番茄社区

Her social calendar is always full. If she had a motto, it would be Orgs are Us. Her favorite lunch choice is the “American Original.”

No one on the LU campus is responsible for the maintenance of more bathrooms than Paula “Polly” McNeel. Fortunately, keeping 26 toilets tidy and stocked comes with some pretty nice perks, like close proximity to good grub.

Polly is the assistant director of scheduling, operations, & event services of the Setzer Student Center where she has worked for 19 years. She began in an administrative role in “the Set” and has worked her way into her current position.

Day to day, Polly manages the operations of the entire 90,000 sq. ft. building from maintenance, like making sure that trash is picked up and lounge chairs aren’t broken, to overseeing the events that are scheduled and take place at the building and surrounding outside spaces.

“It’s like the Taj Mahal; I just love the renovation and new building,” said Polly, a Bridge City High School graduate and native Southeast Texan. “I love the natural light and new amenities and all of the students coming through there. I really like the food court. Teriyaki chicken at Panda Express is my go to.”

Polly, as well as faculty, staff and students, contributed to the renovation plan. Students were surveyed for their input about food options, furniture preferences and space needs.

“We really involved the students and the Student Government Association and what they wanted. I provided usage reports and got to be in on meetings about furniture and helped survey the students. That was important because our student organizations are the heart of our building.”

The new Set has 25 meeting spaces up from eight to ten in the old Set. This provides ample spaces for student organizations and faculty and staff to hold meetings. There is a veranda with big rocking chairs, which is one of Polly’s favorite places, and space for large events, like Le Grand Bal, conferences with guest speakers, luncheon and dinner celebrations and the larger student events, are also hosted in the Set’s ballroom.

“The ballroom is always busy. It’s the same size as the former ballroom, but it can be divided in half and with the new technology, two meetings can be going on at the same time and neither hear the other. It’s really state-of-the-art and really, really nice.”

Building-wide, technology creates a place for the entire LU community to plug in, work, launch audio visual equipment, presentations and stay connected to what’s happening on campus.

“We have nice TVs all over the building that are scrolling with LU events and news. We have spaces where students can plug in. Faculty and staff have staff meetings here because of the accessibility and ease of our technology. It’s also inviting because of the natural lighting, which I love.”

Polly prides herself on maintaining all of these spaces and places but she likes them best when they are full. The second facet of her job is booking meetings and special events. Sometimes she gets as many as 35 requests.

“We try to accommodate everyone who submits a request and only turn them down if there is a conflict. It’s just fun to watch the students and how they get creative and what they think of to do – everything from bake sales to programs outside on the green spaces. We host Black History events, the Veterans events, Hispanic heritage and anything else the student orgs think of.”

Of course, Polly’s favorite LU Moment happened at an event but not an event at the Set. Polly and many staff members who worked during and after Tropical Storm Harvey to get the campus up and running were invited to President and Mrs. Evans’ home for dinner. Polly said she was a “nervous wreck,” but Mrs. Evans put her right at ease. The two talked, and Polly admired Mrs. Evans’ pencil plant. Before the end of the evening Polly had cuttings from the plant.

“She gave me a whole bag of cuttings from the plant, which I still have and always think of that night and the fact that we always have something we can give. I often asked myself, ‘What do I have that I can give back to the LU community, to my family, because you never know what someone is going through, you can always be kind and look at what you have to give. Cuttings from that plant really impacted me.”

Polly is really looking forward to filling the Set with students, hearing laughter and student chatter, helping organize spaces for meetings and being what she calls “behind the scenes making things happen,” but in the meantime, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Polly is working staggered shifts with co-workers and monitoring activities from home when not on campus.

She is also monitoring the pandemic. As a history buff who really enjoys reading historical autobiographies, Polly has been keeping a journal to create a living history about the pandemic.

“We’re making history. This isn’t like Imelda, Harvey and Rita. This impacts the world. It’s a global issue with no benchmarking on how we do this and much less what we do next; I’m documenting it as best I can. I’m keeping track of how I’m feeling and questioning my grandkids, especially the one who is 16. I want to know how this impacts them. It’s interesting. I’m also documenting how we are behaving as a human race. Everyone has a different perspective but as a whole how can we stick together? Even in our LU community, how do we stick together?”

Once the pandemic is over, Polly plans to take her 82-year-old mother, who she cannot currently visit, on a road trip to the Texas Hill Country and see her three grandchildren face-to-face. Until that time, she and her husband travel to Colmesneil, TX where they have a farm with cows and a house.

“It’s nice and quiet. I go up there and sit in my rocking chair and listen to the sounds of nature. I listen to the cricket orchestra and tell my husband, ‘don’t interrupt me.’”