House directors, fondly known as house moms, are a staple in freshman housing. But after one year, students who remain on campus might have a different kind of dorm parent.
For three campus dorms, hard-working students fill that role, parenting the orphans of Mauck, Koon, and Niedfeldt. Mauck and Niedfelt have student house directors, while Koon has a Head Resident Assistant.
Senior Katie Scheu, the Mauck student house director, is in charge of about 50 upperclassmen girls. While not a full-time house director, Scheu takes on many of the same responsibilities as house moms.
“A lot of my job is making sure the dorm is in good order,” Scheu said. “If something comes to my attention by way of a resident reporting it to me or one of my RA’s, I always submit the work order. If there is an emergency, I am the most responsible party until I can put it in someone else’s hands, which is a big part of my job as well.”
The added personal responsibilities that come with being a student shape the job in many ways.
“A good way to describe it is a light version of a house mom’s duties,” Scheu said. “Just because as a student it’s not feasible for you to be in the dorm, hands on, 24/7.”
For senior and Koon Head RA Reuben Blake, his job description marries the position of Head RA and Student House Director.
“I’m operating as a Head RA and a House Director while being paid as just a Head RA,” Blake said. “I do the work of both. It’s super interesting. I end up being the person who is more of the liaison between the dorm, the RA team, and the deans. I also act as the face of Koon, the face of the RA team with my residents. I do a little bit of everything.”
Those RA teams are essential to a fruitful residence hall life said junior and Niedfeldt Student House Director Mitchell Moutard.
“The RAs at Hillsdale College are really awesome,” Moutard said. “I think that it’s a really great privilege to be able to lead them and work with them in a lot of ways. Most of them really care about the guys. I think that is something you might not find at other places.”
The deans also play a large role in helping students grow and mature.
“The deans always say ‘To lead them you have to love them,’” Moutard said. He cited a few instances, where students could have easily been sent home for behavior, but instead, received different treatment. “They’re really trying to pick guys up…they meet with them every week and have put them in all these outlets where they are actually getting better.”
Though managing a residence hall of 20 somethings is not without its challenges, Blake said seeing growth in students is a reward in it of itself.
“It’s only in the last few weeks or so that the group in Koon has become truly a group,” Blake saiad. “They look out for each other. They keep each other accountable. They pay attention to each other’s emotional integrity. Seeing that group of freshman grow into a true group, a true community and seeing the developments of some fellowship there is really inspiring.”
Freshman Isaac Spangler credits Blake with the growth of that group.
“He really does come alongside all the freshman and the sophomores as a father figure,” Spangler said. “He’s definitely someone the dorm wants to rally behind.”
Spangler also said that he’s appreciated the accessibility of the student house director.
“It’s more like a brother than an authority figure,” Spangler said. “A house mom requires the level of respect you would have for an adult. Not that I don’t respect Reuben but he’s more like one of my friends than an authority figure.”
Those friendships often result in a variety of stories and dorm shenanigans that keep the house directors on their toes.
“Every Wednesday night we like to recreate the ‘It’s Wednesday, my dudes’ vine,” Blake said. “By that, I mean we scream, just kind of let out a release of energy and the pent-up tension from the week. There was a point early in the fall semester where we went to Tractor Supply and Wal-Mart and bought a lot of materials to make our own swords, shields, and weapons in preparation for a raid from Simpson (Dormitory). We’re still waiting for them to raid us, but we fight with each other every now and then. There is a stash of water guns. A lot of that stuff is organic and spontaneous.”
For Scheu, it’s not the girls that cause trouble.
“We have tons of entrances and exists and about three different stairwells,” Scheu said. “In the summer, when they’re hanging out around 7 p.m. when girls are going in and out, the door will be left open for an hour and a couple bats will come in. It’s sort of the inevitable when you have 50 people living in a building. I used to freak out about them, but I’m legally not allowed to do anything about them. I just call security and they do things.”
The fun and spontaneity and the harder problems tend to go hand in hand.
“It can definitely be a funny job,” Scheu said. “It spans an interesting continuum of very serious issues that are hard to deal with and take a lot of time and a lot of mental energy and a lot of emotional strength. You’re taking care of 54 people who are all going through a really busy and difficult time in their lives. But there are also a lot of fun things that come up even as problems sometimes. As long as you have the spirit to laugh at them, they can become fun things.”