Zack Weismann, a junior, majoring in secondary education social studies, with a minor in special education, is taking on the role of president of the Association of Resident Hall Students (ARHS) this year.
Weismann was formerly the president of Watson Hall’s House Council in the 2016-2017 school year. Last year Weismann, along with the rest of Watson Hall’s House Council, swept the awards at the ARHS banquet in the spring. Watson Hall won Best House Council of the Year, Best Event of the Year, and Weismann won Best E-Board member of the year.
“We didn’t do it for the awards, we didn’t do it to win things,” Weismann said. “We did it for the building.”
Weismann credits his time in House Council for how he came into the position of president of ARHS.
“Attending ARHS meetings, being a part of house council, and working so closely with Quin (McLaughlin), I realized through my dedication to Watson’s House Council that I wanted to challenge myself, and expand to the whole campus.” Weismann said.
Former ARHS President Quin McLaughlin has a lot of faith in Weismann and the rest of the new E-Board coming into this year.
“I think he’s the guy for the job,” McLaughlin said. “I think he fits the position very well, I think he has a lot of good ideas, and he definitely has the motivation and the drive to push the organization forward.”
Weismann said of coming into the position, “At first, I have to admit I was a little overwhelmed, but I feel that would be true with anybody coming into a new position.”
Coming from Watson last year, he was only overseeing one building, but when you move up to ARHS you’re overseeing all the residence halls, and you’re not really working with other buildings, like you would in House Council, but you’re working with other organizations on campus, and your budget is a lot bigger, Weismann said.
“I had a lot of good guidance from Quin, and the E-board last year was also a lot of help to make sure I, and my team were prepared to come into this position,” Weismann said.
“Last year definitely set a standard for professionalism and how things should go,” Weismann said, “and I hope to meet that standard, and hopefully excel beyond it and set a new standard for whoever comes in to take this position on next year.”
Weismann and the rest of his E-Board have set some goals looking onward for the semester. One of these goals is to make ARHS’s name more known on campus.
When running for president, Weismann said he hadn’t really campaigned much because many people on campus weren’t familiar with what ARHS was. A goal he has set for this year is to change that.
We have a really good team of people who are familiar with proper networking tactics, and who know people in different organizations, Weismann said.
“This year, we want to have more advertising than has been had in previous years,” Weismann said.
Weismann said he and his team plan to advertise more through different mediums, some of which include posters, social media, and having shirts made with the ARHS logo on them.
“We want to make people interested, and for ARHS to become more prominent on campus,” Weismann said. “We want to have something beneficial to the campus that people are also aware of.”
Another goal Weismann has in place for this year is to team up with a wider variety of organizations.
“We want to continue to have good relationships with organizations like UPB and SGA,” Weismann said. “But this year we also want to work with smaller organizations on campus. We want to make sure every organization knows that they can come to ARHS if they need help in any way.”
McLaughlin stated that there is a very different dynamic between the e-board this year, and the e-board last year. When McLaughlin was president he was the youngest on his team as a sophomore, and now, Weismann is one of the older members, as a junior, on a team made up mostly of sophomores.
However, this doesn’t worry Weismann.
“I have no doubt about it whatsoever,” Weismann said. “We all came from pretty strong positions on our house councils last year, so it’s not like anybody is new to the game – we just moved up a level.”
“I’m so excited for what this year holds, and I don’t have doubt in anybody, nor should I. They have all already blown my expectations out of the water,” Weismann said.
Weismann says that he sometimes has to remind himself that he is a student first.
“You have school and academics, and grades, but then you’re also a part of the e-board for this organization, so you have a lot on your plate,” Weismann said. “But luckily, we have a good team with big appetites.”
“Experience has a lot to do with it, I think,” McLaughlin said. “There’s a lot of new blood this year, but once they get into a groove with it, they’ll be fine.”
“Right now, I’m feeling okay,” Weismann said, “I just have to answer some emails.”
ARHS has an event coming up on October 1st, that will be a tailgate for the Steelers vs. Ravens game.
We will have hotdogs and hamburgers, and a vegetarian option to cater to a bigger crowd, Weismann said. We will also have games to get everyone ready and excited for the football game. The tailgate will be held behind Watson Hall, in the quad area between Buildings E and D.
To keep up with this event, and other events ARHS plans in the future, don’t forget to follow them on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.
Twitter- @SRUARHS
Instagram- @SRU_ARHS
Facebook- ARHS- Association of Residence Hall Students
Snapchat- sruarhs arhs@sru.edu
Weismann says that he sometimes has to remind himself that he is a student first.
“You have school and academics, and grades, but then you’re also a part of the e-board for this organization, so you have a lot on your plate,” Weismann said. “But luckily, we have a good team with big appetites.”
“Experience has a lot to do with it, I think,” McLaughlin said. “There’s a lot of new blood this year, but once they get into a groove with it, they’ll be fine.”
“Right now, I’m feeling okay,” Weismann said, “I just have to answer some emails.”
ARHS has an event coming up on October 1st, that will be a tailgate for the Steelers vs. Ravens game.
We will have hotdogs and hamburgers, and a vegetarian option to cater to a bigger crowd, Weismann said. We will also have games to get everyone ready and excited for the football game. The tailgate will be held behind Watson Hall, in the quad area between Buildings E and D.
To keep up with this event, and other events ARHS plans in the future, don’t forget to follow them on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat.
Twitter- @SRUARHS
Instagram- @SRU_ARHS
Facebook- ARHS- Association of Residence Hall Students
Snapchat- sruarhs arhs@sru.edu
