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POTLIGHT: ROBERT REED
Administrator has made Loyola “home” to students for nearly 30 years BY DIANA MIRFIQ
Robert Reed never imagined his friend’s suggestion to become a resident assistant would turn into a 28 yearlong career. Robert Reed, assistant vice president for student affairs, served Loyola as director of residential life from 1981 to 2009. Reed said Biever and Buddig Halls were the only two residence halls available to students when he stepped on to Loyola’s Residential life scene. Reed said he joined the Loyola team after serving as assistant residential life director for Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. He said he never imagined he’d still be at Loyola. “I’m a dinosaur in a sense. I sort of grew up here and didn’t expect to be at Loyola this long,” Reed said. Reed said he enjoys being a problem solver and working with people. During the 21 years he reigned as Loyola’s president, James C. Carter, S.J., president emeritus and Gerald N. Gaston distinguished professor in religion and science, said he saw that Reed’s dedication was wonderful, and that Reed could solve any problem thrown his way. “He made the life of everybody above him much easier,” Carter said. Carter said men and women living in the same building happened during his presidency. He said parents weren’t too happy about it, but Reed knew how to handle it. “I let people like Robert Reed take care of it,” Carter said.
Reed said that it was certainly an interesting experience. “Most of the parents of students thought I had committed a cardinal sin of some type,” Reed said. Reed said men were typically placed in Biever Hall and women lived in Buddig Hall, but one year posed a problem because more women signed up for residential halls than men. So Reed converted Biever’s sixth floor into housing for women, giving them the title, “sixers.” “They enjoyed their experience so much that none of them moved back to Buddig that academic year,” Reed said. “From that point on, we were able to flip the building based on the gender.” Carter said they desperately needed more residential space as more out of state students started flocking to Loyola. He said the university bought St. Mary Dominican College in 1984 when it shut down, turning the property in to what is now the Broadway Campus and Cabra Hall. “We were terribly cramped,” Carter said. “So we were happy to get it.” Reed said Cabra Hall’s 60’s exterior and interior definitely needed a makeover. Ansel Augustine, A’00, M.P.S. ’02, said
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