Service workers on campus work just as hard as students holed up in nooks and crannies of Rush Rhees, and deserve just as much recognition from our community. They clean our halls and suites, cook and serve our food, shovel our snow and fix our showers.
And yet, in the blur of a modern college student’s day, those same workers often end up pushed to the periphery.
The Students’ Association (SA) Government has admirably taken up trying to shine a light on these often-overlooked workers.
Its UR Stars in Service campaign seeks to celebrate the contributions made by campus workers, allowing students to nominate and recognize the service workers that have touched their lives—in Dining, Facilities and Services, and Parking and Transportation—for the UR A Star Award, to be given out annually.
And efforts have been made outside SA, too.
This past Friday’s event featured a screening of the student film “Behind The Apron,” which illustrates the connection many service workers feel to the students they interact with on a daily basis, as well as the gaps that can form in such a relationship.
More efforts like these by students would be a welcome way to embrace this underappreciated campus community. And even something as simple as managing a smile on your way through the checkout line could go a long way.