Cooper Hall has been named best residence hall by the Resident Hall Association and Student Affairs during the GALA awards. 

According to its residents, Cooper Hall is an all-male dorm that is based out of brotherhood and fellowship. 

This year Cooper has gone through a transformation by attempting to shed its bad reputation for the sake of its residents.  

Most know of Cooper’s reputation by current students and alumni. Even Orientation Freshman Leaders spread this information to freshmen during orientation. Girls walk out with shades on or would not even walk on the sidewalk near Cooper. It was seen as a place where no female should go unless they want to be called out of name. It was also seen as a place where no male wanted to call home. 

In 2011, Men of Coop Mondays (MCM,) was just an idea, but was not implemented until this year.

To help change the reputation of Cooper, MCM was finally implemented this year by the staff of Cooper Hall. It influences the men to dress in business casual on Mondays and to set a standard for how all gentlemen should conduct themselves on campus. This alone has set a new norm for the men of Cooper Hall. 

Resident Hall Director William Smith pushed for the program to be implemented by starting with the staff. Then once elected the hall council was the first to actually participate before it first begun. 

They have at least 20 men participate each Monday. 

Tronell Wynn, secretary of Cooper’s Hall Council, said, “It [MCM] has molded a lot of students into progressive students. It has taken a reputation that was not very good and turned it into great.” Wynn, a freshman student, expressed how it gave him a sense of pride in his residence hall.  

Freshmen are impressionable and the staff of Cooper hopes that they have set a new standard and even legacy for Cooper Hall. 

From MCM began a true fellowship between residents and staff. Conversations take place all of the time covering topics such as school, history, relevance of HBCUs, gender roles, and even appearance. 

Over 400 men live in Cooper. Staff feels that they have impacted at least a fourth of its population. 

The resident assistants (RA) and graduate hall directors (GHD) are seen as mentors to the residents. 

Tyler Swanson, resident assistant, said, “The bond that we’ve built here with the residents by opening up the office to them to come in and talk about real life situations and pretty much what goes on throughout the day also played a role in that… It also created a brotherhood… a brotherhood that we will cherish for the rest of our lives here…”  

Ernest McDuffie Jr., graduate hall director, expressed how you have to meet students where they are and not use power to regulate them. He is humble and puts himself in a position where residents feel comfortable around him even though he is one of the oldest staff members.

The entire staff of Cooper Hall has met students where they are and have made the residents better men. Though most of the staff members were not assigned to Cooper next year or are not going to be associated with Residence Life anymore, they said that they will help preserve what they have started with Cooper Hall. 

• Taylor Young, Register Reporter