From finishing rounds with resident assistants at 2 a.m. to responding to a midnight call, a hall director’s work is never done, and no day is the same. But for Sr. Sue Bruno, director of Fields Hall, it’s the variety in her daily work that appeals to her. It’s also University of Portland students’ “temperaments, attitudes and gentleness” that she says have kept her for five years in a place so far from her Illinois hometown.
But after 20 years as a hall director (five at UP and 15 at Notre Dame), Sr. Sue is ready for a job with more regular hours. She will be leaving the University at the end of the school year.
“How much longer will 18, 19, 20 year-olds be able to relate to someone who’s 69, 70, 71?” Sr. Sue, the winner of the 2017 Spirit of the Holy Cross Award, said. “You know you’re doing a good job, and you want to leave it that way. I feel like I’ve been pretty relevant with this age group, but I don’t want to wear that out.”
Come May, Sr. Sue says she will return to her home in Chicago, possibly get cataract surgery and begin to look for another ministry position that’s part-time or has more regular hours. Director of Residence Life Chris Haug said a replacement will be found for Sr. Sue by the end of April.
In the meantime, though, she will focus on finishing strong during her last go-around as a hall director and enjoying the UP community.
“I feel like family here,” Sr. Sue said, saying that she has known some members of the UP community, including some priests, since her time at Notre Dame.
She has fond memories of Fields residents flooding into her room to watch Chicago Cubs games, Jeopardy and The Bachelor. Sr. Sue said some of her favorite moments as hall director were when a student wanted to discuss life issues.
“Sr. Sue’s commitment comes across in many different forms,” said Fields resident Maddie Hansen. “You know that behind everything it’s truly just immense love and compassion for all of us.”
That kind of connection is one Sr. Sue and her staff work diligently to foster, and it starts with Bruno establishing a bond with her RAs. She says strives for a more casual relationship with them so they know they can approach her whenever they need or want to. As a result, her RAs drop by daily just to say “hello” and chat.
“My motto is, ‘I want us to be very close as a staff, but I don’t want us to appear to be exclusive to the hall,’” Sr. Sue said. “In order to do our work well, we have to trust one another and rely upon another, and you do that by sharing life with each other.”
Fields RA Micaela Snashall recalled one of her favorite memories of Sr. Sue — Snashall’s first time writing up a student for a conduct violation. As she and Bruno were writing up a group of students in Schoenfeldt after a party, one boy attempted to run away from Public Safety. And Sr. Sue chased right after him.
“Rather than have me go and chase after the kid, Sister Sue said, ‘Stay here, I got this,’ and jumped out the side door of Schoenfeldt to chase after him,” Snashall said.
Public Safety later tracked down the student.
Snashall’s story illustrates the missteps that many students have during their four-year journey to graduation, but Bruno says she feels compelled to help students recover and grow from them.
“We try to say things like, ‘This act does not define who you are.’ I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, there she goes, that one that did such and such,’” Sr. Sue said. “My role is to help them grow from tough times they’re having.”
She knows she and her staff have done their job well when they see their residents walk down the aisle on graduation day, and feels satisfaction watching them grow from frightened freshmen to adults starting their lives. Sr. Sue said she will miss UP and plans to visit often because of the friendships she’s made inside and outside of the dorm.
Fields residents say Sr. Sue’s absence will be felt, but they plan to focus on continuing the tradition of caring that she started in the hall.
“We want to keep the dynamic the same. We want to continue to focus on the feeling of family and making Fields a home, and continue the drive that Sr. Sue has started,” Fields RA Catherine Jacobs said.
