Senior Sidizens

The Core Team of Senior Sidizens is made up of a College Magister, Resident Associates, and the College Coordinator. The Magister and RAs are faculty and staff who live at Sid. They heavily contribute to the culture at Sid, and support the Sid government. They help run the college and are there to support all Sidizens, whether they live on or off campus. If you need any help navigating academic, personal, or social challenges, the Magister and RAs are a voice of experience. During the academic year, the A-Team host a variety of events in their living spaces, like movie nights or study breaks.

Magister

Melissa Marschall (she/her)

marschal@rice.edu

Welcome to Sid Richardson College!

We are the magister family-Melissa, Conor and Paul, and our dogs, Midnight and Duke. Melissa is a Professor of Political Science and the Director of the Social Policy Analysis program. Conor is 16 and a rising junior at Strake Jesuit High School, and Paul is 14 and will be a freshman at Strake Jesuit this fall. We are a sporty family. We play tennis, basketball, and golf, and in the last couple of years we’ve also become avid skiers. In the summer we spend time in with our family in Minnesota and Indiana, and typically try to visit national parks in other parts of the country. Melissa has a strong identification as a Midwesterner, but has lived in cities all over all over the U.S. (though mostly east of the Mississippi), and also in Germany and Turkey. In addition to sports, she loves learning languages (but remains fluent in only one!), traveling, cooking, reading, listening to jazz music, playing cards and board games, and watching foreign films. The boys like video games, chess (Paul), learning about the stock market and exploring entrepreneurial activities, hanging out with friends, and playing with the dogs.

We look forward to welcoming you to campus in August, getting to know you over the next four years, and helping you make the most of your time at Sid and Rice.

Best,

Melissa, Conor and Paul

College Coordinator

Lisa Galloy

lgalloy@rice.edu

Welcome Sidizens! I am Lisa Galloy your Sid Richardson College Coordinator fondly known as the OG. Prior to Sid I worked at Jones School of Business and have been a part of Rice for 27 years. Yes, this makes me the longest standing member of the A-Team. I am here to help you navigate your way through the next four years.

In an official capacity I assist the Magisters with the administration of Sid and work with other campus departments to ensure that everything runs smoothly at Sid. I also work with the student government and executive committee members with budgeting, purchases, housing, and committee events. You could consider me your daytime RA as I am in the office during normal business hours when the Resident Associates and Magisters are at their day jobs.

A little bit about myself: I am originally from Chicago, home of the Chicago Dog, Chicago Italian Beef, the Cubs, the Blackhawks and of course Da Bears! Being from Chicago I’m pretty laid back, just not as much as a true Texan. I’ve been married for 28 years, have a son who will be turning 26 this year (who has probably encountered some of the experiences that you are about to have) and a 6 year old lab mix named….Wrigley. My favorite thing to do is “Book Club”. Actually, it’s a K-Drama club and I consider it a book club because it’s all subtitles. I fell in love with them after watching Crash Landing on You. My all-time favorite is Reply 1988 and I’ve learned a few Korean words too.

Please come see me when you need a little sugar, help mailing a letter, or if you lock yourself out of your room. I am the keeper of many keys! More importantly I can be your friend and confidant. If you need some life advice, want to rant about a class, figure out how to approach a difficult situation or to gain a different perspective on a problem you’re facing. If you have a rough day please stop by the office. We can talk or just relax on the couch or grab a seat in the office and get the best hug ever from my Squishmallow!

Residential Associates

BRIAN (HE/HIM) and Hannah McDevitt (She/HER)

bm73@rice.edu

hm83@rice.edu

Hi Sid! We’re Brian (he/him) and Hannah (she/her), and we’re excited to join the Sid Richardson community as first-time Resident Associates! We share our home with our two dogs—Chip (our shy, cuddly girl) and Salsa (our big, fluffy party boy)—and are especially excited to welcome our baby girl this October.

Brian is Rice’s Associate Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Experience & Engagement, where he supports students through leadership development, career readiness, community engagement, and alumni relations. Hannah manages a Client Success team at DISCO, a software company in the legal tech space. She studied French at Georgetown, spent time abroad in Cuernavaca and Paris, and previously worked in translation and localization.

Outside of work, you’ll often find us exploring Houston’s incredible food scene, cheering on the Owls, playing golf, reading, playing mahjong, spending time with friends around Houston, or traveling back to Rhode Island and Massachusetts to visit family.

We chose to become Resident Associates because some of the most meaningful growth in college happens outside the classroom. These years can be exciting, busy, fun, stressful, and transformational, and we’re here to offer advice, encouragement, support, or simply a place to decompress. We can’t wait to get to know you and help make Sid feel like home!

Shannon LaBove (she/her)

sdl6@rice.edu

Shannon is a native Houstonian who currently lives on 8th floor. She loves her city for its music, diversity, and great food. Since coming to Rice in 2013, she has been a proud communication lecturer in the Department of Humanities and the Association Director of Forensics for Rice’s national championship Speech and Debate Team. Being your true and authentic self is important to Shannon, and she is always ready to learn about who you are. She has been to law school and grad school, so feel free to stop by the 8th floor to talk about what to do after graduation or life in general. Shannon is obsessed with reality television, 90’s hip hop, and traveling to new places. Welcome new Sidizens!

Augusto Rodriguez (he/Him) and Vanessa Perez (she/her)

axr1@rice.edu

vip1@rice.edu

Hola Sid! We are Augusto X. Rodriguez (Dr. R) and Vanessa I. Perez, along with our pup, Ace, and we are thrilled to be your Resident Associates on the 11th floor! We proudly call the beautiful Caribbean island of Puerto Rico our home. It is also home to the two most important people in our lives: our children, Ilian (25) and Luis (23), who are our greatest love, pride and strength.

Dr. R is the Chair of the Kinesiology Department and Co-Director of the Methodist-Rice Center for Human Performance, where he teaches a variety of sports medicine courses, including Statistics for the Health Professional and Research Methods. Vanessa is a seasoned Social Worker with over 30 years of experience across various settings in both Puerto Rico and Texas. She currently works as a per diem Social Work Counselor at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in the Medical Center.

We love the outdoors and are thoroughly enjoying this stage of our lives. We are genuinely excited about this role and look forward to getting to know, support, and mentor you during your time at Rice. The transition from adolescence to young adulthood can be both exciting and challenging. As parents of young adults ourselves, we understand what you might be going through.

We are here to listen, and we will always ask whether you need active advice or simply a safe space to be heard. Let’s take this journey one day at a time. Embrace every experience and opportunity that comes your way and try to find something meaningful in each moment that nourishes your heart and soul. We can’t wait to meet you!