The Residence Hall Association, or RHA, elected its new president during its meeting on Wednesday night.
Newly elected president Dontaé Freeman opened up his statement with a question — “How many people in here played with Legos when you were younger?”
Freeman, a media information senior and the only candidate for president, proceeded to describe how as a child, he grew jealous of how his brother could build Lego towers.
“Every time (I built a tower), it would collapse under its own weight,” Freeman said.
“But then, my brother put down cardboard. The tower needed a strong foundation — that is, until my grandma stepped on some (Legos) and threw them all away.”
Freeman described how now former RHA president Zachary Derade laid the foundation for RHA through efforts to make the organization more visible.
Derade will officially step down as president on April 9 for Freeman to take over.
“I don’t want to waste my time laying a foundation,” Freeman said. “Instead, I should be continuing a legacy.”
“All I need to do is add windows, some doors, a sink… to the house that is RHA.”
One of Freeman’s main goals during his term as president is to create an online forum where MSU students can post what they want for RHA to do, he said.
The site will be grouped into different departments, such as the director of movie offices and special events, Freeman said.
“People will be able to post on those forums and say, ‘I wanna see this this year,’” he said.
Derade, a genomics and molecular genetics senior, will leave behind a legacy that created a new RHA logo, revamped movie offices, increased RHA’s visibility with social media campaigns and implemented new documentation and recording processes to make the transition process smoother from now until April.
“Dontaé has been a very loyal and great chief of staff overall,” Derade said. “He has very strong confidence and knowledge of the organization.”
“We want the next (executive) board to hit the ground running,” he said.
Director of Public Relations Gregory Rokisky, a communications and public relations senior, said RHA is the voice of 15,000 students and it’s important that the group has everything they need to be successful.
“(Having a foundation) is really important for this organization rather than recreating the wheel every year,” Rokisky said.
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