Full circle on State Street: How Corinne Hall Towers sparked a romance that led Andy Thompson and Catie Henry back to FSU
By Izabela Gage Staff Writer Long before Area Director Andy Thompson was supervising residence halls at Framingham State University, he interviewed Catie Henry as a job candidate while serving as an Administrative Resident Assistant (ARA). They didn’t know their weirdly formal introduction in Corinne Hall Towers would lead to a new relationship, a roughly 1,380-mile move to Missouri, an engagement, and a return to the campus where it all started only three years after graduation. Catie still remembers the moment they met. “I awkwardly introduced myself to him as my legal name, and I made myself cringe. He did it with his legal name, too, so it made me feel a little less awkward about the whole situation,” she said. Andy said, “At the time, I was asked to help with an interview and was just told, ‘This is who the candidate is.’ … We went through the interview and then afterward, the resident director was like, ‘All right, does she seem hireable?’ ‘Yep.’” Once Catie joined the Residence Life team as a Resident Assistant (RA) alongside Andy, maintaining a professional demeanor in front of their peers and residents became priority number one. Andy said, “We intentionally tried not to have it be something that was widely known. … I wouldn’t say it was a concern with us because we made sure it wouldn’t affect the students and the residents in the hall.” Balancing a new relationship with the demands of college life, student leadership, and full-time responsibilities proved challenging during their senior year. Catie was juggling a packed schedule that included full-time student teaching and coaching Framingham High School’s color guard. Meanwhile, Andy was deeply embedded in campus life as president of the Framingham State Activities Board (FSAB), a senator for SGA, and class vice president. Catie said, “I constantly look back on it now and joke that I don’t know how I made it through senior year. It was definitely a lot, but we also knew about each other’s outside obligations.” Having separate commitments turned out to be a blessing in disguise for their relationship. Catie said, “We definitely weren’t together 24/7, which made it so we actually had things to talk about. It wasn’t all Residence Life and RA stuff, but just being us.” Working in Towers meant they racked up plenty of bizarre stories. One particular memory that still makes them laugh was them finding a bathroom stall door in an elevator. Despite the late nights and memorable stories, they stood out as exceptional student leaders. They were two of only three members of their RA staff recognized at the end-of-year banquet. Catie won “Creative of the Year” for her unique floor themes and bulletin boards. Andy won “Peer of the Year” for excellently performing duties and going above and beyond for co-workers and residents. As graduation approached, the couple had to figure out what came next. Andy, majoring in hospitality management, began reevaluating his career goals, while Catie, majoring in early childhood education with a minor in child and family studies, was unsure of her next steps. Andy decided to look for higher education job opportunities far outside his New England comfort zone. He said he was focused on “the idea of growth and development as a professional, which involved applying to anywhere that was west of the Mississippi and on.” The moment of truth arrived right after FSAB’s Sandbox, a massive campus event that Andy had spent months organizing. Andy said, “I got a call right at the end of the day. … I was waiting to hear back from my second option, and they informed me I hadn’t been offered a position. So I knew I was going to Missouri State University.” Andy broke the news to Catie that evening. He said, “It was definitely a shock for her.” Catie said, “Moving to Missouri was not a path I thought I was gonna end up on, so it was weird. Andy also never formally asked me to move to Missouri with him. I just did, which was kind of goofy.” Rather than moving down immediately after graduation, Catie said she chose to spend the summer taking a well-deserved break with her family in New York. In October 2023, Catie moved to Missouri, where she met their first dog, Nebula. This was a learning curve for Catie, who had grown up exclusively with cats. Within six months of arriving in Missouri, Catie unexpectedly found herself pulled back into the world of college campuses, taking a position as an administrative assistant in the Living-Learning Communities Office of Residence Life at Missouri State. To her surprise, she fell head over heels for her work. “It was probably my favorite job I’ve had so far. … Now I’m pursuing a Master’s in Student Affairs in Higher Education. So, apparently, 22-year-old me had no clue what I was talking about.” Andy said working in higher education again together at MSU was a great experience. “For me, I knew that I wanted to do this. It was a great opportunity to learn some new things and work with some incredible people. “For Catie, who would have told you she was never coming back to higher education, it was funny,” he teased. While Missouri provided invaluable professional experience and personal growth, the pull to move home was strong. In November last year, Andy proposed to Catie in Disneyland, and they had serious conversations about returning to New England. Andy kept the engagement ring hidden for eight months before asking. Catie said with a laugh, “It’s the first and only secret he’s ever gotten past me.” With an upcoming wedding, being close to their families became the top priority. Andy said, “It made sense to be near our roots. We love our families - we want to be able to have them nearby. … We had known we wanted to come back to the regional area of New England.” While they explored job opportunities across Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and New Hampshire, returning directly to Framingham State carried a unique weight. Andy said, “Coming back to Framingham, it was something that felt right. The goal was to be able to go to Missouri, get some bigger school practice, and then scale it down to a more Framingham-sized school.” As Andy progressed through the hiring process for an Area Director position at FSU, Catie found herself emotionally invested in coming home. “I was beyond manifesting at that point. I was like, ‘This better happen, because now I’ve got my heart set on going back to Framingham.’” Her manifestation must’ve worked, because Andy was offered the position, and the couple made a stressful trip back to Massachusetts with their dog Mystique and two cats, Alfredo and Hash Brown. Catie said, “We came back right before move-in. So we were unpacking, students were unpacking, and we were trying to acclimate our pets.” Now settled back on campus, the experience of walking around Framingham State feels delightfully surreal for both of them. Catie said, “I’m used to walking around campus on my way to class or walking back to my room after the longest day of my life. Now I’m just taking my dog for a walk and then going back to my apartment. It’s not something that I ever anticipated.” For Andy, stepping into his role as an Area Director helps him support FSU students using the perspective he gained when he was one of them. One campus building stands tall above the rest at the heart of their relationship, though. Catie said, “For us as a couple, I would say Towers means the most. It’s where we met. It’s where everything happened. That’s where he told me we were moving to Missouri.” Andy agreed, “That was a big centerpiece of our relationship.” Looking back at the two RAs who met three-and-a-half years ago in Towers, both Andy and Catie see a journey defined by trust, growth, and unconditional support. Andy said, “I gave a lot of trust to Catie, and she’s done well with it. She trusted me when I said I’m going to Missouri, and she did it enough to move with me.” Catie said, “I feel like I’ve known him for forever, but I’ve barely known him for half a decade. … He’s my whole rock. I would tell little 22-year-old RA Catie, ‘It’s going to be hard, but he’s going to figure it out, even when the entire freaking world is crumbling around you.’”
