Newly appointed Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman described himself as a man interested in detail, helping students find direction and reach their goals and providing the best possible residential experience.
"I'm a big believer in Maslow's hierarchy of needs," Redman said. The quality of food and housing greatly affects students' lives, he said, adding that in his job as an administrator, he has also shown many students how to do their laundry.
Redman, who is currently the dean of students at Carleton College, said he believes details play a big role a student's residential life experience.
"It's a total package, it's all related," he said, citing the example of dining halls running out of popular condiments on some days.
"That sounds like a situation that's easy to remedy, but it can really blow your day."
"It's what I can do as a residential life person to help make you more successful," Redman said. "It's not about me, it's about you."
Redman, who took a friend's suggestion to apply for the position at Dartmouth several weeks before the Trustees' Five Principles were announced, said he was apprehensive but excited when he heard about the new Social and Residential life Initiative.
"Those opportunities don't come along very often," said Redman, who has worked at six small liberal arts colleges, some with a Greek system. "To be part of the challenge and excitement of all that is really very thrilling."
Redman described his major goal in coming to Dartmouth as "asking a lot questions to absorb as much as I can as soon as I can about what Dartmouth students are like."
From what he has heard, he said, he thinks students at the College are bright, articulate and anxious about the future, and he intends to work toward alleviating that fear, he said.
He said he looks forward to a straightforward dialogue with students, and wants to "significantly engage in conversations with them."
Redman, who said he lived in residence halls for eight years after college, added that he is especially excited about working as the East Wheelock Cluster Associate, as he believes living on campus with students will provide him with a real sense of what students need.
Redman said he and his wife are looking forward to coming to Dartmouth, even though his 14-year-old daughter is somewhat nervous about the move. Redman said he was not as concerned about how his nine-year old son would handle the transition.
"We're psyched to come," he said.
Redman said he enjoys "normal kinds of stuff," such as skiing, golf, reading, woodworking, gardening and spending time with his family.
He said he looks forward to the chance to ski more when he comes to the College, although he does not cross-country ski.
"It looked like too much work," he said.
Redman grew up in different towns in New Jersey and attended Catholic schools from grammar school until high school, where he met his wife, who was from a different town, he said. After dating on and off for several years, they got married after college, he said.
Redman went to Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, where he majored in history as an undergraduate and thought of pursuing a career in law. After working in an attorney's office for two summers, however, Redman said he decided he did not enjoy that type of work.
"I was a Vietnam-era kind of student," he said, enumerating his various activities at Dickinson.
In college, he was involved in student government, theatre, student orientation work, was a member of a national fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, and held the positions of president and vice-president of the student senate.
Through his involvement in student government, he became and still is friends with the college president and the dean of students well, and began to explore career paths in their fields when he became disillusioned with law, he said.
Redman, who said he wanted some work experience before going to graduate school, subsequently worked with several housing and programming offices at different colleges.
He then went to Southern Methodist University to pursue a Masters degree and worked at the residential life office there for two years, he said.
After working in similar positions for several liberal arts colleges around the country, Redman was contacted by Dickinson, his old alma mater, and became that college's director of residential life and the assistant dean of educational services.
At Dickinson, Redman said he was responsible for and worked with the Greek system, which experienced a similar situation to the one the College is currently seeing.
"We took a thorough look at how to make Dickinson a better place with the Greek system," he said.
Dickinson discussed but chose not to follow the path of coeducation of its Greek system, Redman said. There was, however, consensus in "helping the Greeks deal with their own issues," he said, and general agreement in providing a social alternative outside the Greek system for both affiliated and nonaffiliated students.
Emphasizing that affiliated students pay dues to their houses to fund parties, Redman said the new social space involved compromises and was designed to be a "balance of power and money." Instead of open keg parties, the houses changed to bring-your-own-drinks parties, he said.
"For Dickinson, it worked really well," he said. "The Greek system is thriving."
Redman said he does not know whether this system might be a possible alternative for Dartmouth, but said it might work.
"I truly believe that it is our college, so we need to listen to everyone," he said.
In his five years at Carleton, which does not have a Greek system, Redman said he worked on financing for programming, as well as physically improving the facilities, and improving peer interaction.
At Dartmouth, Redman will oversee the implementation and evaluation of all aspects of undergraduate residential life including all residential life programs, policies and practices consistent with the educational goals of the College.
