A Legacy of Relationships and Housing Innovation at Texas A&M: Chareny Rydl of Residence Life

Hailing from Alexander, N.Y., a small farming town in the western part of the state, Chareny Rydl moved to College Station nearly 37 years ago, excited to begin her career as Residence Life coordinator.

Answering an ad she found in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Rydl would kick start her time in Residence Life supporting the north side of campus and custodial staff. She was excited about the diversity of tasks the position offered, and that it wasn't a traditional live-in staff type of role.

Little did Rydl know that, because she decided to take a leap of faith and move from New York to Texas, she would go on to meet her future husband in College Station - who is an Aggie himself. She never thought she’d spend the next three decades learning everything there is to know about on-campus housing at Texas A&M. Each position and promotion through various roles in Residence Life would lead to her eventually leading the department as its Executive Director.

Throughout her tenure, Rydl has navigated innovation and change, taken on unprecedented challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, and gone through her fair share of defining moments. Enduring both the lows of campus tragedies, like the Bonfire collapse and a gas explosion at University Apartments, and the highs of breaking ground on transformational projects like Hullabaloo Hall and the White Creek Apartments, Rydl's contributions been a catalyst for the on-campus housing experience for Aggies.

Rydl’s keys to leadership are simple: relationships, flexibility and the willingness to try new things.

Since Rydl started at Texas A&M, the student population has seen significant growth - Catapulting from 38,000 to almost 80,000 students. The key to Residence Life rising to meet these growing needs has been flexibility.

With a staff of more than 500 and on-campus housing capacity that has grown steadily to 12,000, the constant change has been a challenge where Rydl has thrived. Under her leadership, Residence Life has evolved into what we see today - offering best-in-class programming for Aggies living on campus. Some examples of these new initiatives and programs include: Housing Week, Academic Peer Mentors, Living and Learning Communities, Community Learning Centers, Aggie Eco Reps, the Residential Housing Association, textile recycling and wellness initiatives—just to name a few.

Over the years, Rydl shares the truths she has lived by that have made all the difference. For Rydl, the most important truths have been nurturing relationships and empowering her team to pioneer into unknown territory.

Get to Know Chareny Rydl

Rydl on the sayings she's best known around the office for: "Create your own destiny,” “what is it going to take to move us forward,” and “let's do a pilot."
On what inspires her: “Faith. When there's really rough situations, like when students don't go home to their families, and during the pandemic—faith sustains me. And my first boss here, Ron. He had what I call the 'Ron Factor'; he was the most giving and caring towards people. When he left, I didn't want Residence Life to lose the Ron factor, so I've done my best to carry forward what he taught me about cultivating a culture of caring, respect and being service-oriented to students."
On one word her staff uses to describe her: "Resilient."
On her staff: "I have an amazing staff. They are well-respected in the university; they know how to do their jobs and do them well. I have no qualms about their ability to continue to do that with or without me."
On residence hall life: "What I always lived by is the 'mom test.' If mom can drop her kid off at the dorms and feel comfortable that they are safe and living in a good place, we've done our job right."
On relationships: "Always treat staff, students and everyone we come across at work the way we want to be treated. That's a given. And the other piece of the puzzle is to be successful at what we do at Residence Life. We are highly reliant on our partners: custodial maintenance, transportation services, food services, academic services, etc. It's important to always make sure to maintain and build these relationships one-on-one, in person and not just over the phone or email."
On mentoring students: "I tried to meet with our student leaders at least once a month. It's good to learn what's going on in their world and to be supportive. Talking with them always helps to shape and guide our programs and the things going on within the department."
On work-life balance: "Work is always going to be there, but your family isn't. If there are important milestones you need to be at, I encourage my staff to do that."
On her favorite sports team: "I love to watch sports, and I've always loved the Buffalo Bills. In fact, when I first moved here and started at Texas A&M, I met someone else from the Buffalo area and we would watch all the games together. And funny enough, my current boss and Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, Tom Reber, is also from western New York."
On how culture has changed since she started: "Bonfire was the culture when I started, and I will certainly never forget my first Bonfire. But over the years, I've seen culture at Texas A&M become much more inclusive and everything has scaled so much."
On marrying into an Aggie family: "I'm not an Aggie officially, but my husband is an Aggie and I actually met him playing volleyball here in College Station. His dad was an Aggie—all of his cousins were Aggies. Fun piece of Aggie History: My father-in-law was actually one of the men who, at the time, voted to allow women at Texas A&M. Now, our daughter is an Aggie too, and she actually currently works here in International Student Scholarship Services."
On what she looks forward to in retirement: "Reading, traveling to visit friends and family, and not being on call for work. I hope to go visit the exchange family who hosted me in Switzerland when I was in high school and maybe make some stops in Austria and Hungary to visit the students and their families that my husband and I have hosted over the years."

Rydl will be leaving Residence Life with quite a legacy, but still has high hopes for the future. Her words of wisdom for the next decade? "My parting wish is that Residence Life will be able to move every student off of our waiting list and build more housing. My hope is that every Texas A&M student who wants to live on-campus will have a spot to call home.”

To learn more about Residence Life and living on-campus at Texas A&M University, visit their website.