On July 1, Associate Director of Admissions and Hathaway dorm parent Chris Lewis ’15 will succeed Anika Walker-Johnson as Director of Residential Life following her departure at the end of the academic year. His appointment—confirmed in a recent Milton family newsletter and announced at Upper School Assembly on Monday, May 4—marks a transition shaped as much by personal history as by institutional need.

After graduating from Milton in 2015, Lewis studied economics and psychology at Amherst College, envisioning a career in finance. When a job offer fell through due to green card complications, however, he called his former soccer coach, Director of Financial Aid and Boys’ Varsity Soccer Coach Chris Kane. Their communication opened a door to an opportunity at Milton’s admissions office that Lewis had not anticipated. Lewis described the chance to work at his alma mater as “a lightbulb [going] off in [his] head,” claiming that the role felt “just…perfect.” Since his return to Milton, Lewis has been a varsity coach, admissions officer, and dorm parent, accumulating in each role a vantage point that most incoming administrators often lack.

Upper School Principal Rachel Stone, an administrator who was part of Lewis’ selection process, cited Lewis’ range of roles within the community as why Lewis “is uniquely positioned to carry his deep love for, and experience at, Milton forward into this new role.”

Walker-Johnson, who came to Milton from a day school and spent her first years learning Milton’s culture, saw Lewis’ accumulated perspective as the quality that made Lewis right for the job. Walker-Johnson emphasized that Lewis “knows [Milton] from the inside out.” According to Walker-Johnson, the “most important” quality of Lewis is “his student perspective.” His experience as a current house parent, she added, means he already understands the program’s strengths and challenges, without the runway for acclimating that she required.

Associate Dean of Students André Heard ’93 described the position of an alumnus stepping into an administrative role as “a double-edged sword.” Both Heard and Lewis cautioned against the potential confusion between alumni experience and present reality. Heard declared that alumni “have to be cognizant not to attempt to force [their] experience onto [students],” and should instead use their prior experience “to help [students] shape [their own] experience.” Lewis echoed this, highlighting the importance of remaining curious about the opinions of students precisely because he must not “assume that the current student boarding experience is similar to [his own].”

Among Lewis’ priorities is making the boarding experience more consistent across Milton’s nine houses. He believes the school’s vertical housing structure, which mixes students across class years within each dorm, is a “unique” strength, but also one that currently produces uneven results across dorms. Lewis plans to “systematize our experience a little bit,” so that every student is “getting a baseline foundation of culture building, of connectivity.” He also plans to further empower student leaders in the residential space and create a clear, consistent framework within each dorm so students “can take ownership of the experience that they have in the dorms” and understand “what’s expected of [student leaders once they] have that leadership role.”

Before this year’s Boarding Monitor elections, newly appointed Boarding Monitor Jace LiVigni ’27, who met with Lewis to share ideas for the next academic year, praised both the “passion [Lewis] brings to all things boarding-related” and “the extra layer of insight [Lewis] has as a former Goodwin resident [that] makes every conversation move so much smoother.” LiVigni also named a specific priority he hopes Lewis, who will be in charge of all logistical difficulties, will address: streamlining the work order system—the system for boarders to file repair requests. Currently, in the spring, LiVigni believes the system “takes much longer” to process and “just needs less friction.”

Walker-Johnson stated that she will “miss the relationships [she] has built here,” and that her “feelings are mixed, as anyone’s feelings would be when [a] major change comes.” Walker-Johnson has no fixed plans for what comes next, but she described her mindset plainly: “I’m chasing joy.” She and Lewis are already meeting regularly to ensure the leadership shift is smooth. “I think that’s important,” she said, “to have a strong transition between leaders.”