The first female FUSA president has traded in her Fairfield textbooks, late-night studying and crowded dorm room. Now she has something more refined: a spacious BCC office, desktop computer, comfy armchair and the title of Associate Director of Residence Life.

Transitioning from student to Fairfield employee might feel strange or awkward for some people, but not Karen Donoghue. Since she graduated in the spring of 2003, none of the current student body knew her during her days as FUSA president, she says.

“Because no one knew me as FUSA president here, that helped a lot,” the soft-spoken and friendly Donoghue excitedly told The Mirror. “And I have to say, if that wasn’t the truth, it probably would have been harder because people would be like, ‘Hey you were a senior, when I was a freshman.’ But I didn’t have to worry about that.”

Carolyn Rusiackas, Associate University Chaplain of Campus Ministry, has known Donoghue since she volunteered as a student. She has always been impressed with Donoghue’s ability to multi-task while being FUSA president.

“Karen is dedicated, enthusiastic, energetic and committed to following through in whatever she says she’ll do. I was impressed with Karen as an undergraduate, that withher busy FUSA president’s schedule, she continued to honor her commitment as a lector, which is an extensive commitment.” Donoghue was just as dedicated in her school work as she was in her work as president, according to Professor Dr. David Schmidt, who taught Donoghue in his Business Ethics course.

“From what I could see from her performance in my course, she was a hard worker, very conscientious,” Schmidt says. “Even better, she was a smart worker… she didn’t waste time, mine or hers.”

Besides the fact of possibly being blindsided by a lowerclassman who recognized her, she felt very comfortable and prepared when she returned to Fairfield as Associate Director of Residence Life, where she oversees all the developmental programs that occur in residence halls, apartments and town houses while also providing all aspects of training for the residence life staff members. She even assists in the supervision and administration of all student living areas.

During her tenure as president, Donoghue accomplished many of the issues that she wished to concentrate on while running for president, such as improving FUSA’s organizational skills.

“At that time Senate did what they did, Executive did what they did and Programming did what they did but they didn’t talk. I think we increased the communication [among all FUSA members],” she says.

Besides her success in building communication between the branches of FUSA, she also instituted many successful developments at Fairfield, including peer advising and week-long FUSA training before school starts.

Even through confrontational times, Donoghue was able to demonstrate her strength as a leader. This was especially shown in 2003 when the FUSA Senate voted to send a letter to the Fairfield administration, denouncing The Mirror for its coverage of events and clubs on campus.

Donoghue responded by refusing to sign the letter until the 2003 Editor-in-Chief of The Mirror, Sean Hayes, had his opportunity to rebuttal.

Fellow 2003 classman, Sean Hayes, now works as a successful attorney at Wiley, Rein ‘ Fielding in Washington D.C. He still remembers Donoghue as one of the nicest people he knew at Fairfield but he does not necessarily think that her year as FUSA president was that much different than any other year.

“I do not think there has ever been an ‘effective’ FUSA president, because they mainly exist to implement the will of the administration, or at least what the administration deems acceptable student events,” Hayes tells The Mirror.

“That being said, FUSA under Karen’s tenure was much like that of any year: mediocre concert, poorly attended events, general apathy. However, when the FUSA Senate tried in a juvenile manner to force The Mirror to report positively on events and accused the paper of ‘threatening tactics,’ Karen displayed deft leadership by standing up for The Mirror’s right to defend itself against the unsubstantiated allegations.”

Even with all of her various accomplishments and opportunities, Donoghue’s favorite part about being the first female FUSA president is the fact that she can be an inspiration for other females or even minorities on campus, she says. Gender has always been and still is a big issue in society and by seeing her success, females can realize that anything is possible at Fairfield.

“She set a new standard as the first female president,” says Rusiackas. “Her successful presidency opened the door to the possibility of other women students following in her footsteps, as happened last year with Jessica DiBuono being elected the second female FUSA president.”

Being the first female was an honor but she hopes that her new position will provide her with more opportunities to reach out to students. “In my role in Residence Life, I hope I can serve as a role model to the female students here. And that they realize that they could do so much here at Fairfield.” Donoghue’s current position was definitely what she was pursuing after college; she just did not expect to return so soon. Before heading back to Fairfield, however, she did get a taste for what other institutions had to offer. After graduating, she worked for Rider University and Penn State University. However, being a resident of West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, she preferred to work closer to home. She also decided to return to Fairfield largely due to the community aspect that is presented here. “Public institutions are sometimes so large and disconnected, that you don’t necessarily work with all aspects of the community,” she said. “But, here at Fairfield, you are constantly part of the community and you have to work together to succeed and I really like that aspect.” Donoghue may be the first female FUSA president, but she is not the first FUSA president to be hired to work for the university. Fairfield has also hired other former FUSA presidents, such as Thomas Pellegrino, the Dean of Students, who was president in 1990 and Vice President for Student Affairs, Mark Reed, who served as president from 1995-1996. Although Donoghue is very proud of her work as FUSA president, she is more than ready to prove herself as a Fairfield employee.

“I don’t think about it [being FUSA President] that often because it happened. It was a great experience. Now that I work here, I think it is more important for people to feel satisfied with what I do here as an employee, not necessarily what I did.”