The Intermountain Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls regional conference — to be hosted in November 2014 by the University of Idaho — will feature its first ever drag show courtesy of TabiKat Productions.
The 2014 regional conference to be held at UI is based on a foundation of diversity, inclusivity and acceptance. These attributes will be tailored to fit into an “Alice in Wonderland” theme called “Through the Looking Glass.” UI was selected to host the conference for the first time, since 2006.
During this year’s IACURH conference in Provo, Utah, a team of delegates from UI proposed a 75-page bid to a boardroom that was to decide whether or not UI would host the regional conference next November. Ann Wardlaw and co-chairs of the bid, Loretta Moate and Michelle Aoi, walked away from the conference with confirmation that the event would take place at UI. The dates for the conference, according to Wardlaw, are tentatively set for early November.
Programs at the conference provide activities and icebreakers for the attending delegates’ residents. A program will also provide delegates with instruction on how to effectively fill leadership positions in RHA and NRHH at their respective campuses.
The coordinators of IACURH 2014 will be Aoi, Wardlaw, Moate, Megan Pearson, Katrina Alverez and Ellen Kaasik. Advisers of the event include Jill Powell, Amanda Mollet, Kelsi Nagle and Cara Lehman. Spuddy Buddy, the event mascot, will also hold a place at the conference. UI was the only school to bid for the conference.
According to Wardlaw, following their bid, delegates received questions for only five minutes. Typical questions were raised, which included accessibility — as it related to the Americans with Disabilities Act — at UI, as well as registration. Geographic location was also a topic of interest.
“Realistically, we didn’t really have many questions, because our bid is … pretty complete,” Wardlaw said.
Aoi said the bid was quick to write because much of it came from last year’s proposal.
“We took a lot of the same stuff from last year and tweaked it a little to fit our current theme,” Aoi said.
The bid included information on budgets, schedules for the event, the city of Moscow and UI, programming, the keynote speaker, sponsors, dining, facilities and transportation.
According to the bid proposal, the keynote speaker will be Devin C. Hughes, motivational speaker specializing in diversity and acceptance, author of “Contrast: A Biracial Man’s Journey to Desegregate His Past” and creator of a comic book called “Self Talk” that is centered on children’s self-esteem and self-worth.
Based on the bid, the speaker will cost $3,500. The total fixed cost to host the event will add up to more than $26,000.
Coordinators will be in contact with multiple companies to sponsor the conference.
There are 33 schools, including the University of Idaho, from eight states and two Canadian provinces that make up the Intermountain Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls.
Jake Smith can be reached at [email protected]