Attendees enjoyed a catered dinner overlooking the FBC Mortgage Football Stadium
The Housing Leadership Institute is a national award-winning program hosted by the UCF Residence Hall Association here at UCF. This conference is a five-day immersive leadership experience geared towards incoming Freshman and First-Time-In-College (FTIC) students, and takes place the week before the Fall semester. HLI serves as a crash course on leadership and how to get involved on campus, with fun and educational programs, guest speakers, nightly entertainment, and free food for all participants. Programs take place at various spots around campus to get residents familiar with where to go before classes begin.
Students are able to choose from a wide variety of entertainment, leadership, social justice, self-care, and college readiness programming sessions that will lasted throughout the day. Some of this year’s past signature events included a video game night, a lip sync battle, and celebratory banquet in the Roth Tower—which overlooks the FBC Mortgage Football Stadium, where the BIG12 UCF Knights play. Participants got to meet some of UCF’s Housing Staff, such as Dr. Arian Bryan, the Director of Residence Life and Education, and special guest Dr. Chris MacDonald, who gave a few welcoming words for attendees.
One popular HLI tradition is the annual lip sync battle, held during the last night of socials. The battle was a huge hit this year, as attendees really got into it and were able to break out of their shell. While HLI events introduce students to the UCF campus, tell them different ways to get involved, and gives them access to exclusive leadership opportunities, more than anything else, it allows students a unique chance to connect with their fellow peers and begin building friendships before the start of the Fall semester.
In fact, Jack McNutt, a past attendee of HLI who’s now a Resident Assistant (RA) stated “HLI has been extremely beneficial to me. Coming to college I felt really lost. I got an e-mail about HLI out-of-the-blue and thought ‘what the heck, I might as well go.’ Little did I know that HLI would lead me into joining RHA, an organization that provided me with leadership skills, a group of great friends, and so much more. All of that was possible because I attended HLI. I loved my experience and valued the things it taught me so much that I want to come back in the future to become a team leader so that I can give others the same experience that I had coming in.”
This past year, HLI had around 70 participants and was all about “leveling up” in your leadership.The Residence Hall Association (RHA) is excited to announce that theme for this year is “Shoot for the Stars with Leadership.” To apply, fill out the HLI application below. HLI will take place from Sunday, August 11 to Thursday, August 15. Lights! Camera! Action! You don’t want to miss out on the blockbuster event of the year!
HLI Application Link: Here
To learn more about RHA and ways to get involved, be sure to follow them on Instagram @RHAUCF