- Akirah Massenburg at Shippenburg University.
“Hit the ground running” is how Susan Kramer described the transition of Akirah Massenburg, the new Residence Life area coordinatorfor Xavier, East Residence
Hall, Woodcrest and Maguire House.
Massenburg previously worked at Shippensburg University, a public university in Shippensburg, Pa., where she received her degree in college student personnel management.
When asked why she decided to make the change from a huge public school to a smaller private school, Massenburg said she was looking for a different type of atmosphere.
Working at a smaller institution will also allow her to be more marketable when she looks for another job.
So far she has been widely accepted on Cabrini’s campus and has been received as a great addition to Res Life.
Everyone has given her a warm welcome including the administration.
Massenburg explained meeting President George as an awesome experience.
“Getting to see her and have her stop and tell me that she appreciated me being here really made a difference,” Massenburg said.
R.J. Carroll, assistant director of Res Life, was also impressed with Massenburg’s vigor to better the department. From the day she started she gave advice as to
how things could run smoother and more efficiently.
Massenburg’s charming ways of creating community has made her staff adore her. First-year RA s feel as if they had not missed a beat.
“I think that she does a great job,” RA Nicole Porecca, sophomore psychology major, said. “She’s very real and honest. She tells it like it is and she’s definitely there to help us and support us in whatever we need to get done.”
Her staff loves her personality and enjoys having someone like her as their leader.
“Any moment where she’s just being herself…” Porecca said. “When we’re in our meetings she’ll just say these random phrases and they’re just hilarious.”
One of the things that drew Massenburg to Cabrini was the school pride and the school slogan, “Do something extraordinary.”
Massenburg said when she read this quote she thought about what she herself could do that was extraordinary.
One thing that was also different for her was doing service during RA training. She liked the idea that service was a part of the RA learning process.
Some hopes Massenburg has for the future are getting involved in the social justice aspect of Cabrini.
“It really opened my eyes to how much we can do as a larger group of people and how we can change people’s lives by just making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and going and visiting with them,” Massenburg said.
“She’s not afraid to ask questions. She’s not afraid to try anything new,” Kramer said. “She just wants to be integrated with Cabrini and into what Cabrini is really about.”
