New faces in Residence Life

Oct. 7, 2004
By Jesse Virgil
Staff Writer

For some St. Ambrose students, a hall director is someone who hands out punishment. Those students don’t the time to get to know their hall director and realize punishment is not what they are all about.

“I stress on building a community, rather than being a strict dictator,” Rohlman Hall director, Rob Trembinski, said.

Over the summer, the Residence Life department sought to fill three vacant hall director positions. The departure of former directors, Marlena Huston and Ryan Casey, left a void in Davis and Rohlman Halls. The addition of New Hall also created another senior staff position.

To fill the void in Rohlman, Ambrose hired Trembinski. He graduated from Lake Superior State University (LSSU) with a bachelor’s degree in business administration marketing. Trembinski hails from Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario, Canada and is an avid follower of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Notre Dame football. While at LSSU, Trembinski always strived to participate in campus activities.

“I was an RA for a two years and hall director for two years,” Trembinski said. “I served on Student Government and Student Activities, which is basically like CAB.”

Jil Gates received the position of Davis Hall director. Raised in Antioch, Ill., Gates always excelled in sports and school. She graduated last May from Eastern Illinois University with a degree in elementary education with a middle school option and a concentration in math. In her free time, Gates enjoys volleyball, caving, and adding to her impressive amount of Care Bears memorabilia.

“I got almost all of my Care Bears stuff as presents from family and friends,” Gates said. “I don’t think I’ve ever bought anything for myself.”

While at Eastern Illinois, Gates strived to create and strengthen organizations on campus. She
created the Women’s Club Volleyball team and served on both the University Board Concert Committee and Habitat for Humanity.

Kelley Christman is the first hall director for New Hall. A graduate from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in social science education, Christman is very excited to serve on the St. Ambrose Residence Life team after her previous hall director position went sour.

“We weren’t allowed to bring things out in the open that needed to be talked about,” Christman said. “I was just very miserable.”

Originally from Davenport, Christman enjoys being home so she can see her friends and family. In her free time she enjoys running and going to her brothers football games.

Even though Trembinski, Gates and Christman are new, they believe everyone on campus has done a great job of opening up and letting them into the St. Ambrose community.

“I’ve really enjoyed meeting the people on campus,” Gates said. “They have been the best experience so far.”

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