Being a hall director suits Joe Colangelo, because mentoring the resident advisers (RAs) who make dorm life comfortable for roughly 1,100 West Quad students comes naturally to him.
“I was an uncle when I was 8. I always had kids a little younger than me around, so I was always watching them,” he explains.
Photo by Scott Soderberg, U-M Photo Services.
Colangelo, a Niagara Falls-Buffalo area native, was drawn to the mentoring aspect of the job. “You’re helping the students through their progression at the university. You can make an indelible impact and play a role in their development,” he says.
Colangelo began working in student housing as an undergraduate at the University of Buffalo. His RA experience offered valuable training. “There was a time when we were over capacity in the halls, and we had to rent out the entirety of a Comfort Inn. The challenge with that was still trying to give the first-year students an experience of living on campus while they were in a hotel,” he says.
“I thought if I could give them activities, make sure we were introducing people and forming bonds, and partnering with other halls to bring our residents to larger events, they wouldn’t feel isolated.”
After earning his undergraduate degree in history, Colangelo earned a master’s degree in College Student Personnel (“It’s synonymous with higher education administration,” he says) from the University of Tennessee. There, he also served as an assistant hall director. He started at U-M in July 2010.
“My day focuses around relationships with my student staff, getting to know what makes them tick,” he says. “It’s building personal capital: How are your residents doing? Are you building relationships with them? It’s about being as in tune as possible with their communities. People should feel welcome and safe and comfortable where they live.”
While he lives at West Quad in order to be available to housing staff and residents, Colangelo finds time to get away to pursue his passion for golf. “The first time I got into it was when I was a kid. My dad took me to a driving range and I loved it,” he says. Colangelo was on the high school golf team, but didn’t play competitively in college. Today, he typically plays three times a week and shoots in the low to mid 80s.
Golf also offers a way for Colangelo to further indulge his mentoring nature, as he volunteers as an assistant coach with the Pioneer High School Golf Team from March through June.
“I watch guys hit balls and try to help them with what’s not working. I advise them on how to manage the course and avoid penalty strokes. You don’t always tee off with the driver every time — when they’re kids sometimes they just want to crush the ball,” he says.
“I’m usually working with freshmen and sophomores. When they’re younger you can have more impact. You also teach things like respect and dedication, practice and hard work.”
Colangelo says the experience is satisfying because it connects him to the Ann Arbor community.
He says it’s also satisfying to see West Quad residents connect to their community. “They’re getting life skills and people skills. When else are they going to live in a setting where you have 1,100 neighbors with varying experiences, beliefs and heritages in such close proximity again? It’s a neat experience to watch people grow,” Colangelo says.
The weekly Spotlight features staff members at the university. To nominate a candidate, please contact the Record staff at [email protected].
