RHA Sponsors Chaminade’s 1st Fall Fair

On Friday night, CUH students kicked back and relaxed at the Fall Fair sponsored by the Residence Hall Association to give students a chance to destress as the last two weeks of the semester come to an end. Inflatable carnival games such as the ring toss, magic ball, tic tac toe, and basketball dominated the Sullivan Library Lawn.

“I think it’s good that they are doing this before the finals because it gets people to not think about their obligations and responsibilities for a bit,” said third-year Business Administration major Angela Faye Navor. 

Chaminade’s RHA program is a group of students who plan specific events for resident halls to give students living in the dorms a chance to get out and avoid the feeling of being stuck inside.

“RHA wanted to bring something different to the campus, especially for the students living on campus who can’t go out so much,” said RHA’s advisor Venus Ituralde. “Especially on a Friday night, it’s safe, and everyone’s here.”

She said that the events hosted by RHA are usually for the students living on campus, but since they collaborated with student clubs such as the Bio club and Psi Chi, they were able to open up the event to everyone.

The event had been planned since September and all of the great efforts and work put towards the event showed with everything an attendee could do. Students were given a “Treats Card” upon check-in and arrival where they could go to five different snack booths where an RHA member tracked each station a student went to with a sticker. There were hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, candy apples, and drinks.

Navor said that the event was unique and different because it resembled the feeling of a real carnival. 

Prizes like push pop fidget toys, lanyards, straws, bags, hand sanitizer, glass bowls, and more were handed out with the RHA logo on them. 

“It’s a more relaxed event, it’s casual, there’s free food, there are games you can play and just have fun and socialize,” said second-year Psychology major Alexander Hernandez. “The event has been great, the food has been great, the popcorn and hot dogs are really good.”

“I was nervous about the event at first, but it looked like everyone had a really good time,” said second-year Communications major and RHA’s historian Kelsey Sablan. “We wanted to bring people living on-campus and off-campus together and give them events to meet other people.”

Although Sablan was nervous about many students being unable to attend, according to her, the event attracted over 50 students while she managed check-in.

For many students living on campus, it can be a struggle getting out and exploring Hawaii on their own with the limitations of Covid and transportation. The RHA program tries to make Chaminade feel like a home away from home for students residents.

Sablan, who is a Guam native, has loved her time working for the RHA program so far because she enjoys the small community on campus and being able to walk around every day to greet everyone she knows.

The Fall Fair was mostly advertised via Instagram and it received even more attention from students once a post went out the same day of the event revealing there would be candy apples. These delicious treats ran out within the first 30 minutes of the event, leaving many students happy and excited for more of what the event had to offer. 

“I hope more people join RHA and we can have more events for the residents so they can mingle and meet new people, and make a community,” said first-year International Relations major and RHA’s vice president Trever Ross. “Everyone who worked at each station brings out a different personality.”

Ross said he joined RHA during his first year at Chaminade because they try to address the concerns many students have regarding the dorms. He even mentioned the previous event RHA hosted, a horseback riding event that was held on Nov.11 that helped many students experience Hawaii off-campus.

According to Ituralde, there will be another event held in the spring that students can look forward to.

For updates on RHA programs and the events it holds to entertain students living on campus while away from home, check their Instagram for more (@cuhreshall).