UW-Whitewater honored at regional residence hall conference

December 16, 2008

For efforts in leadership development, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater received Best Philanthropy Award and Top Ten Program Award at the Great Lakes Association of College and University Residence Halls (GLACURH) Conference 2008: Tour de Leadership at Indiana University Bloomington in November.

The regional conference, which includes Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Indiana, is an opportunity for more than 55 universities to share and exchange information to improve campus climate, leadership and school spirit through program presentations.

UW-Whitewater received the Best Philanthropy Award for raising nearly $1,000 for the American Cancer Society.  Students sold wooden roses and LEADstrong bracelets. Every two years, UW-Whitewater chooses an organization to support. The World Wildlife Foundation is UW-Whitewater’s charity of choice for the next two years.

“Receiving Best Philanthropy Award is something we’re very proud of,” National Communications Coordinator for UW-Whitewater’s Residence Hall Association Brent McCarthy said. “This is a great opportunity for the university to support a good cause while having fun doing it.”

UW-Whitewater junior and conference delegate Jason Corning received the Top Ten Program Award at the conference for his program, “Look, listen and learn about deafblindness.” His program was chosen out of more than 50 programs presented. Corning, who is deafblind himself, created the program to educate people about the unique nature of the condition while spreading diversity awareness. The program includes different hands-on activities like buttering a cracker while blindfolded and listening to the sound of speech as it would be heard by someone with partial hearing loss. Corning’s program has also won awards at the state, regional and national level.

“I have presented the program several places, and I really enjoy educating people about deafblindness,” Corning said. “Each time I present my program, I hope to encourage people to become more open-minded and comfortable with the disability.”

“Corning wanted to instill within others a sense of awareness for the types of obstacles people with disabilities face each day through a fun and interactive way,” McCarthy said. 

“I’m personally very proud of the work each of our 15 delegates put in to make this conference a success,” McCarthy said. “Not only can these awards inspire our leaders to continue on their pathways to success, but also show other universities in the region how hard our students work to make a difference in peoples’ lives on campus and in the Whitewater community.”

For more information about GLACURH 2008, visit http://glacurh2008.emeryjordan.com/ or e-mail McCarthy at mccarthybj20@uww.edu.