You can’t live in Portland Hall without knowing Chris O’Connor. Or, at least, that’s the buzz in the building.
O’Connor is the assistant director of Portland Student Life for Portland Hall, and has lived in the dorm at 645 Congress Street in downtown Portland for the past three years. Next semester he will be leaving his position in the Residence Life Office at Portland Hall to fulfill another position somewhere in student development, though he is not yet certain what he will be doing.
“It’s still up in the air,” said O’Connor. “I’m definitely staying at USM, but it’s just time for a change. Really it’s just to keep myself fresh.”
O’Connor, a 27-year-old native of Tomas River, N.J., came to USM with four years of residence life experience already under his belt. He was a resident assistant for two years at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he got his BS in sociology. He then spent a year as an assistant resident director at Western Illinois University and another year at Long Island University in New York as a resident director.
O’Connor said that discovering USM was a “fluke.” He was job searching while living in New York and came across an e-mail on the Listserv that described the assistant director’s position at USM. He had never been to Maine before and the only thing he knew about Vacationland is that “it was way up there.”
But he decided to take a chance and explore Portland, and the possible job opportunity at USM. He said he is very thankful he made that life-changing decision.
O’Connor felt that he found a lot more than a “cool place to live” and rewarding job when he came to USM, he also found acceptance, comfort and a family.
He worried that the transition from New York to Maine would be difficult and at first it was. His job was going great but he missed social gatherings and the night life, clubbing and staying out until 4 a.m. dancing with his friends. O’Connor described his first bar experience in the Old Port as “hilarious.”
“I was coming from the city [New York], a 6-foot-4-inch gay white guy, wearing my red velour shirt and singing “Gettin’ Jiggy With It,” by Will Smith at karaoke night at the Old Port Tavern. It was probably the whitest, straightest place I’d ever been. But, I’ll never forget that, it was so much fun.”
He said his new friends at USM made that experience fun and these friends eventually became his family. From the very beginning Portland Hall residents and staff made O’Connor feel welcome as they hung a huge “Welcome Chris” banner from the building and waited up until 1 a.m. to help him unpack the night he moved into the dorm.
“For me there was no question that USM was the place for me and it’s the place to stay. There is a level of comfort I feel in being able to be myself. I never felt more welcomed or more at home. And that’s the most resounding thing over the course of three years – that I’ve found a home,” O’Connor said.
But students and administrators feel that O’Connor has done just as much to foster a sense of a home for the residents of Portland Hall. They credit him with reshaping Portland Hall into more of a community.
When he started at Portland Student Life the dorm was going through some tough times, according to Craig Hutchinson, executive assistant to the vice president for the Division of Student Development.
“There had been some negative incidents and some negative attitudes and a lack of community, and he worked to change that,” said Hutchinson. “He got people feeling good about living in Portland Hall again.”
Sarah Wentworth, a junior media studies major, lives in Portland Hall and works for O’Connor as a front desk supervisor. Through her job she said she too has seen how O’Connor is responsible for bringing students together as a community within the dorm.
“He is an extraordinary person. He keeps this place running,” said Wentworth. “He reaches out to everybody and makes it a point to meet everyone in the building. He makes it easy for students to feel safe and comfortable living in this environment together.”
O’Connor’s explained that his job has many facets: he is conduct officer, counselor and community builder. He also answers questions about Facilities Management, determines who will live with whom and where, and is in charge of welcoming new students at the beginning of each semester, among other things. Students are quick to point out he leaves out a major part of his job description: friend.
“He is so much fun, I love hanging out with him,” said Tegan Irving, a sophomore ceramics major and Portland Hall resident. “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t have a smile on my face after talking with him, and I always feel good after I see him. He is a true friend.”
Wentworth said that working for O’Connor has been a positive experience because of his friendly personality.
“He’s a really great boss and a good friend too,” she said. “It is a very nice comfort level. You can go to him regarding two levels, work and personal relations and he separates being a boss from being a friend, and he does it well and that’s great. He’s just great.”
Although O’Connor is leaving his position at Portland Hall he will still be residing in the dorm. He will also continue to remain closely connected to his friends, residents and students in the dorm and on the Portland campus. His new position, whatever it may be, will surely include a student-relations component. Hutchinson explained that O’Connor wouldn’t take a position if he couldn’t work directly with students.
“You can’t stick Chris in a back office doing paperwork. That’s not how he works. He loves being with the students,” Hutchinson said.
This is one statement that O’Connor agrees with.
“I am completely dedicated to this place, with my time, effort, heart and soul. The students are the reason I do the work that I do.”
Staff Writer Sherry Whittemore can be contacted at: [email protected]