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April 2, 2004 > News > Three colleges announce four new resident associates

Three colleges announce four new resident associates

By Brooke Lathram | Thresher staff

Jones, Martel and Will Rice Colleges all announced new resident associates this week. Baker College plans to announce its selection soon.

Scott Wray, assistant director of Recreation Program, and Bridget Gorman, a sociology professor, are the new Jones RAs. Brian Gibson, a kinesiology professor, and his wife Alana Lemay-Gibson — currently Sid Richardson College RAs — are the new Martel RAs. Randy Stevenson, a political science professor, and his partner Rick Gritz are the new Will Rice RAs.

Five RA searches took place this semester, an unusually high number.

Rachel Whitmire, Jones RA search committee chair, said the search committee chairs worked with Vice President for Student Affairs Zenaido Camacho to make sure the selection processes went smoothly.

“It was all four of us working together,” Whitmire said. “We had weekly meetings with Camacho and made sure that we weren’t conflicting with any of the other colleges. We had to make sure that everyone was working together.”

Whitmire, a Jones junior, said Wray and Gorman were the best pair of RAs for the college.

“They were the best fit for the college,” Whitmire said. “We really connected with them. When we realized that we needed to choose two candidates, we decided we needed to pick the best pairing.”

The Jones search committee originally planned to select one RA, but Jones RAs William and Rina Williams resigned while the search for the other position was already underway, so the committee chose two new RAs.

Gorman said she is excited about becoming an RA at Jones.

“The students brought me flowers and balloons,” Gorman said. “It was incredibly sweet. I wouldn’t have done this if I weren’t looking forward to spending more time with students.”

Martel RA Search Committee co-Chair Mark Berenson said the fact that so many colleges were looking for RAs at the same time seemed to increase the applicant pool.

“Dr. Camacho did a wonderful job making sure all the searches stayed on the same page,” Berenson, a former Thresher editor in chief, said. “When it finally came down to making the choices, he made sure that all the coordination worked out. Of all the RA searches I’ve been involved in over the years, this was by far the deepest pool of candidates.”

Berenson, a senior, said the Martel committee was looking for an RA who would stay at the college for several years because Martel has lost two RAs since its founding three years ago.

“Based on our previous experience with RAs, we were really looking for stability,” Berenson said. “Martel has lost two RAs already, so this was our fourth search in a way, so we really wanted someone who we felt would be here for a while. We were also looking for someone who is really enthusiastic and would do whatever it takes to get the college involved.”

Gibson said he is excited about being a Martel RA, although he will miss Sid.

“We absolutely loved [Sid],” Gibson said. “I think Martel’s going to be a great move and a change of pace. I’ll be over on the north side. Alana and I are really excited about being RAs again. We’re really excited about Martel and are sure it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Will Rice Search Committee Chair Carter Batsell said Stevenson and Gritz have good ideas for bringing Will Rice students together.

“There’s quite a bit to like — the creativeness they were going to bring to certain activities at Will Rice, their novel ideas about ways to get the students involved and their dedication throughout the interview process to Will Rice,” Batsell, a Will Rice senior, said. “[Stevenson] made an effort to appear at both lunch and dinner after the interview to interact with students.”

Stevenson said he and Gritz are excited about being RAs and especially excited about becoming involved with Will Rice.

“Mostly, it seemed like it was going to be an awful lot of fun,” Stevenson said. “One of the things that appealed to us about Will Rice is that they were the friendliest, most welcoming, easy-going college. We never went to Will Rice and sat alone.”

Stevenson said he thinks being in a college community will enable him to connect to people who share his interests: politics, playing the guitar and writing plays.

“When you’re out in the community and you want to get some people together to play guitar or to read each other’s writing, it’s actually hard to do,” Stevenson said. “If you’re in the college environment, there’s an audience out there. I anticipate that it will be easier to pursue our interests with people who [share those] interests.”

The new RAs will begin their terms in August.

End of article

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