Erika Norton | Echo
- TU alumni Isaac Bryan and D'Andre Coats both enjoy being back on campus. (Photograph by Luke Lines)
A new year brings two new hall directors, and both are looking forward to a similar goal: growth.
Isaac Bryan, the new director of Bergwall Hall, is looking forward to watching and helping shape the maturity that happens during students' college years. Seeing that change encourages and motivates him to continue his job.
"I'm really excited about seeing that growth in students, especially from freshman to senior year, and to see where God is leading them or growing them," Bryan said. "To be a part of that process feels really special."
A Taylor grad, Bryan ran cross country and track throughout his college career, allowing him to identify with many of the student athletes living in Bergwall.
"I understand that athletes are really engaged in their sport and it's a big time commitment, but I do hope that they are invested in the place that they live," Bryan said. "Being a part of that culture change and having a heavy hand in shaping what the culture looks like in Bergwall is really exciting to me."
The new hall director of Swallow Robin Hall D'Andre Coats is also hoping to be a part of students' growth in their relationship with God and as individuals. Coats wants to create face-to-face relationships with the students and help them on an individual basis.
"I'm looking forward to getting to know the students on personal levels and just being available to them," Coats said.
Bryan and Coats both have goals and a few new ideas for their halls this year. In Bergwall, Bryan hopes to display students' artwork by hanging it up in the lobby.
Since the theme for student development this year is "presence," students are currently submitting artwork which has to do with that theme, whether it be a poem, a photograph or some other art medium.
Bryan also hopes to eventually start a community garden behind Bergwall where students, faculty and staff can gather and utilize the area. He envisions the garden to be a place where PAs and other hall directors can use to create a sense of ownership within their hall.
Coats loves how Swallow Robin feels like a family, but he would like to change the way students in Swallow engage their campus culture. To get students actively involved outside of Swallow while still loving the people inside of Swallow is something he hopes to accomplish.
"I have this idea that I don't want to change what people think of Swallow Robin, but I do want to change the way that the students in Swallow Robin engage the campus community," Coats said.
Both Bryan and Coats are students in the Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) program. Serving as hall director fulfills their on-campus assistantship, with Bryan serving full-time and Coats serving part-time as hall director and part-time as a graduate assistant.
Other new hall directors include Lindsey Hubble as the new hall director/graduate assistant of Campbell Hall, Tiana Clark, the new assistant hall director in Olson, and the new assistant hall director in Breuninger, Seth Oldman. Debby Cheruiyot Bii now serves as both hall director for Gerig and Breuninger Halls.
