PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 22, No. , Sept. 19, 2002

As assistant director of Illinois Connection, Tammi O’Neill coordinates activities for University of Illinois President James J. Stukel and the program’s ambassadors, who promote goodwill between the university, and Illinois communities and state legislators. O’Neill holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Governors State University and a master’s degree in human resources from the UI’s Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations. An actress and singer, O’Neill judges beauty pageants on the Miss America circuit and has appeared in more than 30 local theater productions, including most recently the Champaign-Urbana Theater Company's production of "Crazy for You."

How long have you been at the university?
I came here first in 1994, and I took a job at the Personnel Services Office and worked there until May of 1995. Then my husband and I moved away. We returned to the area in February 1997, and I took a job at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. I was there through March 2001, and I took the job at Illinois Connection in April that year.

What is the purpose of Illinois Connection?
Basically our two main focuses are advocacy and outreach. As far as advocacy, in the spring when the governor announces his budget, we begin our push to ask the legislators for support of our budget. The program was established primarily by Dr. Stukel because the legislators said they wanted to hear from people who didn’t have a vested interest in the university’s budget.

We like to get the ambassadors involved with our three campuses. We have them do campus visits so when they talk to the legislators they can say: "I’ve been there. Have you seen this or this? This is what our money’s doing."

The main part of outreach is taking President Stukel to communities throughout Illinois. He’s gone about 200,000 miles on these visits. Sometimes he’ll be a guest of a service organization and speak there. Other times he might visit the Extension offices, or a community college president, or do a radio show or meet with the media.

Who are the majority of the ambassadors?
We have a group of about 325 ambassadors who are volunteers for the university. The only requirement to be an ambassador is that you must live in the state of Illinois.

Some are alumni, some are not. Some might be parents of students. We’ve had people who have just graduated all the way up to people who are retired. Our ambassadors recruit other ambassadors for us. We don’t really actively go out and look for people.

The ambassadors will also keep us informed by sending us articles about the university from their local newspapers.

How long have you been involved in theater?
My mom was a music major, so she got me started performing very young. When I was 5, I had my first solo at church. My first theater role was when I was 7. I was Gretel in "The Sound of Music."

At the Virginia Theater I have done "Meet Me in St. Louis" and "Camelot." I’ve done many productions in the Danville area, including "Guys and Dolls," "Into the Woods" and "Showboat."

Tell me about your work with the Champaign-Urbana Theater Company.
My husband is one of the founding members. We both love the stage. He has done many of their set designs and lighting designs for the 11 years they’ve been in existence. I’m trying to get him in front of the stage though. We also have a 2-year-old daughter, and she loves the stage too.

How did you get involved in judging the beauty pageants?
When I was in college, I participated in the Miss America pageant system. That’s a lot of fun. It teaches you a lot about yourself and good interviewing skills. And you get to do a lot of community events and meet a lot of interesting people.

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On the job: Tammi O'Neill

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor
(217) 244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu