All Roads Lead to the Union: Newsletter
Student Spotlight: Dillon Clark
Dillon Clark is currently a senior at the University of Utah, he is majoring in Political Science. He is set to graduate Spring of 2019 with his bachelor’s degree. Dillon first started working in the A. Ray Olpin University Union his freshman year and has been a building manager ever since. After graduation, he aspires to work and live in Washington DC and get involved in politics.
He is currently in the Lead Building Manager position, (or Manager King as Dillon jokingly refers to it) a senior position that helps lead and coordinate all the other building managers. Developed in part with the help of Dillon himself, this new position came about with the growth of the Union and the opening of Gardner Commons.
What does the Union mean to you?
That’s a tough question man.. haha well it’s a sense of employment for me. It’s also a place of stability and has been one of the most consistent things for me here at the University of Utah. The Union has been extremely flexible and supportive in my academic pursuits. They even let me take time off for an internship in Washington DC and I still had a job when I got back. I’m very grateful for that opportunity. Yeah, I have learned a ton during my time here, how to problem solve, be a leader and work in a team. I have also had a lot of amazing mentors here that have helped me grow so much over the past 4 years.
What does community mean to you & how do you create it?
I guess community to me is a group of people in a place where you learn new things and evolve. As a building manager, I help create community here in this building and help facilitate events. By helping others set up to run their events, they get to create their own spaces for building community within our building. It’s pretty awesome! Also, I get to create community here with all the building managers, there are 14 of us, so we are our own little group. We have our own set of goals and a mission as well.
How has working in the Union shaped your college experience?
I don’t know it’s just taught me a ton of valuable skills early on and has given me a lot of experience for future endeavors. Working here has definitely allowed me to go to college, and has presented me with a lot of different opportunities. From helping run events, setting up T.V.’s, projectors, helping professors set up their audio and cv needs, many long weekends including high school proms, international nights, and the list goes on.I like to think of us building managers as the last line of defense, or the Jack of all trades kinda like the swiss army knife of the building. I get to be involved in a lot of cool things behind the scenes, such as scheduling, making sure events are properly covered, hiring and training of new managers, and many more responsibilities. Not too many people know this about building managers but we are the first and last people here every day to open and close the Union and Gardner Commons buildings every single day of the week.
Written by Jordan Passey