{"id":34605,"date":"2017-08-28T11:35:29","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T15:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=34605"},"modified":"2017-10-06T06:55:12","modified_gmt":"2017-10-06T10:55:12","slug":"cups-completely-overflowing-residence-life-staff-foster-community-student-advisors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/cups-completely-overflowing-residence-life-staff-foster-community-student-advisors\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Their cups are completely overflowing\u2019: Residence life staff foster community for student advisors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Living in a residence hall at Eastern Mennonite University is not just about having a place to stay. Rather, it\u2019s about being part of a caring community. In August, 37 student \u201ccommunity advisors<\/a>\u201d (CAs) spent the nine days leading up to the reopening of campus for the fall semester experiencing for themselves \u2014 and preparing to build, for their fellow students \u2014 that important dimension of university life.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Community advisors and residence life staff gather for a cookout hosted by the president’s cabinet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to earning certification in mental health first aid and first aid\/CPR, the CAs \u2014 sometimes along with ministry and pastoral assistants, who were also preparing for the school year \u2014 attended numerous training sessions. A sampling of topics included diversity and identity, led by professors <\/span>Melody Pannell<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Celeste Thomas<\/span><\/a>, sex and relationships led by Professor <\/span>Jerry Holsopple<\/span><\/a>, power and systems led by Professor <\/span>David Brubaker<\/span><\/a>, and restorative justice practices and conflict styles led by <\/span>Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz<\/span><\/a>, restorative justice coordinator for Mennonite Central Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n

A series of meals prepared and hosted by the president\u2019s cabinet and various other departments and faculty reinforced the sense of community and showed that EMU is \u201can institution that cares deeply,\u201d said Scott Eyre, lead residence director. [Meet the Residence Life staff<\/a>.]
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\u201cOur faculty and staff care for our students and make it easy to enter into conversations and to learn from them, and to invite them into spaces and places. There are a lot of fingerprints on what we do in Residence Life<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018All based on care\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

As imperative and useful as the skills she learned in the days of training will be, Abigail Shelly<\/strong>, a sophomore social work major from Collinsville, Mississippi, was most inspired by something less tangible. \u201cI think through seeing the different residence directors and people leading, seeing how much care they put into this before we\u2019ve gotten here, has made me feel like I\u2019m better equipped to reflect that on the people who are going to be hall residents,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sophomore community advisor Abigail Shelly said that the care residence life staff show each other will “trickle down to the residents.” (Photo by Macson McGuigan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All CAs are strongly encouraged to connect intentionally with each pair of roommates early in the first semester, an idea Eyre picked up several years ago from a CA whose hallway \u201cflourished.\u201d That\u2019s just one way CAs will help their diverse hallway communities function in a healthy way, which isn\u2019t an easy task, said Eyre. Hall members can include Mennonites and non-Mennonites, people with different racial and political backgrounds, people with various experiences of what \u201ccommunity\u201d means, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you invite people into a space where all that can translate? How can you help them care, and know and want to be with each other?\u201d Eyre said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such attempts also help students make better choices, said Eyre, because \u201cwhen you know the people you live with in a residence hall, they can come into your decision-making.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n