Rodger Whitney : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Rodger Whitney, Executive Director of Residential and Dining Enterprises (R&DE) Student Housing, Emeritus, reflects on his upbringing, education, and long career at Stanford, illuminating why he came to be called the Mayor of Stanford due to his extensive involvement with the university’s housing system and residential life. Whitney recalls his upbringing in Dallas as a formative period in establishing his ideas about what constitutes a home, and he details how this theme continued during his undergraduate education at Southern Methodist University and graduate study at Harvard. He describes the state of housing at Stanford when he arrived in 1979 and his efforts to implement the vision for a unified and flexible housing system to serve the university. He describes the evolution of the housing draw and housing assignment processes; ambitious construction and renovation programs; and the multi-faceted structure of housing and residential experience at Stanford for both undergraduate and graduate students. Additional topics include the impact of the Loma Prieta earthquake; gender-neutral housing initiatives; housing security and considerations for high-profile students; and the impact of the General Use Permit on Stanford’s housing facilities.
- Summary
- Formative years in Dallas, Texas • Family background • Assassination of John F. Kennedy • Working at grandfather’s Chevrolet dealership • Influence of grandfather’s work ethic and focus on service • Education and schooling in Dallas • Decision to attend Southern Methodist University • Working in the dorms at SMU and Dallas YMCA summer camps • Impact of seeing poor housing conditions of the family’s Black housekeeper • Encountering stereotypes about Texas • Tornado in 2019 destroying schools he attended as a child • Ideas of “home” • Resident assistant and director experiences at SMU • Harvard Graduate School of Education and EDD in Administration Planning and Social Policy • Studying the House System at Harvard • Decision to look for a career in an academic setting after working in business • Applying to Stanford after seeing an advertisement in Stanford Magazine • Arriving at Stanford in 1979 • Interview process • First impressions of Stanford and its philosophy of residential education • Need for and responsibilities of his position as Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Director of Housing • Housing at Stanford in the late 1970s/early 1980s • Vision for a unified housing system with housing as a shared university resource; role of the Stanford Housing Center • Residential Education at Stanford • Bringing together disparate parts of the residential side of Stanford • Challenges of his position • Undergraduate housing draw system • Housing for fraternities and sororities • Decision-making and consensus-building process at Stanford • Interpretations of the charter’s “community of scholars” • Serving as a judicial affairs officer • Responsibilities as a residence dean • Academic advising • Reconstruction of Roble Hall in the late 1980s • Loma Prieta earthquake and impact on student housing • Responsibilities as Associate Director of Student Housing Operations and Services • Rate Equity Task Force and principle of equalizing room costs across different types of housing • Building additional housing to increase guaranteed on-campus housing • Variety of housing options at Stanford • Housing Capital Improvement Program (CIP) to upgrade aging housing and dining plant • Cyclical nature of capital improvement and development of Stanford Housing Asset Renewal Program • Maintaining facilities • Building additional housing in 2000s and 2010s, including new graduate residences • Housing Master Plan, including uncrowding existing housing to its original designed capacity • Sustainability in student housing • Student initiatives regarding gender- neutral housing at Stanford • Challenges of adding gender-neutral housing • Impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on housing • Security in residences • Considerations for high-profile students • Working with the Secret Service when Chelsea Clinton attended Stanford • Procedures for housing during disease outbreaks • Housing during COVID-19 • Culture of excellence at Stanford • Impact of General Use Permit on housing construction at Stanford
Description
| Type of resource | sound recording-nonmusical, text, still image |
|---|---|
| Extent | 1 audio file; 1 text file; 1 photograph |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | September 16, 2020 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Whitney, Rodger Franklin | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Whitney, Rodger Franklin | |
| Interviewer | Marine-Street, Natalie J. | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Whitney, Rodger Franklin |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. Office of Housing Programs |
| Subject | Stanford University. Office of Residential Education |
| Subject | Student housing > United States |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | Rodger Whitney, Executive Director of R&DE Student Housing, was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, and received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Liberal Arts degrees at Southern Methodist University. After a year as a Rotary Foundation Scholar at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and several years teaching Western Culture and Freshman Seminars at SMU, he completed a Doctor of Education degree in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy at Harvard University in 1978. Following two executive director business positions in real estate development and automobile dealership and foundation management, he returned to his higher education leadership career. At Stanford, he was initially appointed Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Stanford Housing Center in 1979 and also served during this time as an Academic Advisor, Residence Dean, and Judicial Affairs Hearing Officer in Student Affairs. He was named the Associate Director of Housing and Dining/Manager of Student Housing Services in 1991 and was promoted to Executive Director of Student Housing in 2001. He received the Keith L. Guy Award for outstanding leadership and service in Residential & Dining Enterprises in 2004. As Chief Housing Officer (CHO), Whitney was given the honorary moniker in R&DE of “Mayor” for his responsibilities and oversight of the complex housing assignment systems and operations of housing’s over one-third of the campus physical plant. |
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| Transcript |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/vn085pr3662 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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