The hundreds of students, faculty and staff Maureen McDermott influenced in 43 years at the University of Rhode Island were not just her career. They were her passion.
The “mom” of the Memorial Union, as her past students affectionately call her, leaves behind a legacy of passion, dedication and unwavering support toward more than 100 student-led organizations at URI.
“If you knew the Memorial Union, you knew who Maureen was,” said Juju Al-Amir, graduate assistant at the Office of Student Involvement. “She was just everywhere. You know how people say the union is URI’s living room? Well, this was her home.”
McDermott joined the University of Rhode Island in 1981 as a major events coordinator, most recently serving as the director of student involvement. She was a long-time volunteer with the National Association of Campus Activities, and had the Maureen McDermott and Michelle M. Delaney Staff Programmer Award named after her in November 2009 for her years of service to the organization.
Through everything McDermott did, she never seemed stressed, and worked with a constant smile on her face, according to Jacob Iacobucci ’23. As a former general manager of WRIU and current community DJ for URI’s student-run station, Iacobucci could not recall an event McDermott wasn’t involved with.
“She was kind of the glue that kept everything together,” Iacobucci said. “The way that I would describe Maureen is she’s your favorite person on campus’ favorite person… Maureen’s the person that was there making everything run smoothly. Every single event, no matter how small it was, she was there in some form.”
Everything McDermott did worked in the best interest of the students she cared so deeply about, according to Al-Amir. Her job never got in the way of students who needed her help.
“Even if she was always so busy, she always made time for us, always made time for students,” Al-Amir said. “If someone came to her door, she would say, ‘yep, come sit down.’ No matter how many meetings or work she had on her plate.”
For Andrew Bock , who took on the general manager role at WRIU, McDermott’s guidance played a pivotal role in dispelling the nerves that came with stepping into a leadership position for the first time. McDermott served as the faculty advisor to the station, along with several other student organizations.
“She was always there,” Bock said. “She was great. She was always welcoming and her leadership style resonated with me a lot because it was always to guide rather than tell. And I really appreciate that because it gave me an opportunity as a general manager to grow, but also have support that I needed in order to grow.”
McDermott’s constant willingness to provide mentorship to her students left an impact that will venture far beyond their time at URI, according to Sabrina Chamberlain ’17. Chamberlain’s time working with McDermott as a digital marketing strategist, director of communications at the URI student senate, contributor for the Good Five Cent Cigar and founder of URI Events inspired her to start her own digital marketing business after graduation.
From providing her with her first camera to offering her a position at the Union to continue her involvement, McDermott placed an immediate trust in Chamberlain that she said shaped her life forever.
“It was incredible to see how she cared about the students almost as if they were [her] kids,” Chamberlain said. “She was just like the Union’s mom. Honestly, when I talk about Maureen, I always say the Union is the heart of campus. And Maureen was the heart of the Union. So if you think about it, Maureen was the heart of campus.”
Of the hundreds of e vents McDermott involved herself in, her favorite was the annual A. Robert Rainville Leadership Awards, according to Michael J. Nolfe, coordinator of student involvement.
The annual awards ceremony highlights student involvement throughout the year, and gave McDermott an opportunity to see the students she so dearly cared about be recognized for their accomplishments, Nolfe said. To her, seeing students succeed gave her the most fulfillment and joy.
“She cared passionately for students,” said Ellen Reynolds, vice president of student affairs. “Nobody does this work for 43 and a half years who doesn’t care about students. It’s amazing to me when people heard the news, how many of our former students reached out.”
McDermott spent nearly two decades working with both Reyonlds and Nolfe. In that time, they struggled to find a time where she was ever in bad spirits.
“I always was like telling Maureen…‘if you retire on a Monday, I’m going to retire on a Tuesday, because I don’t want anybody else ever to be my supervisor,’ because that’s how close I was to her,” Nolfe said. “That’s how much I respected and loved her.”
Even when she wasn’t at URI, M cDermott cared about students on a personal level.
“I remember like a couple weeks before I started my first semester, I had to get a surgery done,” Al-Amir said. “Every single day she was checking [in], texting me. She sent flowers to my home. I didn’t even know she knew where I lived… that’s how I knew she was just different from everyone else.”
Lauren Peckham, who serves as the student senate’s speaker of the assembly, also found solace in McDermott’s mentorship.
“She was a beacon of kindness, wisdom and unwavering support,” Peckham said in a written statement to the Cigar. “Maureen had this extraordinary ability to make everyone she encounters feel valued and understood, no matter the situation. She believed in the potential of every student she worked with, seeing strengths we didn’t yet see in ourselves.”
McDermott’s lasting influence and legacy at the university will live on for years to come. From the students she mentored to the staff she worked with along the way, the URI community has expressed eternal gratitude toward McDermott’s positive footprint on campus.
“She really cared about URI,” Nolfe said. “She just loved URI. And URI loved her.”