(upbeat music) (graphic pops) - Hello and welcome to "The Journal."

I'm Steve Kendall.

The National Residence Hall Honorary or NRHH is a service and philanthropy-based organization that has a national affiliation.

Well, what we have today is a couple of folks here from the Bowling Green Chapter at the University.

Bryna Walker, and also Agatha Hickerson.

And Bryna kind of set the stage because I'm assuming probably a lot of people haven't heard about NRHH.

So, tell us what it is.

Kinda a little background on the organization and we can talk about the things that you folks do.

Because you do a lot of great fundraising for a really good cause, which we're gonna talk about.

- Yeah, so NRHH or the National Residence Hall Honorary is a service philanthropy-based organization like you said.

And we have a national affiliation with NACURH, which is the National Associates for College and University Residence Halls.

- [Steve] Okay.

- And basically they have like a bunch of different regions.

Our region is CAACURH, which is a Central Atlantic.

And there are a bunch of NRHH chapters that just across different schools in our region.

And we have meetings and stuff, and we just communicate with each other about what we're doing based on service and philanthropy, and how to grow our organization.

So, we have that connection with other NRHHs in our region.

And nationally as well.

There are a couple conferences where we can go to.

Like, we're going to one, end of February.

That's a great opportunity.

Because it's also, leadership is one of, so like NRHH has three pillars.

Service, philanthropy, and leadership.

And so, leadership being one of them, we try to like, make people have leadership opportunities if they so choose.

And it's great for people who are looking to get into service philanthropy stuff 'cause we- - [Steve] Okay.

- [Bryna] We really try to make our events just like us.

Like, we are the ones who plan it and do outreach, and all that kind of stuff for it too.

- [Steve] Yeah.

Now Agatha, you're in charge of like the, sort of the outreach area.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

- The Director of Service and Philanthropy.

Talk a little bit in general about what that's about, and then we'll talk about why you got involved in this and why other students do.

So, talk about your role in the organization.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

So, with one of our pillars being philanthropy for at least the past 13 years, if not as long as the organization has existed at BGSU, we've partnered with St. Baldrick's.

- [Steve] Okay.

- Which is a national foundation that raises money for Childhood Cancer Research.

And they're a really, really wonderful organization and they've been wonderful to work with.

And part of what they do is they help smaller scale organizations like church groups, universities, even high schools or businesses.

They help them plan these shave-a-thons and these big fundraising events where they invite people to raise money and even shave their heads in solidarity with childhood cancer patients and survivors.

So, kind of my role as Director of Service and Philanthropy is to take the lead on planning that event.

That doesn't mean I do it all by myself.

[Steve] Okay, sure.

[Agatha] Bryna has been a really great help, and she's our main director of the organization as a whole, and we have a really good team.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Agatha] That's been doing a lot of solicitation calls to local businesses, doing a lot of outreach, advertisements, setting up opportunities like this.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Agatha] Where we can kind of talk about the cause and be able to fundraise more.

- [Steve] Yeah.

Now, both of you have gotten in, I guess.

Bryna, how long have you been involved in the organization?

- So, my freshman year I was a part of the sister organization to NRHH.

- [Steve] Okay.

- And through that I was introduced to it and that's kind of how I got involved.

So, my freshman year I applied to be a part of it because you have to go through an application process- - [Steve] Right.

- And get approved and voted on and all that kind of stuff because it is like an honorary.

So yeah, I applied then.

So, spring my freshman year I started and I'm now a junior.

So, I've been about a part of it for about two years.

- [Steve] Yeah, and Agatha what about your background here?

- [Agatha] Yeah.

Yeah.

In order to be a part of NRHH, the kind of the national guideline is that we only accept the top 1%, or not the top 1%, but maximum 1% population wise of students that have lived on campus- - [Steve] Okay.

- [Agatha] For at least one semester.

I lived on campus for six semesters.

- [Steve] Oh.

- [Agatha] And I was also a part of Resident Student Association.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Agatha] And I had a really, really wonderful experience.

And then, last year we actually hosted one of those regional conferences that Bryna was talking about, where we ended up using St. Baldrick's as our philanthropy partner for that, which kind of inspired me to take on a greater role in NRHH, though I hadn't really been involved too much previously.

- [Steve] Yeah.

Okay.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

- [Steve] So, on the BGSU campus, in this chapter, about how many students are in the group right now?

- [Bryna] Right now we have about 15 people in it.

- [Steve] Okay.

- [Bryna] So, we could definitely have more.

- [Steve] Right.

[Bryna] But we're very happy with what we have and everyone definitely does their role and is very good at doing what's asked and helping planning and everything.

They're all great, so.

- [Steve] Yeah, and as you mentioned too, you can apply for this.

What are some of the criteria?

I mean, there obviously are probably some GPA-related things because that's part of it too.

So, if a student wanted to become part of the organization, what steps would they take first of all?

- [Agatha] Yeah, so our application process is that they have to have been nominated or given a letter of recommendation by someone like their resident advisor, their hall director.

Could be like a desk clerk, somebody living in their residence hall that has kind of seen the good work and seen them uphold the pillars of NRHH.

Service, leadership, philanthropy.

And really kind of give them the push to apply for the organization.

I believe our GPA requirement is 3.0, I believe.

So, it's not too unrealistic.

We're not an academic honorary.

- [Steve] Sure.

Yeah.

- But we do rolling applications, so anyone's able to apply at any time.

And then, we do induction ceremonies once a year.

- [Steve] Yeah.Yeah.

So, basically someone could go online and look at the resident's live site.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

- Find your location there and there's probably a form they can fill out.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

Yeah.

- That kind of thing.

Yeah.

Now, we've got just a moment or two in this segment.

Maybe we can talk a little more about the other side.

But you do this fundraiser, which is the shave-athon.

Can anybody do that?

I mean, maybe beyond students?

- [Agatha] Yeah.

- I mean, can anybody from the community become involved?

- [Agatha] Yeah, so we've been inviting people from all over.

Someone emailed me who's a school teacher at the Bowling Green High School who's gonna be participating in the event this year.

We invite people from all over the community, on campus, off campus.

And it's a really, really great event for that reason.

Just because we're bringing everyone together for this great cause that is Childhood Cancer Research and raising money for those things.

- [Steve] When we come back we can talk a little more because obviously, you'd probably like to have as many, there may be a limit to how many people you wanna shave that day, but maybe not.

Back in just a moment with Bryna Walker and Agatha Hickerson from the National Residence Hall Honorary.

Back in just a moment.

Thanks for staying with us on "The Journal."

Our guests are Bryna Walker and Agatha Hickerson.

And Agatha, we were talking about the shave-a-thon.

And you talked a little about how people get involved, but kind of expand on that.

So if someone wants to say, "Hey, you know what?

I think I want to have my head shaved for this good cause."

Which is childhood cancer.

What is their responsibility?

What do they have to do besides obviously giving up whatever hair they have?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

So, our shave-a-thon is gonna be taking place this Sunday, February 2nd.

- [Steve] Okay.

- From 8:00 to 2:00 PM.

And we'll be doing head shavings all throughout that time.

We're also gonna be having face painting.

We're gonna be doing a raffle for some gift baskets and some in-kind donations that we've had from some people.

And then, we're also gonna have like big yard games and stuff like that.

- [Steve] Oh.

- [Agatha] So, it's a really fun family-friendly event that everyone can kinda come out to.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Agatha] And in order to get involved, anyone can get involved leading up to the event and even day of.

We invite people to go to stbaldricks.org/events/bgsu2025.

- [Steve] Okay.

- And that's where you can find our Event page and donate.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- And then on that Event page, you can either register as a fundraiser, if you're interested in doing some outreach to friends and family and asking them to donate kind of like in your honor or on your behalf, or you can even register as a shavee.

And that's kind of committing, "Hey, I'm gonna raise money and I'm gonna shave my head for this really great cause and I'm gonna shave my head in solidarity with childhood cancer survivors."

- [Steve] And where does this take place on Sunday?

- [Agatha] It'll be in the Bowling Green State University Student Union.

- [Steve] Okay.

- [Agatha] In the multipurpose room.

- [Steve] Oh.

Okay.

- [Agatha] So, if you walk in those doors from the parking lot and just head right up the stairs, we'll have a really big banner hanging up.

- [Steve] You'll see what's going on.

Okay.

Yeah.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's gonna be a really great event.

We have Beyond Blends coming in to do head shaving, and we're really grateful to them for donating their time for this.

And right now we currently have five shavees.

- [Steve] Oh.

Okay.

- And that number can increase.

We're gonna have two barbers there ideally, so people can sign up to shave their heads day of if they feel so moved, you know?

By like the spirit of the event or anything.

Or people can register in advance up to day of of the event.

Yeah.

- Agatha, I was gonna ask.

Who does the actual shaving?

Is that like- - [Agatha] Yeah.

Yeah.

- [Steve] Whoever just happens to be around and has a razor nearby.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

- [Steve] But you have professionals who do that stuff.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

- [Steve] Yeah, so Bryna, I mean, you actually went through this process and had your head shaved.

So talk about, maybe how you thought about that, leading up to it, and then as it's happening you're going, well this is...

I mean, was it different than you thought it would be?

Were you after the fact went, "Well, that was curious that I did that.

What did I just do?"

Or just talk about your overall experience with that.

- Yeah, so it was kind of at the beginning, it was, I started fundraising in fall.

- [Steve] Okay.

- When I was like, first learning about the organization.

I was like, "Oh yeah, I'm just gonna fundraise."

I was kind of like joking to people because they were like, "Oh, does this mean you're gonna shave your head?"

And I was like, "Oh yeah, I'm totally gonna shave my head.

- [Steve] Sure.

- [Bryna] Sure.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Bryna] But I was kind of joking.

And I've always done it to where like, I've grown out my hair really long and then cut it really short and donated it.

- [Steve] Okay.

- [Bryna] But I've never actually shaved my head or like, cut it past my chin, you know?

- [Steve] Right.

- [Bryna] So I was like, the more I kinda think about it, the more it just became like not a joke that I was doing it.

(Steve laughs) And then my, I have a twin sister and she was like, "If you are shaving your head, I'll shave my head."

I was like, "Okay, I guess we're gonna shave our heads together.

- [Steve] Okay.

- So we both, yeah.

So, I was fundraising money and then she just decided to come in the day of and shave her head.

So, like as Agatha was saying, if you're kinda like unsure about it and you just kinda wanna see what's going on, you're welcome to just come in day of and shave your head.

And you don't even have to shave your head.

You can, if you have really long hair and you just wanna cut some inches off, you're more than welcome- - [Steve] Yeah, that's okay too.

- [Bryna] To just cut some hair.

If you wanna just come in, see what it's all about, and all that kind of stuff, it's like, it's really all up to the person.

Choose your own adventure.

You don't have to fundraise or donate money to come into the event either.

- [Steve] Oh okay.

- Like, it's open, free to the public.

And then, while people are there they can decide like, oh, like we'll have a merch table there too.

So, if people want to buy- - [Steve] Oh, okay.

So they can- - Yeah, all the proceeds go to St. Baldrick's So, we're not keeping any of that money ourself, but yeah.

So it's just like, it's just a really great event.

And my sister and I, we really enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed fundraising the money and doing the outreach to my family because my family was very generous in everything that they donated to.

And they were very supportive of both of us shaving our heads.

And it was just a really fun experience.

And I definitely don't regret it.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Bryna] I loved doing it, so.

- [Steve] Yeah.

Yeah.

So, how long did it take for your hair to grow back to where you, like, the length that you wanted it?

- [Bryna] Yeah, so I actually haven't cut it at all.

- [Steve] It's still growing back.

- [Bryna] Yeah, yeah.

So, I haven't cut it at all since.

This is just how it's naturally grown out, so.

- [Steve] Yeah.

Okay.

- Yeah.

I mean, I like it.

I was kind of surprised that I kinda liked my head shaved.

I'm not doing it again, but- - [Steve] But it was- - [Bryna] Yeah.

- [Steve] It's an interesting experience.

Yeah.

- [Bryna] Yeah.

I enjoyed it.

- [Steve] I mean, do you have people come in who decide once they get there to do it at all?

I mean, they're like, "Well, I'm not sure," but then they see it happen and go, "Oh, why not?"

or- - [Agatha] Yeah.

- And then maybe some people even go, "Oh, maybe not."

But yeah, so talk about that 'cause you said people come in and it's not just about getting your head shaved, there's other things they can participate in.

- [Agatha] Yeah, so last year when we hosted that regional conference at our closing ceremonies, we actually had Damare from Beyond Blends come in.

And he volunteered to do some head shavings for us.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- And no one that came to that event, these were people from colleges all over the region, people from Ohio State, University of Cincinnati, University of Delaware, everywhere in the Midwest pretty much, no one had agreed in advance to shave their head.

So we were really unsure, like, we don't know if people are gonna wanna do this.

We don't know if it's gonna work out.

But we actually ended up having quite a few people shave their head.

(Steve laughs) There was a girl from Rutgers University that shaved her head.

That was really, really wonderful to watch.

And then, a lot of people donated ponytails to make wigs for- - [Steve] Okay yeah.

- [Agatha] Childhood cancer patients.

- [Steve] Yeah so, well, talk a little bit about that too.

because I saw that you had some statistics on your page about- - [Agatha] Yeah.

- [Steve] The amount of money that's been raised over the last 12 years.

But it mentioned ponytails.

So, there is something short of shaving your entire head that you can do.

- [Bryna] Yeah.

- [Steve] Okay.

- [Agatha] Yeah so, for this event right now, we've raised just over $1,200 so far, which is really, really great.

- [Steve] Yeah.

Yeah.

- Not quite at our goal, but we're really hoping that we can get there.

- [Steve] You're working on it.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

You know, for the rest of this week leading up to the event, as well as day of.

But the St. Baldrick's Foundation actually in their entire existence of 25 years has funded over $354 million worth of grants- - [Steve] Wow.

- Globally.

And that's across 31 countries.

And in large part, that's a part of like, small scale events like this.

So, they really encourage people from university clubs, sororities, fraternities, National Residence Hall Honoraries, workplaces, schools.

Everyone to get together and plan this event.

Sometimes people will plan events kind of in honor or in memoriam of someone who they knew that experienced childhood cancer.

They're unfortunately lost due to childhood cancer.

And so, those events are a really, really great way to honor that person and kinda say, "We wanna raise money to help other kids who have gone through a similar experience.

- [Steve] Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, it's really interesting that when you talk about the fact that you're raising money in relatively small increments, but it adds up to a significant amount of money.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

- [Steve] And so, if people think, "Oh, my $10, my $20 won't mean that much."

Well, it all adds up.

[Agatha]- Yeah.

Yeah.

- [Steve] So that's a good thing.

That's a good thing, yeah.

- [Agatha] And even from this event that we've done, you know, it costs $1,225 to sponsor a kid going into a clinical trial.

- [Steve] Oh, okay.

- [Agatha] So, we've already kinda like reached- - [Steve] Funded.

Yeah.

- [Agatha] We've already reached that goal and there's already gonna be a kid that is benefited from all the hard work that we've done.

- [Steve] Wow, wow.

Yeah, that's great.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

- [Steve] Well, when we come back, there's obvious a little more to talk about.

We'll be back in just a moment with Bryna Walker and Agatha Hickerson here on "The Journal."

You are with us on "The Journal."

Our guests are Bryna Walker and Agatha Hickerson from the National Residence Hall Honorary.

And Bryna, we've talked about the head shaving and those sort of things.

But you guys have had other events that you do besides that, that people could get involved in as well.

So, talk a little about those.

- Yeah, so last semester we hosted a dodge ball tournament that people came out to.

Just a really fun way for people to have fun but also raise money.

It was basically just each person pays $5 for admission to play dodge ball, and then you just get to play dodge ball, and that's how we fund raised that money.

And then we also asked for in-kind donations for prizes for the winners.

So, that was really fun.

People had a great time doing that.

And then, like last year, we hosted a 5K called the Brave the Shave 5K, where we also had someone shave their head.

And then, also more in-kind donations from, like Dave's Running Company is always super kind.

- [Steve] Sure.

- And they host stuff like this all the time with fund raised 5Ks.

So they were really helpful with that.

And so yeah, we've done that before where someone shaved their head.

And it's just like, we do a multitude of various events to try to just keep fundraising money for St. Baldrick's.

- [Steve] Yeah, and basically, this is all student-driven.

- [Bryna] Yeah.

- [Steve] I mean, you guys, it's all about you guys taking care of this from the planning, the implementation, all of that.

And yeah, which was just a great thing too.

When you talk with other people about becoming part of the organization because obviously, awareness is a tricky thing with all the other- - [Agatha] Yeah.

- [Steve] Organizations, events and things going on.

And you've got 15 people.

How do you go about like promoting?

Like, at the university level to the students?

Obviously, these events help.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

- But do you regularly like, send things out, emails, texts, or whatever methods are used to take care of that?

- [Agatha] Yeah, I think there's a couple kind of different methods that we kinda go about.

One of which that we are an honorary organization.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Agatha] So, if you're part of the organization for a certain amount of time and put in a certain amount of work and a certain amount of hours into it, then you do get the white and blue honors cords.

- [Steve] Aah!

Okay, okay.

- From NRHH's national affiliation, which is really good.

And that kind of is a big draw for people, you know, at first, because they do like having the cords- - [Steve] Oh sure.

Yeah.

- The regalia at graduation.

- [Steve] Absolutely.

Yeah.

- And then also, you know, talking to people in the residence halls who have had a really great experience.

You don't have to live on campus the entire time you're in the organization.

- [Steve] Okay.

- [Agatha] But most of the time, people's first semester involved, they are living on campus.

- [Steve] Right.

- [Agatha] So, something for me that I really liked was, I really loved having the community of living on campus.

And, you know, living in the dorms, like having communal living.

But you can't do that forever.

So, I really enjoyed joining NRHH as a way to kind of stay connected with that group, stay connected with my friends that I've made in the residence halls through the organization.

And then, kind of the other way I think we talk to people about the event is if there's someone that's interested in volunteer opportunities, if there's someone that's interested in fundraising, if there's someone that really resonates with the mission and vision of St. Baldrick's, then it's a really great organization to get involved with because that is one of our primary focuses.

- [Steve] Well, and I know, Bryna, you've talked about your experience doing it.

And as we said too, you don't have to be a member of the organization to help with these events.

And that's, because obviously the more hands you have available, the better for those things.

If you wanted to tell somebody what you've enjoyed and what's been beneficial for you?

What would be the things that come to mind right away about why it's been such a good experience?

- Yeah, it's been such a great experience for me because it's really put me in that leadership role, which is one of the pillars of NRHH.

Like before, I could never see myself being like a president of an organization or anything.

And then I was kinda like, "You know what?

I think I might be able to do this."

So, I was really encouraged to go for the role and I really enjoy it.

And I've been able to reach out to, it's been making, reaching out to people a lot easier because, I mean, the worst you can get is a, "No, we're not really interested."

And then you move on to the next people.

- [Steve] Sure.

- And so many businesses are more than happy to help and they're more than happy to be like, "I won't give you a donation, but maybe go reach out to these people," or "We'll hang up a poster for you or something," instead.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- So, a lot of businesses are very, very kind in that way.

And it really, it makes a lot of the anxiety about like, "Oh, I have to reach out to this person," or "I have to talk to these people."

Like, it really makes that a lot easier.

And again, the leadership aspect is really fun.

And bringing the community together is also something I've seen that's just amazing.

Because so many people come just from around Bowling Green, and the whole community just comes together for these events that we host.

And it's just great to see everyone coming together for such a great cause.

- [Steve] Yeah.

Well, it is interesting too, you mentioned that twin- - [Bryna] Yeah.

- [Steve] Jumped on board too, which you probably, I dunno if you, you know, but had to coerce her or not, but she probably says, "Wait a minute, if you're gonna do it, then I'm gonna do it too."

But it is interesting though, because I think, and you mentioned the fact too, this is sort of that experience you get at a university.

You have classes, you do all of that, but then you learn all of these other things with an organization like this.

Those skills that you can translate now when you go out after you've graduated and apply those in the careers you're in because you've had that experience.

You're comfortable talking with people.

You know how to basically sell the project to them, sell the idea, get them to become involved.

So, it's that good outside the classroom experience as well.

And obviously, you're the outreach person, the service person, all of that.

So, you do that on a regular basis- - [Agatha] Yeah.

- [Steve] All the time.

Recruiting and that sort of thing.

So, what's been the positives that you see coming out from the role you've had so far?

- [Agatha] Yeah, I would agree with Bryna because it definitely is a challenge to kind of take those risks and step outside of your comfort zone just to talk to people and to talk to people about St. Baldrick's.

But I think in this role too, for every small scale event that people are doing for St. Baldrick's, whether it's a shave-a-thon or fundraiser, they're partnered with a coach.

So, being able to talk with that coach and get better at event planning and get better at like, making a budget for this event and figuring out a timeline and delegating tasks to other people to help out has been really, really helpful for me in my future career.

- [Steve] So, project management skills.

- [Agatha] Yeah, exactly.

- [Steve] Yeah.

You say, "Yeah, I've done that."

This is what you're talking- - [Agatha] Yeah.

- [Steve] It was easy.

I've been, yeah, I've had a lot more work than that.

So that's good.

So again, now your event comes up this Sunday.

This is gonna, people will be watching this on Thursday night.

So, kinda go over again where it is, when it is, and the kind of things they can expect to see and participate in.

- [Agatha] Yeah, so this Sunday, 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

It's in the BGSU Student Union Multipurpose Room.

There's also a really big banner.

We're gonna have some raffle items.

We have some really great donations of gift cards, stuffed animals, toys, stuff like that that people can buy a raffle ticket for $1 and kind of enter in their chance to win.

We're also gonna have face painting.

We have temporary tattoos, face stickers.

We have big yard games that people can play.

Really just hang out and enjoy the event.

And then, obviously the main event is we'll have that head shaving.

So, if you wanna watch someone shave their head, be supportive, or if you wanna shave their head themselves, then you can go to our Instagram @NRHHFalcons or head to our Event page at stbaldricks.org/events/bgsu2025.

Yep, and that's how you can get involved and learn more about the event.

- [Steve] Yeah, and good.

And I know, you guys are wearing the button.

- [Bryna] Yeah.

- [Steve] It says, "Ask me why I'm bald."

Do people actually do that when you're wearing them or not?

- [Bryna] Yeah, so- - [Steve] Okay.

Yeah.

- [Bryna] When I shaved my head last year, I had one of these on my backpack and like, not a bunch of people asked me- - [Steve] Yeah, but- - [Bryna] But like, a few did.

- [Steve] Yeah.

- [Bryna] And so, I got to tell them about the organization and everything.

It was really fun.

- [Steve] Yeah.

Good.

It's another way to bring attention to the organization and get people to say, "Oh really?"

That's a cute way to do it.

And it works really well, obviously, because it's not a button you see everywhere.

- [Bryna] Yeah.

- So that's a good thing.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

- [Steve] Well, yeah.

Bryna, Agatha, thank you so much for being on.

And thank you so much for the work that you've been doing with this.

And good luck in your future careers and endeavors, and we appreciate you coming on.

And thanks for being here at Bowling Green State University.

- [Bryna] Thank you.

- [Agatha] Yeah.

Thank you so much, Steve.

- Yeah, thank you.

You can check us out at wbgu.org.

You can watch us every Thursday night at 8:00 PM We will see you again next time.

Goodnight and good luck.

(upbeat music)