Whether in the Great Smoky Mountains or the Ocean State, Taylor Rigatti-Menna works to ensure that all students feel seen, valued, and set up for success

As part of Women’s History Month, we are profiling remarkable women within the Division of Student Affairs who contribute immensely to the fabric of our campus community and inspire others to push for gender equality and progress at URI and beyond.

KINGSTON, R.I. – March 23, 2026 – Taylor Rigatti-Menna, born and raised in eastern Tennessee, now works closely with the University of Rhode Island student body to ensure its needs are met. 

In September 2024, she joined the University of Rhode Island Housing and Residential Life (HRL) team as a housing assignments and occupancy specialist. In this role, she manages approximately 6,000 beds on campus by tracking occupancy, processing room changes and cancellations, and overseeing housing assignments. She coordinates the room selection and first-year assignment processes and partners with Disability Access and Inclusion (DAI) to ensure proper housing accommodations are provided.

Rigatti-Menna earned her bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in talent development. Her college experiences had profound impacts on her as a student. She started figuring out who she was and who she wanted to be. As an involved student leader, she loved seeing the impact the student body could have on its own college community and beyond. 

She recognizes the continuous support of the faculty and staff she was close with throughout all aspects of her collegiate experience. These college mentors helped her see that working on a college campus could be a career path. She started working in higher education at a local community college in the Office of Disability Services and worked one-on-one with students to develop career plans based on their majors and interests.  

Following her time in this role, she was exposed to collegiate residential life. She transitioned into a hall director/campus events coordinator role, later becoming assistant director. She found great joy in working with students — helping them put together campus events or holding them accountable when they misstepped. She fondly recalls, “The work is always changing. You have to continuously adapt to the student population you’re working with. It’s something that has drawn me to this work, even when the hours are long and the days are hard.”

Throughout her various roles, her goal remains the same. She hopes to help students find their path as they move into adulthood and start living in a world with no safeguards. She also emphasizes the importance of having some fun along the way. She believes college can be a transformative experience if you let it, and she helps students do just that. 

No matter the role or department she works in, Rigatti-Menna hopes to remind all students that, “You don’t have to do it all to be it all. You are enough as you are.”

What do you consider the best part of your job?

“The best part of my current job is when I can connect with students and get to know them.  It’s always a plus when I can help them solve a problem when they have a concern about their housing assignment.”

How do you hope to inspire others?

“My undergraduate institution embodies the slogan, ‘Do good on the largest possible scale.’ While I know I’m never going to change the world, I know that if I can make a small difference in someone’s life, even if it’s just changing their room assignment or giving them a space to vent or process when something is hard or stressful, then I’m doing some good in that individual’s world. I suppose the short answer is that you don’t have to make grand gestures in order to make a change or do some good.”

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, is there anyone that has helped to make you the woman you are today?

“I’ve been blessed to have countless women in my life who have shaped me and taught me and inspired me (maybe even without knowing it) throughout my life as they’ve broken through barriers and crushed glass ceilings. I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from them is that we (women) shouldn’t be afraid of taking up space and being ourselves. We don’t need to diminish ourselves to fit into a mold, and we can be whatever and whoever we want.”

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Lyla Kiloski, intern for the URI Division of Student Affairs, wrote this news release.