Dean's List

In another, I developed an elaborate re-modeling of the Commons that resulted in a Central Market-type facility. It was cool. Exiting to the south, an intricate tube-like transportation system whisked patrons to various locations throughout campus.

And once, I dreamt I was in a committee meeting with President Brazil, Cara Taylor in Residential Life, and others. After a well-articulated response from Cara to the President, my response came out in Scooby-Doo language. The President, trying to be kind, strained to understand what was quite clear to me: “I red, I’m Rooby-Roo.”

But then there is the nightmare. I have it about every three to four weeks. It changes a little, but the premise is always the same. I get cocky. I decide I can do better than Trinity, so I take a job somewhere else. I am filled with regret, fear, anguish. I’ve made a mistake. I have to get back.

I contact Dr. Paine, my Vice President. She’d like to help, but… the process to replace me is in motion and it really is too late.

In one rendition I implore her to take me back – only to see Pete Neville in the room. (Pete, the former Director of Student Activities for 20 years, left Trinity last year to take a job in California.) Yeah, Pete was back. “It didn’t work out,” he said, and yet Dr. Paine let HIM come back.

This is all rooted in some harsh reality. In 1992, after five years in Residential Life, I did leave Trinity. I took a job at a campus in New Paltz, New York. I was miserable. Maybe it was living through the two coldest winters in upstate New York history. Maybe it was that there were no New Paltz Spurs to follow. Perhaps it was our unusual neighbors, “The Munsters” and “Toe-less Joe,” a Jersey garbage man who lost some digits in a bizarre on-the-job accident.

But mostly, it was Trinity. I missed working at a place where most students graduated, where students, parents, and employees were passionate about and involved in the affairs of the University, and where everything was done well. In 1994, the Director position in Residential Life opened up and I was fortunate enough to come back.

I told then VP Coleen Grissom that I was glad Trinity wanted me back. She confided that it was really just her and the President, but they were the only two that counted. I didn’t care. I was going home.

And like most of my colleagues, I am lucky to be at a place that I love. In a time when people change careers and jobs frequently, I have been blessed to be in a stable position at a dynamic institution. I hope, ultimately, that our students will one day find the same when they become working-stiffs like me.

Why will I stay for as long as Trinity wants me? I have to. It’s my dream job. Going anywhere else would be a nightmare.