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The Rice Thresher
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by Mark Berenson thresher editorial staff
McDonough had been the Sid coordinator for the past two and a half years and served as the Mathematics Department coordinator from 1983 to 1998. At 2:30 p.m. today, there will be a campus-wide moment of silence in memory of McDonough. It will be followed by a 3 p.m. memorial service in the Sid Commons. Sid Masters Steve and Laura Cox hosted an open house Sunday night for students to come and share memories of McDonough. About 100 students came. Funeral services for McDonough were held Wednesday. Several dozen Sid students and many staff members attended the service. Former Sid President Laura Rees said McDonough was a selfless person who was important to both the college as a whole and its individual members. "Sharon was the heart of Sid," Rees, a senior, said. "She was my friend, my confidante and my surrogate mother." The Coxes remembered McDonough as a dedicated person who loved her job. "Because she loved it here was part of the reason we took the Sid mastership," Steve Cox, a computational and applied mathematics professor, said. The Coxes first met McDonough in 1989, when Steve Cox began teaching at Rice. The Coxes became close personal friends with McDonough and said they enjoyed working with her at Sid. "Sid really had three masters," Steve Cox said. "We consulted each other in everything we did. She trained us to be masters." Former Sid Master John Bennett, now a professor at the University of Colorado, said McDonough's service to Sid enhanced the college environment. "Sharon was a wonderful person, perfectly suited for the job. She was incredibly enthusiastic and she exulted unqualified affection for everyone in the college," Bennett, who left Rice and the Sid mastership last year, said. "She was a significant part of why Penny and I enjoyed being masters at Sid." Sid freshman Laura Laughlin, who worked in the Sid office, said McDonough was able to help students, no matter what was needed. "If somebody needed a ride to the airport and couldn't get there, she would take them," Laughlin said. "She was always taking people there, or driving somebody to a doctor's office." Many Sid students remembered how McDonough would regularly attend Sid activities outside of her job, whether it was attending college night or just hanging out with groups of students in one of the floor lounges. Sid junior Alexa Plunkett recounted a story about McDonough's dedication to the college. "I went to the minority flight discussion [two weeks ago], and she was sitting there with Laura Cox, right in front," Plunkett said. "And I was so surprised, but then again, I wasn't surprised at all, because I thought, 'That's Sharon.' "She cared about this because it was not only a university-wide issue but also a Sid issue. She cared so much about Sid that she would take her lunch break [to] go and see how she can help make things better and more comfortable for all students," Plunkett said. Rees said McDonough's desk - which was always covered with stacks of paper - was proof of the many ways she helped students. "I think she kept her piles of paper around her because she wanted to store up all the information she could to share with us," Rees said. "She would rather spend her time talking to a student than organizing her office." Laughlin said McDonough had a personal impact on her. "She was beyond just being my supervisor, she was a really good friend," Laughlin said. "Whether it was questions about what kind of courses I should take or even my personal life, she was always there and had good advice to give." Rees said that McDonough was vital to her success as Sid's president. "She was a priceless resource," Rees said. "Sharon shared every college secret with me, and I shared all my college news with her. This year was particularly difficult on Sid, and Sharon was always in control and ready to help us with anything." Mathematics Department Chair Robin Forman, who was a close friend of McDonough, remembered her as an advocate of students. "She was not the type of person who got angry very easily, but the one or two times I ever saw her express any anger was when she thought that faculty were giving students the short end," Forman, who has been at Rice since 1987, said. "Her heart always belonged to the students." Forman said McDonough left the Mathematics Department to spend more time with students and was thrilled to get the coordinator position at Sid. "She was one of those people who understood people easily and always was very accepting," he said. "She was generally very optimistic and what she liked about students ... was that students were similarly optimistic about the world in the way that she was." McDonough's predecessor at Sid, Joan Whitney, left in 1998 after more than decade as the Sid coordinator. "Sharon seamlessly took over where Joan had left off," Rees said. "It was as though she had been made for the job. There was no problem that Sharon could not handle, and all students felt comfortable asking for a helping hand." Sid President Anisha Patel said Sid is planning to do something to honor McDonough, possibly at the upcoming Associates' Night, but nothing has been determined yet. Former Will Rice College Coordinator Barbara "Babs" Willis has returned from retirement to fill the position until a new coordinator can be found. McDonough is survived by her husband, Steve, her three children and their families, and two sisters. The Rice Counseling Center in Lovett Hall is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and also operates a phone counseling service that can be reached 24 hours a day at (713) 348-4867. In addition, College Assistance Peer Program members are available at each college for counseling.
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