She is an entertainment industry connoisseur. A compassionate, hardworking leader. An expert concoctor of delicious baked goods. A past intern for “The World’s Most Famous Arena”, Madison Square Garden. Arguably one of the biggest fans of all things Elton John— especially when he is endearingly photographed playing bumper cars. When it comes to Delia Noone, a senior marketing major at The College of New Jersey, giving anything less than 115% to her passions is not an option.
Whatever Noone sets her mind to be, she will undoubtedly be the best at it— and will do everything in her power to uplift those around her as she climbs gracefully to the top. Her current endeavor? Absolutely owning the high-profile role of finance director for TCNJ’s College Union Board (CUB), one of the most generously funded and widely recognized organizations on campus.
CUB is TCNJ’s 100% student-run event planning organization that is 100% dedicated to entertaining the student body. Known for bringing iconic celebrity speakers and critically acclaimed musical acts to campus, putting on exciting themed events in the student center, and providing opportunities for off-campus travel trips, this organization works day and night to keep TCNJ fun.
So, to recap: not only does Delia Noone serve as the backbone for the production of TCNJ’s most iconic events, but does so in a role that breaks barriers within the traditionally male-dominated finance field… all without breaking a sweat. Have I mentioned that she’s the best yet?
Here, I had the honor and privilege of discussing Noone’s journey as a CUB member, her most admirable contributions to our campus, and her hopes for what future leadership will look like at The College. To know her is to love her, and to love her is to admire her kindness, diligent work ethic, and utmost humility. Her Campus, meet the one and only: Delia Noone.
BELLA: When did you get involved in CUB, and what made you want to get involved in the first place?
DELIA: I joined CUB my freshman year, during the fall semester. I started on the general board, and moved up to the associate board that same semester. When I was a freshman, my brother was a senior at TCNJ, so he knew all about CUB. He was friends with some people in it, so he told me to go to their table during the involvement fair and to stop by an intro session. I’ve always been interested in the entertainment industry and working in entertainment, so he was like, “It’s right up your alley, I think you would really like it.”
I went to an intro session and have never missed a meeting since!
What are your favorite things about being CUB’s finance director?
There’s a lot of things that I love about the role. This year, I feel like I’ve gotten more insight into all of the boards than I ever had before. And I feel like I know a lot more about the individual programming each board does, because when I was on a specific board, I was kind of honed in on that role. I used to not really know the specifics of what was going on with everything else.
So, I like being able to work really in depth with each board, hearing out what their event ideas are for the semester, and then being able to implement those and reflect that in the budget to give them what they need to make the best events that they can.
I think my favorite part is being a resource to everyone. This is my third year of executive board experience, so I feel like I’ve gathered quite a bit of CUB knowledge throughout the years. I really love when people from my old boards will ask me questions about things that I did in the past. For example, if someone from STUD is like, “Do you remember if you did a contract for this vendor?”, or if someone on LIVE asks, “Do you remember how much this artist costs to book? Have you talked to this artist’s agent?”
I love when people come to me with questions about my previous experience on the board. I’m just like, “Give me all your questions!” I’m happy to help, so I think that’s my favorite part.
Describe what makes this position enriching, or inversely, what could make it difficult at times.
I think it’s definitely both enriching and difficult day to day. Any position that I’m in to help and be a part of the organization, I’ve always found to be super enriching.
CUB is one of the biggest organizations on campus. We reach a lot of the student body, and we put on some of the most beloved events at TCNJ. So seeing the entire campus community enjoying something that you’ve spent months working on, and to represent an organization that you’re a part of, it’s so beautiful. It’s so humbling and fulfilling. I would say that’s the most enriching thing, because what we do takes a lot of work and a lot of time, and it’s not always the most fun when you’re dealing with negotiating with vendors or doing contracts or trying to get things approved quickly.
It’s not easy, and it’s incredibly hard work. But when you see events come to fruition, it’s just the most fulfilling thing.
Last year when you were on LIVE Board, you brought Cody Ko and Noel Miller to TCNJ virtually through Zoom. This event was nominated for the best virtual program for the Office of Student Involvement’s 2021 Student Organization Awards, and rightfully so! Can you talk a bit about that experience?
Yes! With that event I had a blast, because I’m such a huge fan of them both. It was so amazing to book them and work with them directly. But [receiving this award] reminded me that what we do is important to students. It’s not like CUB events just happen for a few hours, are over, and are never talked about as if nothing happened. Our events really have a lasting impact.
So when my event was nominated, I was like, wow, people actually liked it! Since we were virtual all last year, we were not expecting anybody to go to anything. Because, like… realistically, who wants to sit on a Zoom and watch a comedy set? But I think with the Cody Ko and Noel Miller event, we ended up reaching almost what the capacity of Kendall Hall would be. Even virtually, it went really well.
You and Wanda are the first all female director duo that CUB has seen in a while. Especially considering the success that you two have had so far this year, and the overall impact that you both have on the student body, it feels a bit crazy that an all-female pair of CUB directors is seen as a feat in the year 2021. How does that feel?
Thank you for saying that! But, I mean, it feels like it’s about time. It feels a bit overdue, to be honest.
Wanda is the first female director that I have seen in my four years on CUB’s executive board. When we were elected to the position, our previous director, Jimmy, actually told us that he couldn’t remember the last time there were two women in both of these roles.
Like you were saying, I think that it shouldn’t be such a rarity, and it’s kind of a shame that it is such a feat. But because that is the society that we live in, I’m glad that Wanda and I have now kind of broken that barrier. As for Wanda, I can’t think of a better person to be the first female director we’ve had in a long time.
I’m very humbled to be part of this female duo that is— like I said— breaking the barrier of what the “normal” director duo would be. I’m just glad that we, as an organization, are always moving in the right direction.
I’m also really glad that our executive board is a board that had no questions about whether or not we could effectively run this organization, because after all, we were elected by this executive board. So I am honestly humbled by the fact that they are like, “Yeah, you’re capable.” There’s no question there. I’m definitely surrounded by the right people.
Have you been faced with any hardships as a woman leading one of TCNJ’s largest student organizations?
As finance director, I work closely with a bunch of different organizations and offices beyond just CUB’s executive board. This involves a lot of meetings and conversations, and I have definitely felt underestimated at times, or had things explained to me in a really simple way when it doesn’t necessarily need to be.
There’s just sort of nuance in certain conversations: things that I pick up on that I’m like, “Would you have said that to a male finance director?” And honestly, I can’t say. I try to take it all with a grain of salt, other than hoping that it is not intentional.
I would like to think that TCNJ’s organizations elect leaders that feel like a woman is capable of doing whatever job she was elected into. It can be subtle, and definitely difficult to pinpoint. I’ve never had someone be like, “You’re a woman, so you’re incapable.” But there certainly have been times where I’ve been sitting in a meeting, and I don’t know if I’m being taken 100% seriously, or I have been questioned and then double-questioned about things I’m capable of doing. So, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows.
But I know myself; I’m very confident in my abilities and haven’t questioned whether or not I’m capable of my job. Like I was saying before, our executive board elected us for a reason. I’ve never been questioned by our own executive board or made to feel like I didn’t know what I was doing by them. So that’s what I try to use as a reminder whenever I do face other challenges.
Like you said, you’d like to believe that TCNJ is a place where student leaders wouldn’t be sexist, but sometimes these attitudes are socially conditioned. A lot of people are used to seeing men in leadership positions, so they just think that men are the default and women need a little more assurance to be at the “male base level”.
I would hope that having Wanda and I as an all-female director duo will help future female leaders feel supported and seen, because now it is more of a norm to see women in high level positions.
Also, after being virtual for so long, we came back in person this year and half of the student body didn’t know who we were… because they’d never seen a CUB event in person! So, I think the fact that we’ve reintroduced ourselves as an organization to campus with two female directors is the best way to reintroduce ourselves.
What are you most excited to see for CUB in the future?
Well, I’m excited for everything! We obviously missed out on a lot of favorite events while we were online. So I’m excited for things like Funival and Spring concert hopefully coming back in the spring. Fingers crossed!
But yeah, I mean, Funival is my favorite event of the year— and it’s kind of crazy to think that I’ve only been to one because of COVID. But it’s definitely been one of the highlights of my college experience, even though it was literally Spring of my freshman year.
I have a lot of fond memories of Funival 2019, since it was my first day on CUB’s executive board. We walked in, and the board at the time was like, “Welcome to CUB!” We also had a rainbow. It rained, and everyone was like, “Noooo, it’s raining!” And then it stopped after like, 10 minutes. And there was a beautiful rainbow. I was like, “Oh my God, this is so poetic.”
Tell me a little bit about Funival.
It’s definitely TCNJ’s biggest event of the year and brings together so many different groups in the student body. I think some of our events obviously cater towards certain demographics or types of students, but Funival seems to be the one that attracts the widest audience.
Funival 2021 won’t be until the end of the Spring semester. Because it is such a big event, there’s so much to do already, but I’m just excited that it’s going to happen… and I get to be a part of it! As finance director, I am kind of removed from most of the event planning, which is something that I definitely miss about being an event coordinator.
Sometimes being finance director can be like, “Oh, I miss having my own event and something to sort of have ownership over.” But having Funival as something to work towards, I’m sure it’s gonna be one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in CUB.
What do you hope to see for the future of this organization?
I think one thing that I definitely would like to see in the future is for the board to get more diverse. I think the boards, both past and present, have looked very similar to each other. And there’s always room for more diversity in any organization. But I think, you know, with CUB comes a responsibility to cater towards the entire student body, not just a specific demographic.
The best way to do that is to have representation from all different types of students. So I think there’s a lot of work to be done there with how accessible we make the organization to different students, whether it be sex, gender, sexuality, race, major— anything.
I think when you have a lot of really similar people on an executive board, it’s easy to cater to just that type of person. And I don’t think that that is fair to the rest of the student body that doesn’t see themselves represented.
That’s something that Wanda and I have made a priority for this year and have had conversations about so many times throughout the semester so far, and one of our biggest goals is figuring out how we can restructure CUB to set a precedent for future boards. I think that’s what I would hope to see the most looking back on come after I’m gone.
Just making sure that the organization stays or becomes even more accessible to different types of students, and affords opportunities for more people to get involved in different ways. Ultimately, I hope to see the executive board be more representative of the students that go to TCNJ.
As the finance director for one of TCNJ’s largest recognized student organizations, you have a lot of responsibility toward not just your board, but toward the entire student body.
How do you manage this responsibility, and how do you take time for yourself and make time for yourself and everything else you do at TCNJ?
Being finance director is definitely a lot of responsibility, and can be kind of daunting at times, especially when I first stepped into the role. I definitely had a moment of, “Oh god. What did I get myself into?”
But I think the fact that I have had so many years of experience— before getting to this point and before having this much responsibility— has helped me. Because I started out on the general board, moved up to our associate board, and gradually got more involved in the organization, it wasn’t as big of a leap to be in a director role.
I think with having a lot of responsibility, it’s easy to let that power go to your head at times. And I, from the get go, never wanted that to be the case. So from the second I was elected, I just felt very humbled and very lucky to be placed in this role. And because it was something that I had worked towards for so long, I don’t take the responsibility lightly or for granted.
I guess I would also say, in terms of balancing CUB responsibilities with the rest of my college career, it’s easy to get caught up in everything seeming like the end of the world. To help this, I have tried to make it a point to sort of compartmentalize and set boundaries: “This is my CUB brain. This is my academic brain. This is my social brain.”
So if I’m sitting doing the budget for four hours— as I was doing last night— being like, “Actually, I think it’s time to step away from this because I’ve been doing this for so long.” Understanding that this doesn’t mean it won’t get done, and it doesn’t mean that it won’t be good, but sometimes you just need to take a break!
I’ve tried to make it so that I don’t get totally consumed by the details. But honestly, I just feel so lucky to be trusted with the responsibility of being a leader in CUB that I’ll do whatever it takes.