Student Leadership at Liberty: RA, RS, and CGL Defined

Sep 17, 2020 • Graham B.

Most universities have a very basic leadership structure on their residence halls. They typically have a resident assistant (RA) who enforces general campus rules and does little else. At Liberty University, hall leadership looks a little different. When you arrive to campus, you will be warmly welcomed by people with titles that may at first sound like a bunch of letters to you, so here is a guide to what those letters mean.

Residence Leaders

The highest level of hall leadership is the RD, or resident director. They are the supervisors of the RAs and are responsible for multiple residence halls. They help ensure the well-being of the RAs and all of the students on their halls. Directly underneath the RD is the RA. RAs live on the halls that they supervise and are both leaders and community builders. While they do enforce rules and ensure the safety of the students on their hall, they also work to build a strong community. They do this through events like hall hikes, breakfasts, or tailgates.

Spiritual Leaders

On the spiritual side of leadership, there are LU shepherds, resident shepherds (RS), and community group leaders (CGL). Shepherds are the RDs of spiritual life on campus. They supervise the RSs and CGLs on multiple residence halls and ensure their spiritual well-being and growth. The RS is the RA of spiritual life on their hall. They lead the hall in building spiritual community through events such as hall worship nights or going as a hall to Campus Community. Reporting to the RSs are the CGLs. CGLs are the main relationship and community builders on the hall. There are many of them on each hall, and each one has a group of students they lead in discussion every Wednesday night in community groups. They foster an environment for relational and spiritual growth between the members of their groups as well as between all of the students on the hall.

The leaders in our residence halls are the ones who create the amazing community that you won’t find at any other school. And the thing that they are most excited about is welcoming YOU to your future home!