Elizabeth O'Hara

Assistant Professor, Assumption College

The deal is for three years. So they're building a new park in Kelly Square and they're going to redo Kelly Square. And they wanted 21 founding partners. They’re opening in 2021 they wanted 21 founding partners. So Polar Soda was one of the big ones. Polar Park, they paid like, I don't know how many millions of dollars to be named Polar Park. Country Bank is a big one. Atlas Distributing, Wormtown Brewery.  Larry Lucchino only wanted one college. So Jack and I put together a whole presentation about if we get a sponsorship, we're going to get signage in the park, which everyone gets. Right? But we came up with this idea, let's put a classroom in the park. So my students will have an opportunity to actually learn at the park. Right? So the Red Sox said, “Well, the whole park will be your classroom.” So we'll have access to the whole park. So if the kids want to shoot a film, they have the opportunity to go use their media room or we're starting a nursing program so the nurses can go do some practicums down with the players and take care of the players and train them. We're doing a physician's assistant program, so the physician's assistants can go, criminology, right? Kids who want to be police and security, you can go down and do it at Polar Park. So it's not just sport, right? It's way beyond. 

Abstract: 

Elizabeth O’Hara is an Assistant Professor at Assumption College, a Catholic college located in Worcester, MA. Professor O’Hara comes from an Irish and Italian background and she is married to John F. O’Hara. During the interview, she explains the connections she made while working at Madison Square Garden that eventually helped to put her in a position to implement a collaboration with Assumption and the Worcester Red Sox program benefitting students from Assumption College and the community of Worcester. She also shares her firsthand experience of the 9/11 tragedy in New York City. She has a passion for helping her students and for the city of Worcester. 

Interview
Interview Date: 
March 15, 2019