Last semester, the LMU Hall Residence Association (RHA) was honored with the Program of the Year Award for its Whole Foods Social Night at the 2025 Pacific Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (PACURH) Regional Leadership Conference held at the UC San Diego campus. PACURH is one of eight regional affiliates of the National Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls, Inc., the largest student-run nonprofit corporation in the world.
RHA started Whole Foods Social Night in 2015, pausing during some of the years during COVID, as a way for students to connect with one another in their residential communities and check one thing off their list before the start of the semester, getting groceries. The event returned in 2024 after COVID with 448 attendees and grew to over 600 this past fall in 2025, the largest-attended event since its start in 2015, showcasing a 34.82% increase in attendance. The 2025-26 RHA executive board includes:
- Valentina Leiva ’26, president
- Alexis Nagler ’26, vice president
- Zehan Mistry ’28, director of internal affairs
- Ashley Brown ’28, director of service and justice
- Elizabeth Léka ’26, director of activities
- Donnie Sarabia ’28, director of marketing
Designed as an opportunity for new students to become acclimated with the nearby community, Whole Foods Shopping Social highlights one of the closest grocery stores to campus. By exposing new students to the nutritional resources that they may rely on throughout the academic year in a unique way, Whole Foods Shopping Social has become more than just an average trip to the grocery store. With free treats, vendor sample stations, giveaways, raffles, and live DJ music, it has evolved into one of the most popular orientation-week events.
Alexis Nagler ’26, a double major in psychology and political science with a minor in Jewish studies, who serves as the vice president for RHA pulled together the bid packet to submit this event for an award at the conference and gave the presentation about this social program during the conference itself to the voting body. “This was the first time LMU has been honored with an award for this program,” said Nagler who is from Los Angeles. “I think the Whole Food Night is such an underrated program. It sounds very simple, just taking students to Whole Foods, but for many new students, this is one of the most practical events during their orientation week. We partner with Whole Foods in Playa Vista, and we bus all new students, including first-year and transfer students, to Whole Foods to pick up groceries. They get there and get to try new products from vendors. We’re turning what could be a really stressful experience as a new student starting their college career into something really fun and more social-oriented.” Nagler added that many students are coming to LMU without a car, or it may be their first time shopping on their own, so they highlight the LMU shuttle service that serves Playa Vista all semester long.
At LMU, many incoming students reside on campus, and during orientation, programming is their first chance to experience what a grocery store near campus is like, and for some, it may be the first time in their lives that they are in charge of shopping or even cooking for themselves. One of the main purposes of the Whole Foods Shopping Social was to empower new students with the knowledge and confidence to make healthy decisions, nutritionally, financially, and socially. By introducing accessible food options, teaching students how to navigate local resources, and creating a welcoming environment for genuine connection, the program laid the foundation for belonging during a pivotal moment at the beginning of the semester. The Whole Foods Shopping Social turned that challenge into an opportunity, showing students that they are not navigating college life alone. Students also had the opportunity to learn about healthy ingredients and the environmental impacts of sustainable ingredient sourcing behind the products of eight vendors, including The Good Crisp, Sanzo, Cocobear, UNREAL, Sun Noodle, Olipop, Sauz, and Yerba Mate.
One of the biggest parts of this event is the social aspect, which occurs at the beginning of the fall semester, and for all these new students, it’s a great opportunity to create community and build a sense of belonging at LMU. For RHA, this also gave their team a really good opportunity to showcase what RHA does and the programming it offers to students who may want to join their hall’s RHA or, like Nagler, work their way up to holding a role on the LMU RHA e-board.
“As a transfer student, joining RHA was one of the first leadership opportunities I was presented with at LMU, and for me it all started with a donut,” said Nagler. “I lived in McKay Hall, and the resident director at the time was hosting an RHA donut introduction, and I was enticed by the donut. So, I got to hear all about what RHA does and how some of the experiences in RHA can transfer on to after-college goals like law school, which I was already interested in after LMU. I came in at the very last minute as a write-in candidate and won the election for senator. From there, I really loved the opportunity to put on an event, and people showed up and had fun. I thought that was such a cool thing, and I wanted to keep doing that.” Nagler has continued to do that after spending two years in hall governments, and last year she ran for vice president on the e-board.
RHA offers students one of the earliest opportunities for student leadership at LMU. Student government, service, and sorority/fraternity organizations all hold recruitment in the spring, but RHA is the only one that kicks off during the fall semester. For Nagler, none of this would be possible if she had not lived on campus at LMU for the past three years. “Living on campus gives you the opportunity to fully immerse yourself in everything happening around you,” said Nagler. “Especially if you join RHA, you can join in your first semester, you can meet so many people by hosting events and meeting people, and in doing so, you can foster a better social life, which I believe is essential during your college experience. College is about growing and caring for the whole person, not just focusing on your academic pursuits. I got more involved because I knew all of these great people around me, and I wanted to join RHA to make our experience at LMU better. I stuck to RHA and really tried to make a difference for them through the advocacy and the programming we’ve been able to create.”
