Housing director helps students belong

By Logan Ward, The Well, Thursday, May 25th, 2023

Allan Blattner, executive director of Carolina Housing, is proof of the transformative power of living on campus.

Back in 1985, Blattner showed up for his first year at San Diego State University expecting to play soccer but didn’t make the team. “All of a sudden, I’m this kid from Chicago in a residence hall two weeks early. There’s nobody else around, and my whole identity is flipped upside down,” he said.

When the resident adviser, who was also hall council president, found this forlorn newcomer alone in his room, she appointed him floor rep and whisked him off to a leadership retreat.

“She didn’t have to do that,” Blattner said. “But she knew part of her role was to get people involved.”