Residential Life’s ‘Home for Hawks’ initiative strives for creativity, unity
Since Fall 2019, UHCL’s Student Housing and Residential Life staff have been implementing the “Home for Hawks” initiative for Hunter Hall residents.
The groundwork for the initiative began upon Hunter Hall’s opening and became a true initiative this year.
Matthew Perry, director of student housing and residential life, described Home for Hawks’ purpose as ensuring residents of Hunter Hall see it as their “home away from home.”
Perry described Home for Hawks as both an initiative and a mantra, explaining it initially started out as a mantra amongst residence hall staff for their mission to make Hunter Hall a safe and engaging place on campus.
The initiative began to take off around the time the COVID-19 pandemic began, making safety the top priority for Hunter Hall.
Perry referenced research that shows students who live on campus feel more connected and proud of their campus and have higher GPAs than commuter students. These outcomes are unlikely if students do not feel the residence hall is their home away from home and a safe space where they can be themselves.
“We practice that inclusion on a daily basis,” Perry said. “It is one of our top priorities to make sure students feel like they have a safe and engaging place to live and learn and be a part of campus life. That’s what Home for Hawks is.”
The initiative is implemented through informing students about campus departments and school traditions, and generally immersing them in campus life. This fall’s implementation of the initiative will feature virtual events in collaboration with various student organizations. One upcoming event is a collaboration with Health Services, Counseling Services and the UHCL Police Department for a webinar on alcohol education.
Perry and Residential Life Coordinator for Student Housing Cierra Davis highlighted policies in the hall to keep students safe such as mask requirements, social distancing practices and cleaning requirements. Perry said that student feedback to the efforts has been positive, noting that many Hunter Hall residents chose to stay on campus rather than return home amidst the pandemic, feeling safer in Hunter Hall.
Perry and Davis said COVID-19 has forced them to be more creative with how they keep students engaged while remaining safe.
“It’s a challenge but [it] brings out innovation,” Davis said. “We’ve been able to showcase what we’re about at Hunter Hall.”
Perry and Davis stressed how making students feel included is vital to the initiative, with both highlighting how they wish Hunter Hall to be a place where students can express their passions.
It was through this aspect of the initiative that Jacq Garcia, a current resident advisor and studio arts major, painted Hunter Hall’s new student mural, which depicts a hawk with a banner above the hawk that reads “Home For Hawks.”
“I’m really excited and happy about it,” Garcia said. “Overall I’m really happy about the results.”
Hunter Hall resident and student Ilkka Halmari expressed positive feelings about the residential staff’s efforts, feeling they do make Hunter Hall “a home away from home.”
“The staff makes you feel welcoming,” Halmari said. “They do not judge nor ridicule you. To me, that is what makes you feel at home.”
Halmari added that residential life staff can improve in their efforts to make more reluctant residents feel more comfortable.
“Some ways they can make this happen is by knocking on their door and asking how they are doing, having more one-on-ones (when the RA’s speak with their floor resident’s one-on-one), inviting them to the cafe for lunch, etcetera,” Halmari said. “I believe this is something they can work on.”
Halmari also said another way that the staff could improve themselves is in approaching problems that residents have with other residents.
“There have been many problems in the past and problems are still occurring today,” Halmari said. “I believe that the staff do not do a good of a job in resolving these problems. It is not their fault, however, since they are just following policy. If a small change in the policy was provided, I believe that residents would feel more at home in the Home for Hawks initiative.”
Halmari said he is overall very happy with his life at Hunter Hall and that the staff do their best to maintain high spirits amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
Perry said Hunter Hall staff plan to assess the residents toward the end of the fall semester to see their thoughts on their efforts and ways they can improve Hunter Hall as a Home for Hawks.
