Penn State Brandywine welcomes new assistant director of student activities

MEDIA, Pa. — Bridget O’Donnell was recently named the new assistant director of student activities at Penn State Brandywine. She brings impressive experience in student affairs and residence life programming to the campus.

O’Donnell discovered her passion for working with students as a resident assistant (RA) during her undergraduate career at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her bachelor of arts in Spanish and anthropology.

“While I was an RA, my hall director, who was a graduate student, said, ‘Hey, you would be great at going into student affairs and residence life,’” said O’Donnell. “I replied, ‘Wait, I can do this forever?’ I got so much out of college because of student affairs professionals, so I wanted to share the wealth and pass that along to other students.”

O’Donnell went on to earn her master of education in higher education administration from Kent State University. She also completed a graduate internship in residence life, career services and international student services at the American University in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria.

Prior to joining the Brandywine staff, O’Donnell served as residence director at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, residence hall director at State University of New York at Oswego, and student activities manager at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York.

“I’ve worked with international students and diversity programs throughout many of my residence life experiences,” she said. “In my field, I get to work with diverse communities while helping students learn, grow and develop.”

When she saw the job posting for an assistant director of student activities at Brandywine, O’Donnell knew that the position was for her.

“I’ve always wanted to live near Philadelphia, but I’m also not much of a city girl — I was raised in the Poconos — so Brandywine was the perfect location,” she said. “My experiences in other institutes aligned well with what Brandywine needed. When I came to the interview, the student affairs department acted right away like I was part of the family.”

O’Donnell looks forward to meeting students, encouraging their efforts as campus leaders and serving them through fun, meaningful programming opportunities.

“There is so much room here for students to take ownership of their campus experience,” she said. “As the person responsible for activities and events, I want to make sure that all students, whether they are here for one year or four, have that chance to engage with Brandywine.”

O’Donnell can be reached by phone at 610-892-1317 or by email at [email protected]

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