The ACUHO-I Heroes Program provided members an opportunity to make sure the outstanding work of their colleagues didn’t go unnoticed in a time of constant change and racial unrest. Patrick Connor, chair of the ACUHO-I Awards and Recognition Committee, explained that “the creation of the Heroes Program was the convergence of conversations among the members of the ACUHO-I Home Office, the ACUHO-I Executive Board, and the Awards and Recognition Committee. At the heart of the concept, there was a strong desire to find an avenue to allow individuals to show appreciation for the above-and-beyond efforts of their colleagues that were occurring regularly in our member campuses’ housing/residence life programs. Although different methods of coordinating the program were considered a primary consideration was ensuring that the process of nominating a Hero was straightforward and would not take a great amount of time to complete.”
Innumerable professionals stepped up during this time. Among the standout heroes were people like Atiya McGhee at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, who turned a personal loss into extra love and care for her staff and students on campus. Amid the challenges of the pandemic and racial injustices over the summer, she championed the coordination of COVID-19 care for her campus community, filling in gaps in the process where she saw them as well as co-organizing the logistics for social justice initiatives. Matthew Nelson at the Qatar Foundation in Doha coordinated a seamless replication of characteristic student housing for students in isolation on campus. He made sure that these students didn’t lose the educational atmosphere of their academic environment and that they felt safe, secure, and connected. And Krista Haxton from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., who had to redo housing assignments for 300 students with housing instability or international travel disruptions after the university changed its plans.
This program has brought many inspiring moments into the spotlight during a time when hope and positivity were needed most. As Connor said, “For me, the most notable aspect of the Heroes Program is that it provided professionals in our field the rare opportunity to recognize peers and colleagues on their own campuses who often step forward to take on additional work when there is a need and/or serves as an inspiration to other team members through their efforts.”
A new year means new Executive Board members coming in and getting started on Association work. Leon McClinton, director of housing and residential life and graduate college affiliated faculty in the College of Education and Human Sciences at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, was elected Vice President. In this role, he will liaise with external association business partners, work in tandem with the president-elect, serve on the Board Executive Committee and Association Finance and Audit committees, and serve as chair of the Association Policy Review Committee.
Olan Garrett, director of residential life at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was elected Finance and Corporate Records Officer. In this role, he will review monthly and quarterly financial reports provided by the CEO and the Director of Finance and Administration and report the results of these reviews to the Executive Board and Association membership. Also, he will act as chair of the Board Executive Committee as well as the Association Audit and Finance committees.
Josh Gana, associate director for facilities, operations, and special projects for the Department of Housing and Food Services at the University of Washington in Seattle, was elected Facilities and Physical Environment Director. In this role, he will provide expertise and leadership in defining and promoting cost effective, comfortable, safe, secure, and sustainable housing environments for campuses.
Suzanne Price, director of residential learning at Clemson University in South Carolina, was elected Knowledge Enhancement Director. She will provide leadership and expertise in the areas of research, assessment, development of new knowledge, information creation and dissemination, and connections with graduate programs. Additionally, she will work with volunteers and staff to produce publications that serve the Association and expand industry knowledge.
Christopher Silva, director of housing at American University in Washington, D.C., was elected Business Practices and Enhancements Director. He will work to prepare the Association for future issues affected by economic and demographic trends as well as provide expertise in the area of occupancy management, conference management, market analysis, financing of housing, crisis management, procurement, and contract services.
In an effort to be more intentional about our offerings, the Conference & Expo Program Committee will be curating content throughout the first half of 2021 via a number of different sources, including a call for program proposals in February. To inform those efforts, ACUHO-I is asking members to provide early insight on the topics and content areas that you would find most impactful to explore in 2021. Using this online form, please submit your topic ideas and any suggestions you have on individuals who are leaders in these particular areas.
Paintings Bring Colors of Life to Foundation AuctionAs of December 14, 2020, a total of $5,800 was raised from the auction of "Quarantine Portraits" created by TJ Logan. Proceeds benefited the ACUHO-I Foundation and the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice. Logan is a former ACUHO-I Executive Board member and associate vice president for student affairs at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Starting in March 2020, he painted a portrait a day as an effort to put light and positivity into each day of quarantine. The more than 225 portraits represent several cultural icons painted in bold strokes of color, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elton John, and Ruby Bridges.
Parthenon Award Accepting Donations
Interested in honoring a Parthenon Award nominee? The ACUHO-I Foundation is accepting donations on their behalf. This award is a celebrated tradition that recognizes professionals for their service, leadership, achievement, and contributions to the housing field. A minimum of $5,000 in donations is raised on behalf of each recipient. Tradition calls for these names to be kept secret so that the recipients may be surprised during the award presentation at the ACUHO-I Conference & Expo, June 12–15. Discretion is a must! To see a list of this year’s nominees, please contact Scott Boden at sboden@acuho-i.org. Donate online at foundationgive.acuho-i.org/Donate.
Willie J. Young, Sr., a cornerstone of ACUHO-I and a devout student advocate, passed away November 23, 2020. Young served on ACUHO-I’s Program Committee for many years, received the James A. Hurd Award in 1993, and was inducted into the Parthenon Society in 2009. He earned his undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in student personnel administration from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He talked fondly of his alma mater, often saying he was “soaring with the falcons.” From there, he went to work at several institutions including Defiance College and Wilberforce and Wittenberg universities.
He began working at The Ohio State University in Columbus in 1990 as an area coordinator. It would become his professional home and, eight years later, he was appointed director of off-campus student services. In this role at OSU, he was instrumental to the health and well-being of the off-campus student community. Much of his time was spent driving through off-campus streets checking on students and taking the pulse of their community. He befriended these students who came to know him as someone who was looking out for them and not someone who was there to pin trouble on them. A newspaper profile of him noted two of his mantras: "Where you have people, you’re going to have problems, but you also have potential," and "Every flower doesn’t bloom on the first day of spring." James L. Moore III, Ohio State’s vice provost for diversity and inclusion, noted that Young "chose education and guidance of young people over punishment and abandonment. He understood well that young people learn life’s lessons at their own pace.”
He impressed many of these students by remembering their name and their hometown. He was a regular visitor in the Association’s Home Office in Columbus, Ohio, and hardly ever missed the annual conference. His compassion for others and his ability to always see potential in students and never give up on them has left a profound mark on his community and his Association.
New Funded Research Whitepaper Available
A new whitepaper exploring findings from a recent ACUHO-I grant-funded research study is now available free for members. Access the whitepaper in our library to explore a campus-wide program implemented to increase the support provided to marginalized students at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) in the Midwest. Learn more online.
Date Set for Campus Housing Index Data Release
Data from the CHI Compensation and Staffing Supplement will be released in February 2021. These reports will include compensation and staffing data comparisons between prior years and the current state of staffing and compensation in a COVID year. Users on campuses that completed at least 50% of questions in the last data collection cycle will be able to access the reports in the CHI platform at http://acuho-i.org/chi. The full panel of data collection will resume in May 2021 for the 2020-21 academic year. Questions can be directed to chi@acuho-i.org.