| A community for “living and learning” BY ADRIENNE FRANK  Photos by Jeff Watts
Professor John Richardson treats students to a home-cooked meal in his Anderson Hall apartment.
During John Richardson’s first semester in Anderson Hall, the fire alarms were frequent, jolting him from his slumber numerous times. Over the past four years, though, he’s become a seasoned resident, laying his clothes on a chair near his bed so that, if the alarm sounds at 2 a.m., he’s prepared. The giant yellow bowl, brimming with miniature chocolate bars and peanut butter cups, and adorned with flashing red lights, is nearby, as well. That, Richardson says, is as essential as his shoes and shirt. “It’s funny, we’ll all be standing there in our pajamas in the middle of the night, and you’ll just see these flashing lights. Then he’ll come around and offer you some candy,” laughs Shayna Hayes, a resident assistant (RA) in Centennial Hall. “That’s just John.” Richardson, AU’s first faculty in residence, has called a cozy apartment on the first floor of Anderson home since January 2002. What began as a way to cut down on his weekday commute after he and his wife built their dream home in Hume, Va., has become “one of the most valuable and rewarding experiences” of his career. “I get at least as much as I give and probably more because I’ve learned a great deal about students and their lives, dreams, hopes, and concerns,” says Richardson. “These are things that, in 28 years of being a university faculty member, I had never known before I moved in here.” The big bowl of candy is just one way Richardson, a professor in the School of International Service (SIS) and director of the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), tries “to make life more pleasant for students.” His fridge is stocked with Klondike ice cream bars, a student favorite, and his couch, a popular spot for conversations about everything from politics to literature, is inviting and well worn. Five or six times each semester, Richardson, a culinary enthusiast, prepares an international feast for 12 to 14 students. “I’m going to go into the catering business when I’m done here,” he laughs. Juggling their plates and flutes of sparkling cider, the group gathers around the coffee table in Richardson’s living room to swap stories and share laughs. An ornate Sri Lankan oil lamp in the corner of the room is always safely lit (thanks to a string of Christmas lights)—a traditional gesture welcoming visitors. Richardson, who chronicles his adventures on his blog, www.dormgrandpop.blogspot.com, says he’s acclimated to dorm life; even those pesky fire alarms have become routine, he says. Like any new resident, though, it took some time to develop a true sense of belonging. “I was surprised at how difficult it was to get noticed, at first,” he recalls. “Moving on campus was a significant event for me, and I thought it would be a significant event for students, but it really wasn’t. It took some time, and it took me doing different kinds of things to be noticed; I really had to reach out, and not take for granted that they’d value me and come to accept my presence. “That experience led me to realize and respect how much students are coping with,” says Richardson. “They’re uprooted from a structured environment, placed into a room with one or two other people, and expected to not only adjust, but thrive.” Like Richardson, freshman Tessa Raden, an Anderson resident, has learned that keeping her door open is key to thriving in the residence halls. No longer strangers, neighbors become friends and a sense of community emerges. “The first couple weeks, none of us had our doors closed, so you could go in and chat with everyone” says the musical theatre major. “We’re up until 3 a.m. just talking or doing our homework, so we’ve developed a really strong bond. These people are my home now. “I’ve made such great friends, and I just feel like I belong here,” Raden continues. “And that’s a great feeling.” For the majority of AU’s 3,552 resident students, this is their first taste of life away from mom and dad. It’s a paradoxical independence, though; students are no longer under the watchful eye of their parents, yet they’re still accountable to their roommates and neighbors. “You have your own private space, but most of the space in dorms is communal,” says Matthew Bryant, a resident advisor in Centennial Hall. “There’s a sense that we have to get along and we have to be willing to compromise in order to make this an enjoyable experience for everyone.” Bryant, a junior majoring in political science and international studies, organizes dinners and movie nights for the 55 residents on his floor in order to “create a sense of community.” “As a student, your life in the dorms can be just OK, or it can be absolutely great,” he says. “It all depends on how open you are to the experience, and how willing you are to get to know the people around you.” Fellow RA Hayes, a senior studying broadcast journalism and political science, agrees. “As an RA, you need to be a good listener, a good communicator, a problem solver, and someone who can befriend lots of different people,” she explains. “And, as a resident, I think you need those same skills to really make the most of your time here. You know, dorm life can be fun!” 
Second professor moves in That’s something School of Communication (SOC) professor John Doolittle knows first hand. With one semester of dorm life under his belt, Doolittle says he’s “more confident and more comfortable” in his Hughes Hall community—and he even gets a full eight hours of sleep every night. “I’ll go down in my robe in the morning and pick up a paper, and have a conversation with a student on my way back to my apartment,” says Doolittle, associate director of CTE in charge of the Teaching and Learning Resources Group. “It’s a pretty good life.” Doolittle was intrigued by Richardson’s set up, and moved into Hughes last February. “I’m not teaching the students algebraic equations at night, but, by being there, I’m making a contribution,” he says. “I think students appreciate that a faculty member is willing to spend time with them, and wants to share their space.” Doolittle says he’s often invited to participate in the residents’ activities, like Sunday brunch, and hopes to develop some events of his own, including a cooking program that brings faculty and administrators into the
residences. “It’s just a good way to chat with the students, and to understand the challenges they face,” he says. “I’ve learned that they take their role as student incredibly seriously; that’s very gratifying for me, as a faculty member, to see.” Office hours in the hall 
SOC professor Joseph Campbell in his office in McDowell Hall W. Joseph Campbell has gleaned a similar perspective from his office on the first floor of McDowell Hall. The SOC and University College professor has been a faculty in office resident for three years. SIS’s Patrick Jackson moved his office into Leonard Hall last spring. “Some days I will arrive very early in the morning, and students will be hard at work on the computers,” says Campbell of the small lab, located around the corner from his office. “In that regard, it’s been a very enriching experience, because I’ve gained new insights into student life.” And while Campbell doesn’t spend his nights in the dorm, he still considers himself a deeply committed member of the McDowell community. Along with Eric Ratner, resident director for McDowell and Hughes Halls, Campbell has developed several popular programs, including the Finest Faculty series, which brings professors into the dorms to chat with students over pizza and cookies. In addition to Finest Faculty, which is presented in conjunction with the Kennedy Political Union, Campbell also organized Dialogue with Dorms in spring 2005. “Faculty have the opportunity to informally meet with students—which, of course, is the objective of my presence here—and it’s just been wonderful,” says Campbell. When he’s not meeting with students—Campbell holds two classes in his McDowell office—he likes to wander the building and chat up his neighbors. On a recent tour, he bumps into a student from his University College seminar on his way to the laundry room. Campbell wishes him luck, both with a class project and his wash. “See ya, Professor Campbell,” the student says cheerfully, as he ducks into the laundry room. Back at Anderson, Richardson says he views living in the dorms as an opportunity to recreate his own undergraduate experience at Dartmouth College. “There was quite a lot of dialogue between faculty and students out of the classroom, and a real sense that academics and campus life are interconnected,” he says. “That’s why I’m here,” Richardson continues. “I see American University as a community—a community of learning and of living.” |
