Articles

Meet the Team: The DMC Generalist

By Madeleine Cerone

December 6, 2023

This month’s “Meet the Team” highlight is centered on Nickie Conlogue, who acts as the DMC Generalist. Nickie has been with the DMC since her Freshman fall semester as part of the programming team, and now she works almost entirely behind the scenes to make sure that the DMC runs smoothly. There are so many unseen logistical and communication factors that go into a working center and a loving community like we have here at the DMC. As Koboul’s right hand woman, Nickie is at the forefront of all these factors.

When describing her role as generalist, Nickie mentioned that a large part of her job is communicating to the ambassador team. Each week, she sends us ambassadors a list of updates so that we know what is expected of us in the coming days. In these emails she also includes what Koboul’s needs are, and how we can fulfill them. Occasionally, a cute and carefully chosen gif is added alongside this important information. When speaking with Nickie about the communication part of her role, she told me, “I love my role as a generalist because I get to work with the ambassadors as a whole group, not just in their separate teams.” Nickie enjoys bringing us together with informative emails and the thoughtful snacks that accompany her weekly meeting agenda.

However, the role of generalist is much more than communicating with the DMC ambassadors about Koboul’s updates and what snacks to order next. Nickie also acts as a huge resource for us ambassadors and Koboul on a number of important aspects of both the DMC and campus community. Koboul often refers the ambassadors and DMC cluster club leaders to Nickie when we have logistical questions about the DMC budget and schedule. Another big part of Nickie’s job is one-on-one weekly meetings with Koboul, and during these meetings Nickie often acts as a student perspective for our new director. She is an insight into on-campus happenings, history, and culture. When talking about this relationship with her, Nickie mentioned that she loves working closely with Koboul because, “she is also a new perspective to the campus, she is so experienced in her craft (DEI), and she has so much knowledge about new ideas and new pathways for the future.” She expressed appreciation for being able to be a part of those new ideas through her role as a generalist, as the two brainstorm how the DMC might look one, two, or even ten years down the line. At the same time, she is also able to rely on both Koboul and Dr. Bonike for professional and academic guidance and support.

Nickie is truly the glue that sticks our DMC team and our DMC community together, and this is the part that she loves the most about her role. She reflected on the fact that even the most minor parts of her job are rewarding to her because even through the smallest acts, like answering a pressing but simple question, or building the list for the next snack restock, she gets to help the DMC community she loves. “A lot of my fulfillment comes from the community members themselves, and the community itself,” Nickie said to me in our interview. Evidence of this fact is that she can almost always be spotted at the DMC, whether on shift or just simply at home.

We at the DMC are so grateful for you, Nickie! Thank you for all the hard work that you do.