If you frequent Linfield’s Health, Human Performance and Athletics (HHPA) building, you may be familiar with Shannon Dunn, who sits at the desk in the middle of the balcony upstairs. Between her desk being front and center and her bubbly personality, she’s hard to miss.
But while she is always willing to start up a conversation, most people who know her don’t really know her.
Dunn is a McMinnville native and has worked in the HHPA for three and a half years as an administrative assistant and in the International Programs Department (IPO) since 2015. Despite many years working at Linfield, she somehow still does not occupy an actual office. But Dunn, being the person she is, has never let it bother her and makes the most of it.
“I like being out in the open. It’s a little weird to just be perched out here on the balcony,” said Dunn. “But, I see a lot of people and I’d rather do that than be in an office with a door that’s always closed. It’s a forward-facing job, a student-facing job.”
Dunn’s bright personality welcomes anyone who makes the trek up the stairs to the offices.
“Her heart is truly one of the kindest,” said junior lacrosse player Gracie Pratt. “She makes you feel seen and valued and that is something really special.”
But how does someone come to work with such a bright smile every single day? What inspires a woman like Dunn to constantly give to those around her?
“Do good things for others,” said Dunn.
This small but mighty phrase was spoken by a small but mighty woman, Mother Teresa, who Dunn had the opportunity to shake hands with during her study abroad semester in her junior year at Notre Dame University in 1993.
But don’t be fooled. While Mother Teresa was a petite woman, her huge heart was not the only shocking thing about her.
“The weird thing was how big her hands and feet were because she was tiny, maybe 4-foot-10,” said Dunn. “I was mesmerized and knew that there had to be meaning in that. You carry all the kids, you walk all the miles and you do all the hard work. You have to have big hands and feet to do that.”
A love for travel planted in Dunn by her mother led her to join the study abroad program called Semester Around the World. She traveled with a group of 24 other undergraduates and a professor. They were mostly in India but also spent time in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand over the course of a couple of months.
It was in India that Dunn and her classmates had the opportunity to meet Mother Teresa while visiting an orphanage and hospital where critically disabled kids and adults were living out their lives with incredibly compassionate nuns taking care of them.
“The women told us we were going to pray a rosary with the sisters, so we lined up in this little hallway and these saloon-like doors opened up,” said Dunn. “This tiny woman came out and everyone started crying.”
Mother Teresa talked to Dunn and her classmates about doing good things for others after they graduated. Dunn credits this as to why many of them, including her, went into teaching or did other service projects.
Following her semester abroad, re-entry into life in the United States was difficult for Dunn. She grew up in McMinnville and graduated from McMinnville High School in 1991 before moving to Indiana to attend Notre Dame, where she majored in history. She graduated from Notre Dame in 1995 and then graduated with her master’s in teaching in 1997.
After receiving her master’s, Dunn moved back to Oregon, living in Portland for a few years before reconnecting with the man who became her husband, Casey Rich.
While they both grew up in McMinnville, they lost contact following their high school graduations. However, Dunn lived in Portland while Rich lived in Astoria, and their paths crossed once more at a chance meeting back in McMinnville at McMenamins.
Not long after reconnecting, both made the risky decision to quit their jobs and move back to McMinnville together. It worked out, as they both got jobs teaching, her at Duniway Middle School teaching history and English and him at Patton Middle School, where he still teaches English.
Soon after moving back, they had their two kids, Adeline Rich, now 19 and Griffin Rich, who is 15. Currently, Adeline studies biology at Chemeketa Community College and Griffin attends McMinnville High School.
While Dunn stopped teaching after having kids, she began substitute teaching and working part-time at a store downtown called La Bella Casa. Once she got tired of substituting and going somewhere new every day, she applied for the job at Linfield and she’s been here ever since.
“The thing that has been the most different for me is that I don’t mind going to work everyday,” Dunn said. “I mean, sure, I could have a pay raise, but I don’t take a lot of this home and I don’t stress out about it if I can’t get it done that day.”
Dunn sits with the best view in the HHPA and gets to talk to people and make others happy. She always remembers her meeting with Mother Teresa and how she made it very clear to do good things for others.
“Not only does she work so hard at her role in the HHPA, but she is involved in IPO and volunteers for a variety of events including the Young Life house at McMinnville High School,” said Richards. “She is such a light in people’s life, and I’m so grateful to have her as part of my support system at Linfield.”
Dunn was forever inspired by Mother Teresa and the advice she gave so many years ago. Whether she’s in a classroom, with her family or on the balcony of the HHPA, Dunn will always aim to walk in Mother Teresa’s big footsteps.
