Resident Director Danny Roselli: Creating a new era for the Residence Life Department at MC

Residence Life at Maryville College has undergone some exciting changes in the past few months with the introduction of a new head of the department: Danny Roselli. 

Roselli is a husband, father to his dog, Moe, and a player of Dungeons and Dragons. He has worked in various residence life departments around the United States, ranging from Illinois to New York, where he has gained a cache of valuable experience that has led him back to his Alma Mater, Maryville College.

“When I was in school here, I did a lot of things. I was a baseball player, I was a peer mentor and also was an RA, and that was the thing that I liked the most out of all of them, not only because the discounted housing was great,” Roselli said. 

  Roselli was originally on the pre-med track but was discouraged by his professors because they understood that it was not his true passion. He went to graduate school at West Georgia University straight after college, then immediately moved into the position of resident director at Belmont University in Nashville. 

After this, Roselli moved to Illinois to become a resident director at Northwestern University. From there, he worked at Hartwick College in upstate New York, where he specialized in conduct rather than residence life. He then was offered a job at Maryville College.

“Most recently, I learned of this opening, and this was always my dream job. When I left here as a resident assistant, I remember telling our current director at the time, ‘One day I’ll come back and run this place.’”

Before Roselli took the position, the Residence Life department was without a director for months. Dione Simmons, resident director for Carnegie and Beeson Village and the operations and communications coordinator, has worked in the department through its era of being director-less and a few staff members short. 

“It was tough…there were months when we didn’t have anyone in that role. Without a clear point person, we often had to navigate decisions that really required someone with more authority and knowledge,” said Simmons. 

Roselli has brought with him ideas and ways to make campus feel like a tighter-knit community by utilizing the spaces the college already has “in halls, outside of halls and outside in general.”

“The sense of belonging and community is still there, but I think there’s just more we can do to strengthen it. I always want people to feel that this is their home because a lot of people—myself included—come from all over the world. Coming from Florida, I knew nobody up here except for my brother. I want everyone to feel like ‘hey, this is the best place on Earth for people,’” Roselli said. 

Not only is Roselli working to create a sense of community within the students, he is also cultivating a strong team of residence life staff members and is constantly working to create a sense of comradery within the department.

Simmons explained, “Danny has done a great job of bringing the team together and taking on some of the more complex challenges we were dealing with. He worked hard on making sure the residence life team got back to fully staffed. He has also been intentional about recognizing each team member’s strengths and has helped reimagine certain roles to better align with those strengths, redistributing tasks in a way that benefits both the team and our overall effectiveness.”

In addition to these community changes, Roselli plans on changing facilities-related issues, such as heating and air throughout the dorms. He explained how with the varying Tennessee temperatures throughout the fall and winter months, it is difficult to have the room temperatures be out of the students’ control. 

“I’d love for us to eventually get to a place of being able to let students at least have the option for AC or heat all year, which would be great. I can’t speak for facilities, but I think we are heading that direction,” Roselli said.

With a new director in charge, Residence Life is looking to make changes that will positively affect students’ well-being, so be sure to look out for information from the Residence Life department on future changes.