So after a long absence I'm back with a new post. I hope that everyone's having a good summer so far. A long time ago I posted an interview with Miranda Soucie and promised others. Well here I am making good on my promise. Meet Conor O'Brien, incoming Vice President of the SHN, who was kind enough to answer my questions.
Q: Where are you from?A: I'm from Brecksville, Ohio, but I consider Chicago home. I went to undergrad in the city and lived on the North Side for several years while working in the western suburbs.
Q: What year (in law school) are you?A: Since finals are over, I have the distinct privilege of being a 2L (second year law student).
Q: What did you do in New Orleans last December?A: Last Winter break in New Orleans I did physical labor with the Lower 9th Ward Community Village. We gutted damaged homes, removed debris, re-roofed the local community center and built a temporary kitchen structure to serve meals to members of the community still living in the Lower 9th Ward.
Q: What do you anticipate will be your biggest challenge as Vice President of Illinois Chapter of the Student Hurricane Network?A: Funding. We were one of the largest groups of law students to help with SHN [in New Orleans] over the past year and the largest ever from the College of Law, but this was a banner year in terms of grants from the university and fund raising. We will need a great fund raising effort and some more help from the university to reach the Executive Board's goal of 2 trips to New Orleans.
Q: What prompted you to run for Vice President of SHN?
A: I decided to run for VP because I have a background in fundraising and logistics from my previous career in marketing and finance. Given this background, I figured I could help to make this year's SHN trip the most successful yet. I had a great experience on last year's trip and really wanted to be a part of the team that helps organize such an important effort. It's amazing how much work there is to be done for this area almost 3 years following the storm and the breach of the levees.
Q: How did you first hear about SHN at the College of Law and what interested you in participating?A: I actually heard about the Student Hurricane Network the summer before I came to Champaign from one of my friends who attends law school at the University of Iowa . It sounded like a very worthwhile cause and I was excited to find that University of Illinois had a Student Hurricane Network Chapter where I could participate.
The Jesuit priests have a deep commitment to social justice and human rights activities. I have had a great experience with the Jesuits throughout my education and wanted to maintain some of their ideals even though U of I is a secular institution. My experiences while enrolled in St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, OH and Loyola University of Chicago really established the importance of promoting the welfare of others.
For the past several months, the federal building on Poydras Street has seen a steady stream of New Orleans police officers trudge in and out, all of them testifying before grand jurors gathering evidence of possible civil rights violations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina -- allegations that center on police misbehavior.
