Northern Star Online: Letter writer disappointed over cancellation of RHA's little sibling weekend

As someone who was involved in the Residence Hall Association in the previous four years, most notably as last year’s Douglas Hall Council President, it disheartens, saddens and angers me to see that the RHA’s little sibling weekend was canceled this year. Expecting that the programs and functions of this year’s events were to be the same as they were in the previous few years (which is normally a grand time for all), I came to find out that this year’s programs were canceled without much notice or warning.

Several people addressed this to me over the weekend while I brought my little cousins in from Chicago to spend a weekend in DeKalb, only to tell me that “the program was canceled” or “I don’t know what is going on, what have you heard?” My cousins were indeed disappointed, and I was lost as to what to do with two sugar-hyped 12-year-olds.

I don’t know what makes me more frustrated: the fact that the programs’ events got canceled as a whole or that there was no advance notice of the programs being canceled. Whenever a member of a governing body expects something unusual to happen, normally he or she will give notice to whether or not the program will go on as scheduled. It doesn’t matter if the notice gets aired over the airwaves or on Facebook and MySpace or even on the school’s Web site. If a programmer or member in charge of a long-standing traditional program decides to cancel a program, there has to be basis and a reasonable timeline to actually cancel a program.

Myself and several of my peers expressed concern and anguish over the way this cancellation was handled. I wasn’t entirely sure if any all-hall programs were being held this year to bring in the masses from the residence halls. Although the individual halls have their programs being held at normal times, there haven’t been many of this year’s big events, such as RHA week (or in this case, l'il’ sibs weekend). A little advance notice would make things a lot easier for all of us.

This concerns me also because I fear that next year’s programmer, or any member of the student government bodies on campus, will have the task of not only getting residents and students alike to be involved in different programs at hand on campus, but also to maintain and sustain a level of retention and interest - to get new and old students alike to enjoy what college life has to offer.

Whether or not one is elected or appointed, I want to raise a call to action amongst our senators and executive board members alike: Next year, it would do everyone more good than harm to not only take ownership and accountability for your actions and your positions; but also assure the incoming freshmen, transfer students and returning students that Northern Illinois University is a school where we take pride in our positions, our jobs, and make the levels of organization to which we have been elected to work for our constituents.

David Sorrell
Senior, public administration