Deacon Olinger jumps in at semester to serve as Hall Director for Villa Maria
By Kyle Cape-Lindelin
In the wake of Tommy Stoffel leaving his perch as the Hall Director of Villa Maria to pursue a career as a police officer, Deacon Gerry Olinger has stepped up to be the new boss over the men of Villa.
While some would assume that having a new man in charge would mean change overall for the dorm, Olinger intends to do quite the opposite.
"Since I'm new, I'm just learning as I go and learning the specifics of the job," he said. "Residence Life and all the other Hall Directors are doing a great job helping me around."
Despite not knowing what to expect when he originally saw Villa being renovated over the summer, Olinger quickly noticed how welcoming his new dorm is, along with all of Villa's energy and traditions. One of those traditions he took on himself to be in charge of is the annual Man Auction. With Olinger in charge, the auction was a success raising $20,000 for charity.
Olinger intends to "keep up all the Villa traditions and energetic feel, but also build new traditions" with the help of the residents. One new tradition that was recently started with Olinger in charge is Viking Night. With the help of the Commons workers, a huge table is set up monthly just for Villa residents to eat and drink their feast with no napkins, cups or silverware.
Residents of Villa Maria are becoming more close to Olinger as their new hall director as well.
"He's really nice and always looking to help you out with anything from stress to unlocking your door and not charging you a fine which a lot of Hall Directors would do," freshman Kevin Loera said.
Olinger originally came to UP as the assistant Hall Director of Villa Maria, while also serving as the assistant director for Faith Formation and directing the Confirmation program. The Confirmation program allows adults to complete the sacrament of initiation into the Catholic Church.
Before coming to UP, Olinger went to University of Notre Dame as an undergraduate where he also worked as a RA. After graduation in 2001, he moved onto law school at Notre Dame where he earned a law degree.
Olinger also served another five years at the seminary school at Notre Dame, the Congregation of Holy Cross, where he finished this past year and became a deacon. The role of a deacon in the Catholic Church is to assist the bishops with teaching and administering certain church tasks such as distributing food.
Olinger embraces his new title as well as responsibilities as he and the rest of the Villa Maria head into a new semester that already has had some changes.
