The groundskeepers at Moravian work overtime. Well, maybe not literally, but it sure seems like it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I were told they do. 

My biggest praise is their ability to work in the unbearable heat that I can barely walk in for a few minutes, while the groundskeepers work for hours in these conditions while holding and operating heavy equipment. The temperature was in the high nineties, and they still were working their tails off. 

No matter what day I walk on campus, the sidewalks are spotless, and I always hear the distant rumble of a leaf blower in the distance. 

I honestly never realized how much work went into maintaining a campus, especially one as beautiful as ours, until I watched those people work for a few minutes. The grounds are always well-tended and beautiful, not even including the floral arrangements across campus. I’m not sure if Facilities also tends to these floral displays, but they are a beautiful sight for book-weary and tired eyes. 

In addition to being some of the hardest workers, the groundskeepers are beyond friendly. I often walk by the leaf-blowers when I’m on my way to my one class in the Seminary building, and they always turn off their machinery and allow me to pass through on the sidewalk, an unasked but much-appreciated task. 

Last semester, I noticed that the sidewalks were always salted and free of ice. I never once slipped here, and that is a better track record than I have for my own house.  The snow was always shoveled, and my shoes never got wet. Every time I looked out a window, I saw a Facilities worker trying to make the campus better for the students around them. For people who do so much on campus, the groundskeepers don’t get nearly enough recognition or thanks, so be sure to say hello to them when you walk by. 

One last note, I’ve had the same maintenance staff cleaning my suite since last year, and let me just say: Helen is amazing. She is so sweet and always makes sure our areas are spotless, so on behalf of all of the HILL: thank you for everything you do behind the scenes, Helen! 

On top of that, the custodial staff are absolutely incredible. One of our editors, Joel Hendricks, already wrote a praise of the week on the custodial staff, but you can never give too much praise. The custodial team is just on another level. They have to wake up and work at ungodly hours of the day to clean some of the most disgusting messes you will ever see. 

I don’t understand why it’s so hard for students to have fundamental common decency in dorms, because it’s always the poor custodians cleaning up their disasters. Some of you who say, “Well it’s their job to clean,” don’t fully understand the state some of these bathrooms are left in. Last year, I was praying for Monday to come so that the custodians could finally clean the bathroom after the hoard of slobs on my floor mucked up the bathroom to the point where it was completely unusable.

The custodians were a godsend last year, but every time I saw that bathroom cleaned, I felt a bittersweet sense of guilt because of the way that students take the staff for granted. Beyond all of that, the custodians do all this while being the kindest people I’ve ever met. I realize they probably are instructed to not get in the way of students while they are getting ready in the morning, but the fact that they are so kind and gracious as to drop everything they are doing to let us do our business is worth commending.

Finally, how the facilities staff handle work orders is just astounding. These people are like wizards with how quickly they get these things done. I’ll put in a work order, and these actual beasts of human beings will get them done within one weekday, even for more complex tasks such as replacing parts of air conditioners. I frankly don’t know how they are able to do all this so quickly when they probably get a million work orders a day.

The facilities department is undoubtedly the glue that holds this campus together and are the unsung heroes of Moravian. They are criminally underappreciated and deserve all the praise in the world. Next time you see a custodian or groundskeeper, please send some love their way.