By Brianna Wallen
News Editor
For nearly three decades, Patrick Dilger has been a cornerstone of the campus community serving as the director of integrated communications and marketing. He is now retiring and leaves behind a legacy of commitment and connection.
“I actually feel very proud, and I feel privileged actually to have worked here,” Dilger said.
Dilger was most often recognized by students and faculty seeing his name at the top of their inbox. Dilger’s informative emails kept the community connected and informed.
“The emails I send to you that have my name on it: I want you to look at it because I think it’s important, and I also think that if you have any questions, you will respond to me,” Dilger said.
To the campus community, Dilger was more than a man behind the messages. He was a leader and communicator who guided students and staff.
Through his work, Dilger built trust, provided reassurance and ensured that every member of the community felt informed and supported.
“Sometimes, you’re just doing your job, and you don’t actually realize that you’ve made an impact on somebody,” Dilger said. “If I in my time here have helped someone to understand something a bit better, or to know that something is happening that you really should be aware of or just stay out of harm’s way, then that’s good.”
Whether it was responding to questions about incidents, clarifying phishing emails, or sharing details about upcoming events, Dilger’s consistent presence in each student’s inbox served as a constant reminder that someone was looking out for the community.
“Part of my job is I’m the communicator. So, why can’t I help you?” Dilger said. “If I have helped people in some way, then that’s the best thing that I can carry away from here.”
Dilger’s dedication to building connections through personal communication rather than automated emails helped to foster a sense of openness and trust across campus.
Before his role at the university, Dilger was the general reporter and assistant editor of Franklin County News, general assignment reporter of Gannett Westchester Newspapers and higher education reporter of New Haven Register.
With a background in reporting, Dilger is a professional in dissecting information and delivering clear messages.
“It’s sort of a natural career shift because I found that all the skills that I had developed as a reporter — you know, being able to write concisely, being able to write clearly, being able to do it on deadline really quickly and getting those ideas turned around so that people can understand it,” Dilger said. “That’s all transferable from my time as a reporter.”
Of all the messages he delivered during almost 29 years at the university, Dilger said the most challenging came during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The thing with COVID was that there was so much information that we had to get out, not just to the community, but we had to do reports to the state and all this kind of thing,” Dilger said.
Dilger said that with the absence of a traditional 9-5 workday, he was working around the clock.
“I was working a lot at 10 and 11 o’clock at night, and there was so much to write,” Dilger said. “I was in Zoom meetings or Teams meetings all the time, and they soak up your time and your energy.”
Dilger carried the weight of delivering all messages, the big and the small updates.
Dilger said that some of the most difficult moments of his career occurred when his professional responsibilities collided with his personal life.
“Not long after my daughter passed, I had to deal with a student dying here, and I found that very, very tough, but I still had to write about it, and it’s my job,” Dilger said.
Through those hard moments, Dilger said he found strength in the support of the campus community.
“I had communities here who kind of lifted me up, and I found that work was kind of a welcome distraction, and so I poured myself into it, and if anything, I’d say I’ve become a more positive person since then,” Dilger said.
Since then, Dilger included the phrase “#liveyourlife” in his emails to motivate and inspire others. Dilger said he hopes the impact he made on the community will continue even after his retirement.
“That’s what I believe, you know? Don’t waste today because my daughter only got to 21, but she had a big, full life,” Dilger said. “Work hard, go for your ambitions, enjoy your family.”
While the emails from Dilger are now coming to an end, the impact of his service will continue to resonate across campus, even after his final “send.”
