to free laundry, we made sure that
students would be able to see what machines are open through the LaundryView portal, which
hadn’t been functional for quite some time. Another example of this was achieved by advocating
through the Dining Advisory board: people reported to us that Kosher meal choices were low on
supply at the actual dining halls, requiring students to wait for excessively long periods of time
to receive a Kosher meal package. In response we helped increase the number of available meals
by working on the process in which these meals are prepared. We also advocated for a labelling
system to be used in the dining halls in order to indicate which foods are vegan, gluten-free,
vegetarian, etc. One of our proudest initiatives at the end of last year was the “Dine with the
Dean” series, featuring Dean Valentini of Columbia College and Dean Kromm of Undergraduate
Student Life. This marked the first time that deans of the university came to where students live
in order to discuss policies that are important to them over a meal.
We also advocated for a more lenient key loan policy in order to help low-income students. The
first three key loans are free after a one-month grace period at the beginning of the year to
alleviate the pressure of transitioning to their new homes. After that, we helped reduce the costs
from $50 to $10.
Counseling & Psychological Services has
offices in seven of the residence halls in order
to provide students with access to mental
health professionals in the comfort of their
own building. One hurdle to achieving this is
that there are no waiting rooms attached to
9

11. these offices, so it was intimidating for students to utilize these offices because they would have
to wait outside the door until the counselor was available, thereby stripping them of their right to
privacy. This Fall, we helped design a text-message alert system with CPS in order to notify
students when their counselor is ready to see them.
This semester, we also fought to allow students to sign-in to all residence buildings on campus
(which usually require your student ID) using just their student UNI (a 7-digit pin that all
students memorize because it’s linked to their email). This means that students’ ability to
commute across campus is no longer hinged upon having one’s ID at all times.
10

12. Programming
Turning the residential community into an actual home for students on campus has been our
utmost priority. In accordance with this goal, RHLO pushed itself to come up with substantial
and innovative programming for all to enjoy. To kick off the year, RHLO forged a strategic
partnership with the Columbia College Student Council (CCSC). Together, we hosted a banner-
making competition in which residents were able to illustrate their school and building spirit. We
also co-hosted a homecoming lawn party in which we got the dining halls to serve dinner outside
on the lawns at the center of campus. The great food was accompanied by lawn games such as
corn hole, can jam, as well as a miniature golf course. We also partnered with CCSC throughout
the year to host Bagelpalooza. Every couple of weeks we bring bagels and coffee to the lobbies
of residence halls for students to enjoy for free as they rush to class.
One way to effectively engage new students at the start of the year is to engage their families. To
accomplish this, we partnered with the Office of Family Engagement to host “A Taste of
Morningside Heights,” at which students and their families were able to sample food from local
restaurants (which we negotiated to be for free) as
well as to enjoy performances from prominent
student groups on campus. The event was added to
the Family Weekend official schedule and was
standing-room only for the whole two hours.
Another one of our strategic partnerships has been
with the Eco-Reps group on campus. We helped
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13. organize as well as participate in their main fall event – Fall Greenfest. This event was a bazaar
of environmentally conscious groups on campus as well as food from equally environmentally
friendly restaurants in the area.
RHLO’s main event for the fall semester was dubbed “Chill Factor.” The main attraction of the
event was a Pitch Perfect-style Riff-Off between two performance groups on campus, with
topics surrounding love, winter, and family. To support that attraction, we also had cookie
decorating, gingerbread house building, and snowflake making stations. Additionally, we had a
card making station in order to provide holiday cards for students whose family were not in the
area to celebrate the holidays with. We made sure to keep the festivities non-denominational and
inclusive for everyone to participate. Our second major event of the fall semester was Puppy
Weekend. For this event, we partnered with Therapy Animals of New York in order to provide
well-trained therapy dogs to students all over campus during midterms. Four Hall Councils
hosted therapy dogs in their respective areas,
and the event attracted a little under a
thousand people. Our final major event for
the fall semester was Finals Review Sessions
in which we worked together with professors
of popular classes to have them host review
sessions in the residence halls across campus.
For example, first year buildings hosted
primarily first year classes.
12

14. RHLO’s capstone event is The Send-Off. Every year in May we celebrate the contributions of
our Hall Councils, our student leaders, our graduating seniors, as well as the community at large
in a fun, festive, final event of the
year. The event was filled with
cotton candy, popcorn, shaved ice,
Chipotle, drinks, boardwalk games,
and miniature versions of the best
events that RHLO put on last year.
Compared to previous years, the
increase in Hall Council booths,
food options, as well as the addition of life-size games, Chipotle, and live performances truly
motivated hundreds of more students to come than ever before – over a thousand.
Continually contributing to our community at school as well as our community at large is a
priority, so every year RHLO participates in Relay for Life. Last May, RHLO registered as a
Company for the first time, as opposed to a single team, and the company hosted thirteen teams,
hereby representing thirteen residential areas. We also reached a new fundraising high through
our Relay Day Auction.
13

15. NRHH Involvement
Several members of RHLO are also a part of the King’s Crown Chapter of NRHH at Columbia.
As a result, we collaborated on service projects and advised each other on how to grow as
organizations. For instance, together we promoted scholarship in the residential community by
hosting Finals Review Sessions in the
residence halls. These sessions were led by
actual professors who agreed to go out of their
way to meet the needs of students when they
were stressed out the most. RHLO’s Hall
Councils frequently accompanied these events
with study breaks full of food, study tips, stress
relieving advice and the stressbusters group on
campus that gave hundreds of stressed out
students free massages. This particular event
has been run by RHLO before, though the inclusion of NRHH has led to several more professor
review sessions being run and an overall increase in participation. RHLO also partnered with the
NRHH on a number of service projects, one being the PB&J service event. At the NRHH
induction ceremony, the NRHH as well as a Hall Council got together to make PB&J sandwiches
to put in lunch bags to be donated to a local soup kitchen in Harlem.
The NRHH and RHLO further solidified their close relationship by adding a partnership
agreement in both organization’s constitutions. The agreement outlined standard communication
procedures between the groups, cohosting annual and semesterly events together, budget, space
14

16. and resource sharing, as well as coordinating conference attendance. This agreement was put into
action in preparation for NEACURH Regionals 2015 this past fall. The two organizations held 4
bi-weekly meetings in which they planned all of the logistics as well as worked on Columbia’s
first bids at a NEACURH conference. Together Columbia successfully bid for Commitment to
Diversity at Regionals 2015 and put out a strong bid for Program of the Year. In this way, over
the past year the RHLO-NRHH relationship has grown along with the tremendous strides the
organizations are each making.
15

17. Regional & National Involvement
Though RHLO has attended NEACURH conferences before, it is
only this year that we have begun to bid for awards, and get
involved to a more profound degree. For instance, at NEACURH
Regionals 2015, RHLO took home the Commitment to Diversity
Award – a joint effort with NRHH. We also bid for Program of the
Year for our annual capstone event, The Send-Off. Lastly, we
submitted our program, Chill Factor, for a programming grant, and
were awarded $600 to make it a reality. Due to budgetary restraints,
we went with the RHA Executive Director, NCC, RHLO advisor advisor, and a delegate from
the NRHH.
This Fall, Bucknell University (go Bisons!!) came to visit Columbia in order to seek help with
the establishment of their new Residence Hall Association. RHLO walked the Bucknell
Executive Board through our constitution, especially when it came to our unique organizational
structure. Additionally we provided Bucknell with examples of programming and policy
initiatives that we undertake on campus to help them visualize how they will be able to find a
place in their community. This year we also improved our relationship with
our siblings from downtown, NYU’s chapter of NRHH and their IRHC.
RHLO sent a delegation to NYU’s Leadership Retreat, Torchday, in order to
gain leadership training, structural ideas, as well as programming ideas.
Being exposed to a different ideology about structuring the organization as
16

18. well as leading the residential community was a wonderful growing experience for the entire
delegation. We are very excited about the budding relationship between the two groups and are
excited about all of the possibilities it can lead to.
17

19. Letters of Support
February 17th, 2016
Dear NEACURH,
I am so pleased to be writing a letter of support for the Columbia Residence Hall Leadership Organization’s bid for
RHA Building Block award at NEACURH Minis 2016. As the first and only ever Executive Director of the
Residence Hall Leadership Organization (RHLO) I’ve been able to witness the organization’s tremendous growth
first hand over the past 3 years. RHLO was able to continue its staggering growth rate over the past year as well.
RHLO’s push for diverse and educational community programming and an increase in advocacy and policy work.
RHLO as an organization has hosted nearly 100 events over the past year. They have featured educational
components surrounding sex and staying safe and social events as well as diversity components surrounding race,
ethnicity or cultural diversity. A main staple in RHLO’s programming efforts have been bringing the community
together. Whether it was through study breaks, ice cream socials, playing with dogs, or hosting a carnival, RHLO
has always tried to make the Columbia residential community feel like home.
RHLO has been very active advocating on behalf of the residents of Columbia. Over the past year RHLO has
worked with Counseling and Psychological Services, Sexual Violence Response, Undergraduate Student Life, and
multiple Deans amongst other administrative bodies. Our most extensive work is done with the Columbia
Undergraduate Housing Department. By working with Columbia Housing, RHLO has been able to get concrete
changes made on campus such as providing free laundry to all Columbia Housing residents,
As the first and only Executive Director RHLO has ever had, I am able to see all of the growth the organization
has made over the past few years. Over the past 3 years our budget has tripled, our membership quadrupled, and
our campus partnerships and programming efforts have grown immensely.
I am so proud of all of the work that RHLO was able to accomplish over the next year. With such impressive
growth the potential for the amount of good RHLO can do on campus is reinvigorating. As Executive Director and
as a resident in the community, seeing the commitment to diversity and education programming, policy work, and
providing adequate leadership opportunities leaves no doubt in my mind that Columbia RHLO is deserving of the
RHA Building Block award at NEACURH Minis 2016.
Best Regards,
Nicholas Wolferman, ​Executive Director

20. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK
COLUMBIA COLLEGE AND THE FU FOUNDATION SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE
In the short year and a half since I have arrived at Columbia University, it has been remarkable to witness the growth and impact of
the Residence Hall Leadership Organization (RHLO). In August 2014, RHLO had just expanded to 12 hall councils, was engaged in
minimal advocacy work, and was still trying to determine how to best engage students in active programming. Now, hall council
membership is burgeoning, RHLO leadership is engaging in critical policy work across campus, and RHLO programs have become
a staple in the Columbia community. These enhancements and growth have truly made an impact on campus culture and have
provided rich leadership opportunities for a vast array of students.
RHLO began a few short years ago with 3 or 4 hall councils within first-year residence halls only. Those grassroots efforts have ,
expanded to 13 hall councils serving every residential student on campus. Each council operates with its own executive board,
engaging their constituents in programming and advocacy. Councils create and execute programs, ranging from casino nights, to
haunted houses, to forums focused on sexual respect, to sustainability competitions and initiatives. The work of our councils, under
the guidance of RHLO, is truly impacting our student body. At this point, 'hall council' is a common concept in the Columbia student
vernacular, and most students engage in hall council efforts in some capacity throughout the year. The RHLO Executive Board
strives to support and enhance the hall council experience as much as possible; from the Fall Leadership Retreat to monthly
general body meetings, RHLO makes an effort to build hall council members' skills and enhance their overall experiences.
Recognizing the great need for more formalized and structured policy and advocacy work, the RHLO Executive Board established
the Director of Resident Policy and Advocacy position this year. This individual works to establish and sustain relationships with
partner offices across campus, voicing student concerns and generating real change. Though this role has only existed for about 6
months, critical work is already being done. One notable advocacy project this year has been the addition of a text message system
for our in-residence counseling offices. In order to enhance student privacy, RHLO developed a proposal and worked with the
administration to roll out a system that allows counselors to text students when they are available. This enhancement has been
applauded by students, as well as campus media, and is a true testament to the impactful work RHLO is doing for the Columbia
student body.
RHLO has also developed rich programming initiatives that engage a high number of students. The annual Send Off, an event to
celebrate the end of the academic year and 'send students off into the summer, or to their post-graduation lives, has become a
campus mainstay, attracting nearly 1,000 attendees. This year, RHLO's inaugural 'Chill Factor' brought students together to
appreciate the talent of their peers; a capella groups performed and one group was crowned the winner of the competition. These
and other programs not only encapsulate RHLO's commitment to positively engaging the community, but also their great desire to
build strong collaborations and celebrate student talent and success.
RHLO has also shown a great deal of commitment to regional involvement. They have engaged in policy decisions and idea­
sharing at NEACURH conferences for the past few years. In Fall 2015, RHLO's NEACURH delegation was awarded both the
Commitment to Diversity award and the Programming Grant, and was a top contender for Program of the Year. These examples
highlight not only RHLO's desire to gain recognition for Columbia's work on a regional level, but to participate in the betterment of
the region, and RHAs region-wide.
In short, the growth that RHLO has experienced and the impact it has m,ade in just the past year have been tremendous. The group
has developed and engaged a plethora of student leaders, enhanced their regional presence, built community through rich
programming, and created true change through collaboration and effective advocacy. It is will utmost support that I recommend the
Columbia Residence Hall Leadership Organization for the RHA Building Block Award.
Best,
�
Y)Joey Kopriva
Residence Hall Director
Advisor, Residence Hall Leadership Organization UNDERGRADUATE srnDcNT LIFE
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