Leah Reuber, current associate director of residence life at Grinnell College, will depart for a position at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio next month. Reuber’s exit is the latest in a series of staff departures from Residence Life, following residence life coordinators (RLCs) Jacob Ferguson and Tyler Hoenig leaving the College in the fall 2021 and spring 2022 semesters, respectively. 

RLCs fulfill a critical role on campus as the sole non-student workers to live in College dorms and provide direct support to students. Grinnell’s dorm system is designed to work with five RLCs. Currently there are two. Reuber and Ben Newhouse, dean of students and associate vice president of student affairs, have been taking over some RLC duties on top of their regular job responsibilities in an attempt to make up for the unfilled position.

 “It had gotten to the point where it was untenable,” said Reuber on her decision to leave the job. “I’ve worked here for more years than most RLCs work here. And there was no time to really recover from burnout. And it was getting to the point where it’s not healthy for my physical or mental health. … I needed to make a decision that was more appropriate for myself.”

Reuber has worked at the College since 2015, first as an RLC, then assistant director of residence life (while still working as an RLC) and finally in her current position of associate director. However, as mentioned above, the Residence Life staffing shortages mean that she’s continued to carry out RLC duties even after officially being given another title.

Director of Residence Life Dennis Perkins said in a previous interview with the S&B that the shortage of RLCs on campus was having a direct impact on the department’s ability to carry out its responsibilities to students. 

Reuber holds a similar view. “When you’re in staffing shortages, you focus on what are the central, key health and safety things, and the other stuff falls to the wayside,” she said. “You only have so many hours in a week to be able to do your position and do it well. … It’s not necessarily the fault of anybody. It’s just the position you’re in and what you do and what you can do within that framework and environment.”

It had gotten to the point where it was untenable… I’ve worked here for more years than most RLCs work here. And there was no time to really recover from burnout. And it was getting to the point where it’s not healthy for my physical or mental health. … I needed to make a decision that was more appropriate for myself. – Leah Reuber, assosiate director of residence life

Reuber cited a desire for a working environment with a different approach to student life as one reason for moving to Kenyon.

“My personal and professional values are really around supporting students in a way that challenges them, and also encourages them to be their best selves. … The institution that I’m going to has a different emphasis on that, that I find more appropriate for my approach to supporting students and being in Student Affairs,” she said.

Asked if Grinnell has the ability to create a similar structure for its students, Reuber said that she thinks it’s “completely achievable” — with the right work in the right places.

“I think there needs to be a hard pause with a lot of people in the room,” she said. “I don’t think a lot of people are on the same page about practice and application and theory. … The practice and the theory don’t always line up. The way it has to happen and the way it should happen, or you want it to happen, aren’t necessarily always the same thing.”