University Of Massachusetts Amherst’s Former Resident Recognized As Undergraduate Student Staff Member Of The Year
The College Student Educators International’s Commission for Housing & Residential Life, part of the American College Personnel Association, has recognized former UMass Amherst resident assistant Robert Cahill ‘22 with its Outstanding Undergraduate Student Staff Member award.
From spring 2021 until his graduation last fall, Cahill worked with the Spectrum defined residential community as an RA. Spectrum is a community that strives for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, two-spirit and asexual students to feel safe, accepted and empowered.
Since 1977, the commission has recognized outstanding achievements and contributions in student housing. The award is presented to an outstanding undergraduate student employed in a paraprofessional staff position. Selection criteria include:
Performance and contributions in a current undergraduate paraprofessional position.
Contributions to the nominee’s academic program.
Contributions to community and university, and other recognitions of achievement.
Must be a current undergraduate student employed in a paraprofessional position in student housing.
Should have demonstrated outstanding performance in that position above and beyond normal expectations.
Must have contributed to residence life through research, a program, or related activity.
Resident assistants at UMass Amherst focus on a curricular approach to support residents in learning about themselves, their relationships and leadership. “Rob has shown immense support for all the students in the community,” said supervisor and Residence Director Tyler Bradley.
Cahill consistently demonstrated his commitment to residents, organizing some of the most popular events of any RA in the community. He emceed the community’s 30th anniversary alumni panel during Homecoming, where dozens of alumni returned to campus to reconnect with colleagues. He helped facilitate trips to the dining commons and social nights. He was instrumental in helping to recruit students for Spectrum’s mentoring program, where LGBTQIA+ students can be mentored by out faculty and staff to create a more inclusive campus climate and create exchanges of intergenerational wisdom through shared identities.
To enhance virtual engagement within the community, Cahill created a Discord virtual chat channel. Since its inception last fall, the channel has been used more than 800 times to highlight resources, triage crises and promote community events.
In addition, Cahill served on one of the nation’s only resident assistant union contract bargaining teams, which successfully brokered a new contract last summer. In May 2022, Cahill was one of six students published in the history department’s annual journal for his piece on “Gender, Biology and Power: Social Constructions and Womanhood.” Cahill also stood up for the LGBTQIA+ community and spoke to the student-run newspaper about how Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law sets a dangerous precedent.
“This is merely the tip of the iceberg for all that Rob has done within his role as an RA,” Bradley said. “Students expressed repeatedly how much they were going to miss him going into the spring 2023 semester.”