‘Sunday Sit-down: Edwin A. Coolbaugh’

Worcester Telegram & Gazette

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Edwin Coolbaugh, assistant dean of students and director of residence life and housing, gave the Worcester Telegram & Gazette an inside look into student housing at the College of the Holy Cross. In a one-on-one interview on campus, Coolbaugh explained that Holy Cross only asks five questions when matching first-year students: gender, neatness, smoking status, sleep schedules, and home location. "We found that those basic questions are really the compatibility — that's what we're really looking for,” said Coolbaugh. “All the other stuff, we really want there to be some tension.” While helping students learn from their differences, Coolbaugh also talked about the lessons that come from roommate conflicts.

“The discomfort in confronting someone can sometimes be the challenge we're looking to overcome for our students,” Coolbaugh continued. “There's so much focus on social media and doing things in alternate routes that actually having a face-to-face conversation where I'm going to confront you and tell you how I feel, without you feeling threatened, that's part of what we do when we go through a mediation process. We teach those skills." Coolbaugh, who often feels like a parent to 2,500 students, offered advice to parents of students going off to college for the first time: "I'm doing this as a parent, and less as a director of residential life: My conversation with my kids is, I don't prepare your path, I prepare you. I trust that by preparing you, you're going to choose a good path for yourself.”

Read the entire article on the Telegram & Gazette website.

This is a "Holy Cross in the News" item by Evangelia Stefanakos.

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