Putting it all together

The office of the Resident’s Housing Association is small but brightly lit. On one shelf is a box of Guitar Hero controllers sitting around haphazardly like a musician’s toy box, and under that is a binder mysteriously labeled “Xbox 360.”

But when you talk to the president, Cody Bakken, 23, and the vice president, Shawna Barnett, 27, the surroundings start to make sense.

Bakken [Editor’s note: Bakken works as a distributor for the Vanguard] has a catchphrase, one that he has already put up on flyers: “You plus me equals RHA.”

It’s cute, but it also contains the heart of what the RHA is trying to accomplish at Portland State. Through all of their actions, the group is trying to build a sense of community for the students of Portland State. And though this year is really more about what Barnett called “housekeeping,” it is an important step along the way.

Most of the RHA’s main priorities consist simply of maintaining good lines of communication. Barnett aptly described the university as “a whole bunch of really special ingredients, the real trick is to put it all into a good soup.”

Bakken said that one of the challenges of building for next year is careful planning.

“You have to find out what’s going to work before you start running,” he said.

And the challenge really couldn’t be more pronounced. With so many different student groups and wildly varying backgrounds for the students, building a sense of community is tough.
   
“With all the different groups living on campus, trying to figure out the best course of action is tricky,” Bakken said. “There are certain tried and true methods of getting people involved. Food is one way.”

Another important aspect is having community representatives. These are elected officials from each residence hall that meet regularly with the RHA executive board to bring forward ideas and concerns. In theory, the practice should allow for the many varying needs of the different residence halls to be addressed in an orderly manner.

The problem is, less than half of the halls have sent community representatives.
   
This means that not all of the different halls are being heard. But the RHA can only do so much—people must actually run for the positions. But the work doesn’t end with just the residence halls.

Barnett meets with various student groups on a regular basis in order to get a sense of what they can offer to the community, beyond their own roles as student groups. The RHA takes in ideas from the student groups and often notifies people when certain group events are happening.   

One of their proudest achievements is the community garden. Its very name speaks volumes about what the RHA is trying to build at PSU, and the association believes the garden is a key part to their efforts this year.

By devoting more time and money to it, and electing a new garden coordinator, the group hopes that it will continue to serve as a focal point for the PSU community.
   
And the enthusiasm of the president and the vice president is palpable. Innovative and even sustainable ideas were suggested by both of them, an acknowledgement of the importance Portland State places on green living.

A partnership with the sustainability groups on campus is being actively sought by the RHA, and they believe one of the core models of the future PSU community ought to be sustainable living.

As Barnett said, laughing: “PSU’s color is green!”