The Office for Residence Life can be found in the fifth floor of Thomas Hall.
GOOGLE / COURTESY
By Mack Olmsted, Features Editor
Manhattan University recently hired a new residence life director, Ronnie Genee, who has returned to his home town of Riverdale to lead campus residents.
Residence life has undergone multiple shifts in leadership over the course of a year with Genee being the third director. He succeeds Matthew Lewis, who was terminated in 2023 and Eric Rivera, who left the university after his appointment in 2024.
Genee told The Quadrangle that he chose to work at Manhattan University because he believes MU has a unique student population. Genee explained that he cares about serving the community and wants the opportunity to build a program suitable for the student population.
“What I’ve noticed with a lot of the religious institutions like Manhattan University is that the students tend to be students who are looking out for one another, students who really care about service to one another and service to the community,” Genee said. “And that can lead to an opportunity to build a great program here for the students. That’s part of the reason why I came here.”
Within his first few weeks working at the university, Genee wants to observe and assess the needs of students to try to implement programs that cater to them. Currently, Genee is trying to speak with students as well as staff to see what issues have been present in the past, and if they’re still current issues. He then hopes to put together a plan on how he can move forward within the Residence Life department.
Resident assistant (RA) and junior Vanessa Goncalves told The Quadrangle that she believes Genee will have a lasting impact.
“You can definitely tell he’s trying to pick [the university] up in every way, shape or form,” Gonclaves said. “When necessary, he’s trying to make those changes that some prior people might have stubbornly held on to, so I think he’s gonna have a good impact on the college because he’s open.”
Over the summer, and at the start of the semester, there was no director of residence life. With Genee now at the helm, it allows the department to be more unified and strategic when moving forward with future endeavors.
First year RA Anthony De Castro told The Quadrangle that he appreciates the leadership Genee brings to the table and how he looks forward to working under him.
“It’s very helpful, because having that extra resource, it really does open a lot of new doors,” De Castro said. “For example, it’s always good to have a support system behind you, knowing that you’re not alone. If anything goes wrong, you always have him, especially with Ronnie [Genne] having a bunch of experience in the Res Life field, having a person with a lot of experience behind you, especially as a new RA like me.”
Genne wanted to let students know that they could reach out to him as a resource for future Residence Life questions.
“I would love for students to come and tell me the things that we need to do better on, things that are working and how their living experience is,” Genee said. “But I think that my plan is to be here and be here for the students. Whatever the students need, whether it has to deal with residence life or has to do with something else on this campus, I’m here for them to give them the best experience I can.”