UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #530
O'BRIEN, DAVID

O’BRIEN, David (1977- )
Undergraduate Student
At UW: 1995-

Interviewed: 1999		
Series: Chadbourne Residential College
Length: 1 hour, 31 minutes 
Interviewer: Barry Teicher
Series: Chad
Background; Involvement in Barnard and Chadbourne Hall Association (BACH); Life in Chadbourne Hall; Origins of Chadbourne Residential College (CRC); Listening Sessions; CRC Steering Committee; University Housing and CRC; Wisconsin Welcome Week; Community Board Elections; Origins and goals of Mission Groups; Changes in CRC for the second year; Role of Bill Cronon; Academic Advising at CRC; Personal Academic Goals; Final evaluation of CRC.

First Interview Session (August 11, 1999): Tapes 1-2

Tape 1/Side 1
		
00:00:00	DO talks about growing up in Fitchburg, WI and attending high school in Verona.  He had early interests in theater and music.  He thought about attending a small private school but attended the UW instead.  DO discusses how he ended up living in Chadbourne Hall.

00:02:44	DO explains how, in 1995, he became involved with the Barnard and Chadbourne Hall Association (BACH).  He describes services associated with membership.  The first year that men were allowed to live in Chadbourne was 1995.  Three executive positions with the Hall Association had been left open for men and DO became interested in one of these jobs.  DO talks about the concerns some had about men living in Chadbourne.  Some male residents experienced animosity at first but this ended after a few weeks.

00:05:45	DO describes his involvement in BACH during his first year at the University.  He became a co-programmer after applying for an executive position.

00:06:59	In April of 1996 DO talked with Residence Life Coordinator Sarah Schutt about possible changes in the BACH program and Chadbourne Hall.  She told him about possible plans to make Chadbourne an Honors Dorm and about a request for student residents to serve on an organizational committee.  DO became a committee member at the end of April.

00:09:00	DO discusses the first committee meeting and his first encounter with Bill Cronon.  He recalls the composition of the committee and his preliminary impressions of the meeting and the new organizational plan put forward by Cronon.  At first, DO did not like the proposed changes, but he decided to attend more meetings. The school year 1995-96 ended with the program's future uncertain.

00:13:22	DO talks about the start of the fall 1996 semester.  DO tried to incorporate some aspects of the new proposal into welcome week and orientation activities.  The changes met with mixed results.  DO remained luke-warm on the idea of the new Chadbourne Residential College (CRC) and he discussed his concerns with Cronon.

00:17:02	Cronon responded by initiating the Listening Sessions.  DO describes the results of the sessions and how he and others became committed to CRC.  DO and the CRC committee learned the importance of communication regarding the CRC program.

00:21:50	DO outlines the development of the CRC steering committee, which began in the spring of 1996.  Out of this committee other committees developed including the Wisconsin Welcome Committee, which DO co-chaired.  He talks about his involvement on the Welcome Committee and the Governance Committee.  DO explains the philosophy and organization of the CRC government as well as the origins and function of the Community Forum.

00:27:50	DO discusses the difficulties in creating a new organization, one that differed from BACH.  Members of the Governance Committee included both students and University employees.  DO talks about the CRC chain of command and how ideas were presented.

00:30:53	End of side.

Tape 1/Side 2

00:31:28	Cronon was involved with the Steering Committee but not the Governance Committee.  Other important Steering Committee personalities included: Jackie Hitchon from the School of Journalism, Marian Laines from University Housing and Mercile Lee from the Chancellor’s Office.

00:33:01	DO outlines the final CRC preparations in the Spring of 1997.  DO describes the selection-election process for filling board positions.  CRC was scheduled to begin in the Fall of 1997.

00:36:26	DO describes the role of University Housing in the development process.

00:37:34	Informational and promotional work for CRC began in the Spring of 1997 and continued over the summer.  These efforts included outreach sessions, a web page and mailings such as the “A Place to Call Home” pamphlet.  DO speculates on why residents chose to live in Chadbourne Hall.

00:42:09	DO explains the concept of the Hall Association and the changes made in CRC.  He confesses to renewed apprehension about the program but explains how the excitement of others, especially the Badger Buddies, alleviated many of his fears.  He relates some of the successful events during Welcome Week.  The enthusiasm and participation of the residents surprised and encouraged him.

00:47:56	DO describes the Community Board elections of fall 1997.  He was disappointed that the elections became a popularity contest and that all of the winners were white males.  DO describes the resentment and alienation many residents felt because of these results.  A meeting of the Community Board convened to discuss this issue.  DO explains that the Mission Groups were created to insure that various aspects of the CRC mission would be accomplished.  The five Mission Groups included Faculty-Staff Involvement, Diversity, Coffeehouse, Community Service and Community Outreach.

00:56:17	DO characterizes the results of the Mission Groups as mixed.  Community Service, Community Outreach, Coffeehouse and Faculty-Staff involvement were very successful.  Unclear goals hindered the effectiveness of the Diversity and Community Outreach groups. Upon reflection, DO realized that the Community Outreach group did not exist the first year.  He was not involved in any of the Mission Groups.

00:58:24	DO talks about his thoughts as the first full year of CRC wound down.  The election process was slightly altered for the next year and the changes produced a more representative Board.

01:02:30	End of side. End of tape.

Tape 2/Side 1

01:02:31	DO continues his discussion of the election process.  During the second year, he served as advisor to the Diversity Mission Group.  He outlines some of the Diversity Group’s activities and describes the membership and functioning of the group.  He estimates that minorities composed ten to fifteen percent of CRC residents.

01:06:46	DO talks about the end of the second year evaluations.  He states that the biggest question became “Is a Community Board even needed?”  Some students felt that the Community Board members dominated the CRC.  In addition, the overall role of the Board was unclear.  The decision was made to eliminate the Board for the next year.  DO talks about the new Program Advisor position and the new leadership structure of the CRC, including Mission Groups and Community Forum.

01:12:46	DO predicts that the new changes, including the addition of an Academics Mission group, will be successful.  He backtracks to talk about the organization and functioning of Community Forum meetings.

01:16:51	DO talks about the first year staff.  He recalls the various functions of support staff positions, House Fellows and members of the Community Board.

01:21:43	DO describes the role of Cronon as Faculty Director.  Cronon’s presence was important in bringing faculty and visiting speakers into the program.  DO talks about academic advising.  Mercedes Ramirez Fernandez was a part-time advisor during the first year of CRC and became full time in the second year.  He mentions special CRC courses and describes his experience as a course assistant.  Some courses were discussion sections of large lectures and others were small seminars.

01:26:39	DO talks about his own academic interests and plans while describing how his experiences in CRC changed his original goals.  In the upcoming year DO will be the Program Advisor.  He outlined his duties as Program Advisor then summarizes his experiences in CRC.

01:31:18	End of side.  End of tape.
END