The Campus Life Department has added a new addition to itsstaff in the hiring of Heather Bloom Hall, who will serve as director of Student Activities & Organization. It is a privilege for Campus Life along with the entirety of Aquinas College to welcome Hall to the AQ community. Her sincere passion and commitment to helping students build relationships through on-campus events make her an invaluable source of both energy and creativity.

Hall has worked in both admissions and campus life positions at several colleges including Grand Valley State University, Central Michigan University, and Hope College among others, and said she is eager to begin her new role at Aquinas.

“I’m excited to learn what it means to be a part of the AQ community…I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get involved,” she said.

The primary responsibilities of the director of student activities and orientation are to co-advise the programming board, coordinate Homecoming, support student organizations and organize the freshmen orientation.

Hall graduated from Westminster College in Pennsylvania, where she was born and raised in the small town of Ebbensburg. She majored in sociology and criminal justice, attending graduate school at Grand Valley State University and earning her master’s in secondary, adult, and higher education. At GVSU she additionally conentrated in college student affairs leadership.

Hall is coming to Aquinas after deciding it was time to embark on a new challenge, leaving her job as director of development for the Sigma Kappa Foundation located in Indianapolis. She spent the past year “traveling to meet with our young alumnae to develop a tiered giving program to support leadership development, educational programs for our members and communities and to support the ongoing efforts in Alzheimer’s Disease Research.”

It is working with college students that has always been Hall’s passion. Her favorite part, she says, is the “energy on campus that is unmatchable.” Reflecting on her own college experience, Hall values the importance of a student’s college years, and understands that it is a time to not only learn from our textbooks, but to enjoy the unique social events that college has to offer.

“There is a reason I love working in campus life - it is critical to find a balance between working inside the classroom and being involved in outside activities in order for students to receive the full college experience, and that is where my job comes in.”

Her new position at Aquinas is not the only new excitement in Hall’s life, as she and her husband, Andrew, welcomed a new baby boy, Colin, into their lives only two months ago. In addition to Colin, Hall and her husband stay busy with their 11-year-old son, Carter, who is a hockey fanatic. Their weekends are usually spent at Carter’s hockey games, where Andrew is the coach.

Part of what attracted Hall to accept the position at Aquinas is the school’s values and, as she says, “its emphasis for faculty to balance their work lives with their family lives. I don’t want to be superwoman. I simply want a healthy balance.” More than anything though, Hall believes that her primary job is to make a difference in the lives of AQ students.

“In college there were people who showed me things I may never have looked into, and I want to be that person who is able to both teach and learn from the people around me.”

On Nov. 7 President Balog and Provost Gunnoe invite faculty, staff, and students to attend TGIF at the Cook Carriage House from 4:00-5:30pm to celebrate the arrival of Hall as well as newly appointed Dean of Students Patricia Chase. Please RSVP to Monica Edison in the Provost’s Office (ext. 2151) or edisomon@aquinas.edu if you plan to attend.