VSU Honors Student Awarded Nationally

VALDOSTA -- Valdosta State University student Jake Jones was honored by the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH) as the First Year National Student of the Month award for his work in February.

A first-year student living in VSU's honors hall, Jake is the vice president of the Reade Hall council and has taken tremendous strides with his involvement on campus. He is currently serving as the National Communications Coordinator - In Training (NCC-IT) and was the planning committee co-chair for VSU’s Residence Hall Association’s campus conference in April.

The first VSU student to win a national NACURH Of-The-Month (OTM) title, Jones was nominated for the award by Nontalie Morrow, the regional communications coordinator for administration for the Southern Atlantic Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (SAACURH). Morror, who considered Jake her “new gold medal” in VSU’s Residence Hall Association, said she nominated Jones for “going above and beyond the expectations of any first year student.”

Every month students and staff can submit OTM nominations to VSU’s campus National Residence Honorary Hall (NRHH) chapter for campus level consideration. OTMs are submitted by category, which include: first year student, executive board member (RHA), resident assistant, advisor, staff, student, and programs. These nominations are then reviewed by the NRHH OTM selection committee, which selects campus winners and submits them to the SAACURH regional selection committee and finally the NACURH selection committee.

Jones is the first student to receive national honors for his work in within the RHA, however VSU has claimed several regional awards. Chad Freeman was named SAACURH August 2009 Regional Executive Board Member of the Month and Chinasa Ordu was chosen as the Advisor of the Month for September 2009 for her leadership of VSU's chapter of the National Residence Hall Honorary (NRHH). National Residence Hall Honorary chapter recently won the 2010 SAACURH Building Block National Residence Hall Honorary of the year award.

SAACURH is one of eight regions within NACURH, the largest student-run corporation in the world. The organization attempts to improve communities within college residence halls by providing networking opportunities through conferences and other resources designed to help schools improve their residence hall organizations.

For more information about VSUs Residence Hall Association or Residence Hall Honorary Association, visit: http://services.valdosta.edu/housing/.