As a student, Hadiah Ritchey ’20 was involved in 15 different clubs, honoraries, and jobs over her four years at Hillsdale College. Now she’s returned to her alma mater as a staff member and it seems old habits die hard. In addition to serving as house director for New Dorm, Ritchey works full-time for career services as a project manager, law school tutor, and senior class adviser.
Ritchey, who has taken up residence in the house director apartment in New Dorm, says she loves the relational aspect of dorm life.
“I’m really excited to get to know the girls in the dorm more and build that team community, as well as the community as a whole,” Ritchey told the Collegian.
Ritchey’s primary role is behind the scenes: running building maintenance, dealing with interpersonal conflict, and handling emergencies. She takes over for Sharon Kahn, who served in the position last semester and has returned to her job as assistant director of career services.
Although she notes that jumping in mid-year isn’t ideal, Ritchey said the transition has been smooth thanks to a strong residents assistant team and her own background in residence life. Ritchey served as a New Dorm RA during the 2018-2019 school year and as house director in Benzing Residence the following year.
“The house director is very much a supporting role to the head RA,” Ritchey said. “My job is to make sure she’s able to do her job and to make sure the building is a place in which everyone can live well together.”
According to current New Dorm head RA Taryn Murphy, having Ritchey back in the building has been “lovely.”
“She’s a veteran, so to speak, and it’s beautiful to see the continuity of what her team’s vision was at the conception of New Dorm and how that vision is being continued,” Murphy said. “Hadiah has a passion for community and has been able to pass on a lot of wisdom about how to achieve that goal.”
Last fall, Ritchey considered applying for a house director position. But after being accepted to the John Jay Fellowship, a postgraduate leadership program for young people interested in public service, Ritchey decided to take a semester off. As a history major and prospective law student, Ritchey said she appreciated the chance to solidify her Hillsdale education and prepare for her future goals.
“I can be very achievement-focused, so it was very appealing for me to go to a program that has all the same values as Hillsdale but no pressure on me to achieve anything,” Ritchey said. “I didn’t have to be in any leadership roles. I didn’t have to get any grades. I was there because I wanted to learn and to know these things and to form my character. To me, John Jay was kind of an oasis before I jumped back into the achievement-based work world or graduate school world.”
There was another upside to the fellowship. The four months she spent in Philadelphia allowed Ritchey to transition mentally from student to staff.
“That, I think, made it a lot smoother for me because I was doing something else,” Ritchey said. “It wasn’t like I just one day was going to class and the next day I was going to work.”
As project manager for career services, Ritchey coordinates the office’s many projects and fills in gaps as needed.
“I love working for career services,” she said. “I seriously considered applying to be a career coach during undergrad. It was kind of my dream job on campus, but I had too many jobs as a student so I never actually went through with the process. I feel like it’s a very good fit for my personality because I really enjoy relationship building and professional development, and I am a fairly task-oriented person. It kind of combines all of those things. And the work environment is fast-paced, which is a lot of fun.”
In addition, she helps aspiring law students study for the LSAT and apply to law schools. Students seeking a recent graduate’s perspective can book appointments with her for practical help in the nitty-gritty of law school admissions.
On top of this, Ritchey helps coordinate the student side of commencement, and advises senior class officers, something with which she is familiar, having been elected her class’s social chair last year.
“We’re blessed to have Hadiah’s intellect and maturity on the team,” Executive Director of Career Service Ken Koopmans wrote in an email. “She’s a natural leader and a great role model for current students. She has great instincts, which has helped her to successfully transition from student to employee. She has the ability to synthesize complex information and clearly articulates high-minded academic concepts, which will help career services to reach new levels of success as we strive to identify meaningful next steps for students after they graduate.”
Ritchey says she’s still adjusting to being on the other side of the administration as a staff member, but she’s grateful for a job that gives her the opportunity to continually invest in the college.
“The reason I came back to Hillsdale was because of the people,” Ritchey said. “I’m grateful to be in two roles that helped me see the people that I care about and people I hope to know better. I’m here because I want to meet people and because I want to see people.”
Ritchey has her eyes on law school and has already received several acceptances. Eventually, she says she would be interested in nonprofit work in the legal sector or even becoming headmaster of a classical school.
“I’m so excited to be back and it very much feels like the right place for me to be,” Ritchey said.