Students earn recognition for room decorating, visit from president

A pair of Northwest Missouri State University students on Thursday afternoon received a visit from a special guest who wanted to see what is now their award-winning residence hall room.

On Thursday afternoon Northwest President Dr. Tatum knocked on the door of a South Complex room occupied by McKenna Black and Briana Crites. (Photos by Todd Weddle/Northwest Missouri State University)

From left, Black and Crites welcomed President Tatum into their room.

Black and Crites conversed with President Tatum about how they planned their room decor.

First-year early childhood education majors McKenna Black and Briana Crites answered the knock on their South Complex door at about 4 p.m. to find Northwest President Dr. Lance Tatum waiting in the hallway. Tatum was visiting to congratulate the roommates on winning the Office of Residential Life’s “Bearcat Cribs” room-decorating contest.

“You’ve got to make it some place you don’t mind coming to and hanging out,” Tatum said to Crites and Black as the women showed him around the room.

Clearly, the roommates have made it a space where they enjoy spending time.

“We spent a lot of time planning how we wanted to place everything because we wanted it to have that homey feeling,” Black said.

Black, a native of Springfield, Missouri, and Crites, a native of Lee’s Summit, didn’t know each other until they were matched as roommates in June. Quickly, they took to chatting daily and planning how they wanted their room to look, drawing on their personal styles and interests.  

Their bunked beds are dressed with matching pink bed covers. On the opposite side of the room, their separate desks are personalized with books, mementos and photos. Under a large window overlooking Centennial Garden, a sitting area with an area rug and a short table provides a space where they enjoy reading and hanging out – next to a corner kitchen space with a microwave and mini fridge. A string of lights lines the perimeter of the ceiling.

“The way they set up their room was very, very cool,” Keatley Cotter, the South Complex resident director, said. “We chose them to represent us because they really use the space well. It’s very cozy and welcoming.”

Students living in each of Northwest’s residence halls were invited to participate in the contest. Resident directors selected a winner within their respective residential buildings. Then, from those building winners, Dr. Rose Viau, Northwest’s assistant vice president of student affairs for auxiliary services, and Director of Residential Life Mark Aubuchon selected the overall contest winner.

The Bearcat Cribs contest is an example of just one of the weekly activities Northwest residence halls organize throughout the academic year that encourage students to show their spirit and personalities while getting to know their hall neighbors.

Other contests this fall have centered on baking cookies and karaoke, and October contests include a Halloween costume contest and door decorating contest. The residence halls that place highest in each of the contests earn points toward the campuswide Bearcat Hall Cup competition, and a champion is crowned at the end of the semester.

In the meantime, now more than a month into their Northwest experience, Black and Crites say they are happy with their decisions to attend the University. Both have parents who attended Northwest, and the profession-based learning opportunities available through the School of Education solidified their selection.

“I was nervous at first; I’m not gonna lie,” Crites said. “I was like, ‘I don’t know anybody here.’ … Then I got a notification (Black) was my roommate, and we started talking and now I would not change a thing.”

Added Black, “We didn’t know each other beforehand, but now you would think we’ve known each other for our entire lives. She’s like my best friend.”