“I don’t really get the point of it, to be honest. I don’t see myself utilizing it at all,” is what Max Lovejoy ’29 had to say about Residence Life at Santa Clara University—and his perspective is far from uncommon among dorm-dwelling students.

Students at the University are often told that their residential experience differs from that of other institutions nationwide. After all, each Residential Learning Community has an extensive leadership roster; there are Resident Directors, Faculty Directors, Spirituality Facilitators, Counselors-in-Residence and more. Despite this robust support system, however, students like Lovejoy remain unengaged with the resources available to them.

If our campus truly distinguishes itself from other universities through its range of residential resources, it’s important that students take advantage of them. But the question of who is at fault for lack of student engagement—whether it’s the students themselves or the Residence Life structure—doesn’t have an obvious answer.

One thing, however, is clear: To create the best possible residential experience, both students and Residence Life must be willing to make adjustments.

According to the University’s Office of Residence Life, the student residential experience focuses on “community engagement, care and concern, conduct processes and roommate-related support.” If this is the experience the University aims to provide, Residence Life should certainly be expected to deliver on its goals. But there should also be an expectation that students are adequately aware of the support available to them.

For Finn Residence Hall Resident Director Lupe Ponce-Gomez, an important part of Residence Life is maintaining a physical presence both in the halls and online, making sure students know their resources are always accessible.

Ponce-Gomez highlighted that “Residence Life is active on Instagram, TikTok and the weekly newsletter”—all forums that students are likely to see.

CFs, or Community Facilitators, also play a crucial role in student engagement. Eli Moyers, ’28, a CF in Finn, shared that CFs are one of the primary channels for the advertisement of events and accessible resources. CFs send emails to their residence halls, hang flyers about events and host mandatory meetings.

Despite these efforts, many Broncos living in residence halls remain unengaged.

According to Lovejoy and Moyers, a multitude of explanations exist for why that may be the case—preference for existing friendships over dorm engagement, academic pressure, and unwillingness to step out of comfort zones all play a role.

“Building new friendships is difficult, because I don’t have the time for so many new people,” Lovejoy said, adding that “to me, it’s more important to build stronger bonds with the people I’m already friends with.”

Students aren’t the only reason for low engagement, however. Residence Life often faces its own obstacles that can affect dorm dynamics.

Ponce-Gomez shared that before May 2026, Finn Hall had been without a Residence Director from October 2025 to May 2026; during this time, an interim RD oversaw Finn from another residence hall.

“The CFs could only do so much,” she explained, adding that if student staff doesn’t have a Resident Director to support them, “there’s not going to be much of a program going on.”

Moyers admitted that sometimes low attendance is due to the event “not being advertised well enough,” or simply that “sometimes the event is just not something that a lot of people want to go to.”

Blame for incohesiveness in Residence Life events doesn’t cut in one specific direction. A combination of busy student schedules and challenges with advertising and organizing can make it difficult for Residence Life to engage students. But while these factors exist, both sides can do more to make a change.

First, it’s important for students to recognize that Residence Life leaders are in a difficult situation to begin with. They are both a figure with the power to reprimand students and someone looking to socially integrate their community.

“I think that the stereotype that we’re out to get everybody is harmful,” Moyers said. “We’re a resource. We’re not trying to go out of our way to harm the people. We’re just trying to keep them safe.”

Addressing complicated power dynamics with Residence Life leaders—and making perspectives like Moyers’s clear—should be top priorities for Residence Life leaders.

Also, in order to address students’ concerns about time, namely, Lovejoy’s worry about sacrificing hang-outs with his close friends, Residence Life should focus on making its events as low-commitment and accessible as possible.

Dr. Chan Thai, the Finn Hall Faculty Director, does this exceptionally well. By hosting low-stakes, accessible and visible events like weekly tea time in front of Finn’s main entrance, she’s able to positively influence students without requiring them to go out of their way.

Still, these efforts won’t go far if they are not backed up by student commitment. As students at a University, it’s on us to educate ourselves about the opportunities available to us. It could be as simple as reading the weekly newsletters sent out to spread the word about opportunities, or following the Instagram page associated with our RLC.

Small efforts like these take little time and reap huge benefits. CFs and RDs can and should make changes to encourage greater student engagement—but Residence Life can only meet the student body halfway; students must also make the effort to utilize what is offered to us.