Before becoming an event director, Meredith Mickaliger Anderson, a 2005 UR graduate, worked and lived on various college campuses, including her time as a UR resident advisor and head resident. 

“I lived on a campus from the age of 18 to 32,” she said.

It all started when she was a freshman living in Gray Court, majoring in English and American studies, with a minor in political science. Her RA encouraged Anderson to apply to the Resident Assistants program. “I had been involved in extracurricular activities in high school, and I was exploring many things at the time, searching for something meaningful,” said the Long Island native. “So, I decided to try it, and I fell in love with it. I knew that I had found my home here, my community.” 

An internship at Tulane University between her junior and senior year, where she served as a residence life coordinator, became a pivotal moment. “I decided I wanted to be in higher education administration as a career, so I came back my senior year and applied to graduate school instead of law school,” she said.

She earned a master’s in higher education and student affairs at The Ohio State University, where she was an assistant hall director. She then moved to Los Angeles to work at Loyola Marymount University as a resident director and later at Occidental College as an assistant director of residential education.

But after nearly a decade of living and working with students, she began to burn out. “While it was a great experience, a lot of the job is crisis management, where you’re on call 24/7 for a week at a time.” Realizing it was time for a change, she looked within and identified one constant throughout her life — helping people. 

Applicable skills

“One of the undercurrents of my life has been working in hospitality. I started working in food service while in high school,” she said.  “I used to work as a banquet server at a wedding venue, and part of my job in higher education was planning events and retreats. That’s the stuff I really like. I care about creating experiences for people that leave lasting memories.”

After transitioning into event management, she worked as an event director at venues for private events and golf tournaments and later in audiovisual production at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Last year, she joined City of Hope — a leading research and treatment organization for cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening illnesses — as event director for High-Touch Tours and Transformational Gifts in the Office of Philanthropy.

“I’ve come full circle because this role encompasses everything I’ve done in my career,” she said. “I help bring donors to campus so they can meet our doctors, see our facilities, and understand the importance of our work, and I also manage on-campus philanthropy events,” she said. “I get to play a small but meaningful role, where I partner with amazing people to further our mission.”

Lifelong connections

Anderson credits the University of Richmond with helping her discover her career path — even if it wasn’t what she originally expected. “I value the well-rounded liberal arts education. Between that and the encouragement I received from the UR faculty and staff, I was able to shift from pre-law and eventually ended up in a career where I can help people and see tangible results,” Anderson said.

She vividly recalls details of her favorite classes and professors, including English professors Abigail Cheever and Kathleen Hewett-Smith, political science professors Akiba Covitz and Rick Mayes. She even remembers her tour guide’s name (Mark!). 

“When you know, you know,” she said about her first campus visit. “The feeling on campus was electric. I could picture myself living there.’”

She’s lifelong friends with some of the Westhampton College staff from her first year at UR, who attended and officiated her wedding to her husband Doug.

Even her six-year-old daughter, Mable, is inspired by Anderson’s journey.

“She’s an event planner in training, especially when it comes to her birthday parties,” she joked.