Before students come to campus in the fall, resident assistants spends hours in training and prepping campus housing to create homes, community, and legacy for every residence. 

The Niedfeldt Residence RA team said the more technical aspects of move-in are often the most insignificant in comparison to their primary mission — driving culture.

This year, Niedfeldt has a total of 56 male residents, 16 of whom are freshmen. Senior Harrison Layman, Niedfeldt house director, oversees the dorm alongside his RA team of seven upperclassmen. 

Gabe Dobrozsi, senior and Head RA of Niedfeldt, said without a united vision amongst the RA team, culture will dwindle.

 “The way culture survives and thrives is through the buy-in of the RAs who make it their duty to perpetuate and grow that culture,” Dobrozsi said. “If they aren’t buying in themselves, then the whole thing crumbles.”

Layman bolstered this idea by sharing the expectation of RAs to work alongside their residents in a posture of service.

“We want to be leaders for our guys, but also right there with them,” Layman said. “We aim for servant leadership—we’re doing things with them, we’re teaching them, and we’re asking them to do hard things, but we’re doing the hard things with them on the front line.”

Layman said this attitude is especially important in dorm events and competitions, especially during homecoming season. 

Dean of Men Aaron Petersen said leading begins with love of fellow man, and the cost of leadership is sacrifice.

“Leadership is not a 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. job, it is about investing in their men and building relationships and trust,” Petersen said. “We remind the RAs each year that when they give of themselves, it is often from their substance and not just their surplus.”

Luke Hill, a sophomore and Niedfeldt RA, said  the posture of servant leadership in the dorm creates an environment where all have a mutual desire to serve and participate.

“We want to see each other succeed,” Hill said. “That especially comes out during mock rock to where we have very high participation, because we all feel invested in each other’s success.”

Because of this mutual respect, Hill said class divisions are nonexistent in the dorm, which helps acclimate freshmen to the Niedfeldt culture..

Further, the example of leadership and humility RAs model for their residents is what encourages residents to follow in leadership. Many of the Niedfeldt team recalled the images of RAs who came before them as the inspiration for what they aspire to.

“What motivates us to perform well as RAs is the experiences we had with our RA team as freshmen and the model they set for us,” Dobrozsi said.

Brennan Salde, senior and Head RA of Niedfeldt, highlighted the culture of dorm life as complementary to the school’s mission.

“A lot of freshmen come in with an expectation about Hillsdale being academically challenging,” Slade said. “And yes, our academics are good, but our life is good at Hillsdale, and our community is good at Hillsdale.”

Layman said he wants Niedfeldt to be something its residents can be proud of and call them to be better. 

“We want to start you off well, but you have to finish it,” he said.