As an (un)biased resident of Walsh Hall for the past two years, I had always known it was the best dorm on campus. But it was refreshing to have that status officially restored as we claimed the title Hall of the Year for 2014-2015. Of course, exciting things are always having in Walsh, but last year was particularly thrilling because we were #blessed with a new rector, Liz Detwiler, who came to us all the way from Boston! So, in honor of our victorious Dome Dance extravaganza last weekend, here is an official introduction to one of the many, many reasons why Walsh Hall rules the school.
This week, I sat down with Liz to gain some insight into life as a rector, her specific philosophy towards rector-ship, and why Walsh is the greatest.
Q: What is your favorite part of your job?
A: I have a lot of favorite parts! In my former job, I loved it and I loved the students, but I always knew there was a link missing because I only saw them in particular circumstances, maybe once a week or in the specific context of service or social justice programming. That was amazing, but I always knew that there was more to be shared. And so when you live with students, you see many of them every day. I like the idea of sharing life with students, because it offers a whole host of opportunities to meet people and to help them. I like being there for all the moments; I like the intimacy of this life.
Q: Could you explain the significance of – what we in Walsh see as your three pillars – Safety, Inclusion, and Community? How did you arrive at those three words in particular?
A: When I first got here, what I had been told about the rector model was that there are main points that are the same, but that everybody enacts the role differently, according to their own personality and style. So that was very liberating for me. But I was trying to figure out what was my hierarchy of values. We have all of du Lac, which is large and important, but extensive. I needed to communicate to these women what I value and who I am. I chose those three, because I thought they were the most universal for a community that is trying to get to know a new leader.
Safety comes from my physical role in making sure students are safe and healthy and alive. That’s pretty basic. Inclusion and Community I think are appealing to all students, regardless of background, politics, morality, faith, or anything. They were the three most unifying concepts that I valued and I thought everybody else could value.
Q: How are you able to separate your personal life from the personal lives of the students you care for?
A: So, healthy boundaries are pretty paramount in this type of work. They keep people free. Students need to feel free around me; they need to feel like they can tell me anything, like they don’t have to feel guilt, shame, or coercion. In order to do that, I have to balance sharing enough with them to be authentically myself and to be invested in this community, while also making sure that I’m not using them in selfish ways—even unintentionally—to get my own emotional needs met. I mean sometimes it’s hard, it’s grey, and it’s fuzzy; I trust my women and I enjoy having them set up camp in a large part of my heart. And part of being and living in a community means you care about people, and that means your emotions are tied up together…I don’t do this perfectly. But as long as students don’t feel like they need to take care of me or tiptoe around me, then I think I’m doing ok.
Q: How do you walk the line between disciplinarian/administrator/friend/confidant to the women in Walsh?
A: I am still figuring a lot of it out still, but because my background is in college campus ministry, that is how I view the job. I consider myself to be a minister and community builder first, and then when it comes to conduct and outcomes and learning, I do exactly what I would do as a campus minister also—I just have more options for helping people discern how their behavior affects others. As a campus minister, I would still hold people accountable for the poor decisions they’ve made; I just wouldn’t necessarily be able to assign them learning outcomes or require them reflect on things like their values. I view the conduct and outcome part of my role as a version of –as we say in divinity school—“restorative justice.”
I think the building blocks of the job are relationships. In order to build anything, to grow anything, to get them to trust you, it takes more than making sure heads are in beds and that no one is bleeding. You need to make sure students are sharing the vision and sharing that responsibility for each other. You want them to grow together.
Q: Do you think it is a coincidence that Walsh claimed the coveted title, Hall of the Year, in your very first year as Rector?
A: [laughs] I believe that a lot of seeds were sewn before I got here. Annie [our previous rector] was here for four years and she had done a lot of good work here in Walsh, especially in preparing the hall for her departure and for my arrival. So when I arrived, there was a momentum, especially among the upperclassmen, who knew that the entire hall staff was going to be new. Everyone worked really hard, not just to help me, but also because they knew that my ability to help them would be more limited, due to my lack of Notre Dame experience. In most circumstances, all our awesome programs that got attention in the race for Hall of the Year were student-run and had very little to do with me. We did also have a change in hall budgetary policy, which meant that I was able to fund a lot of student’s ideas. All I really did was sort of fuel other people’s creativity with encouragement and funding, with a sprinkle of a new leadership style.
