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He was once the feared Associate Director of Residence Life, battling with students over lottery placement, supervising area coordinators, and handling problems with housing at the beach. He plays that role no more, as Jason Downer has left his post at Fairfield University to pursue the life of a Jesuit.
“I decided to leave Fairfield because I wanted to explore a new path in my life,” said Downer. “So after a couple of years of discernment I applied and, by the grace of God, was accepted in the Jesuits.”
Students and fellow administrators alike have been feeling his absence on campus. Former colleague Karen Donoghue, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life, worked with Downer for four years and was sad to see him go. “He was hard working, passionate about his job and hoped to impact the students in a positive way.”
Donoghue said she remembers his fashionable bow ties and how he once painted his entire face green for IRHA’s New England Day.
Tara Rupp, Assistant Director of Residence Life, started out as one of the area coordinators Downer supervised. “He told me to listen to one Christmas song every month, because he loves Christmas that much. I thought it was great because I love Christmas, too,” Rupp said.
Once known to students as the “go to man” for housing, Downer’s journey has taken many turns along the way. After spending his undergraduate and graduate years at Canisuis College, Downer found himself accepting his first job at Fairfield. He was an area coordinator and a few years later he was promoted to Associate Director of Residential Life.
Creating a happy living environment for all students was not always an easy feat. “It was very hard for me to see students get so distraught over not getting their first choice of housing or not getting to live with whom they wanted,” he said.
“Housing is such an important part of a student’s college life,” he said. “Students want to be comfortable with who they are living with and where they are living.”
Handling housing issues for students was not the only aspect of Downer’s life here at Fairfield. Faced by daily meetings and the daunting task of office work, Downer did not have much free time. But when he did, Downer used it to explore the life as a Jesuit closely.
While working with the Jesuits at Fairfield on housing issues, Downer established personal relationships with them and found many mentors. Rev. Jim Bowler, S.J. said, “Religious vocation is God’s invitation, we can say yes or no to it, but it’s responding to who we are in God’s eyes, which will make the best of what our life should be. I think the reason Jason did what he did was to respond to who he is and God’s invitation.”
Downer said all students should ponder their role on the Earth, and encouraged them to continue searching, even after their four years at Fairfield.
“Fairfield talks a lot about the question of “vocation” and I really suggest each student to seriously think about that. It might not be something you’ll have an answer to on graduation day. And that’s okay,” said Downer.
The life path of a Jesuit, although commendable, is for some, not an easy choice to make. When asked about the idea of never being married, Downer said that it was a part of the decision making process.
“I am serving with my whole heart in a way that I could not do if I was married and had a family,” Downer said.
While not quite certain of what path he is going to take after these next two years of training, he knows that he wants to be wherever the need to for him turns out to be.
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