Resident Assistants Nurture Community and Connection

Maheen Mirza '26 faced a different type of challenge when she arrived at DePauw. "I got COVID within my first month at school," she explains. "It was long COVID, so I was very weak and I couldn't even go to the dining hall. It was a whole thing."

Just like Davis, however, Mirza quickly discovered the benefits of having someone there to look out for her and lend support when she needed it most. "A couple of the RAs would take turns bringing me food. They would leave me treats, or if I couldn't come to the floor program, they would come and drop off little goodie bags. They were very sweet, and they always texted me to check in on me."

Paying It Forward

These transformative experiences within their residence halls left a lasting impression on both Mirza and Davis, ultimately prompting them to reinvest the support they received and become RAs themselves the very next year - and then again each year thereafter.

"What my RA did for me made me want to do that for someone else who was in my shoes," says Davis. "That's why I wanted to become an RA. I wanted to be that role model for incoming students."

Between the two of them, Mirza and Davis have served in multiple residences: Jordan, Humbert, Bishop Roberts, Rector Village and University-Owned Apartments and Houses. But no matter where they have been, they have remained committed to the same level of personal attention and individual care that was so instrumental in their own lives as first-year students.