Remembering the on-campus heroes

In the previous issue of The Leader, we paid tribute to teachers, who during these unprecedented times, put a lot of extra effort to make sure students are still receiving a quality education at Elmhurst University. While they do play a large part in the success of the university this term, we must also remember and be appreciative of other staff and faculty who may have gone unnoticed in keeping things afloat this term.

While professors and educators have the option of teaching remotely — which most of them do — many workers have no choice but to be on-campus to work, further increasing their potential exposure to the virus.

Cafeteria workers and dining services staff are still very much needed for students still living on campus. While also maintaining their original responsibilities, dining services also had to get creative in the execution of feeding students by providing more options for prepackaged food and delivering meals to students in quarantine.

Facilities management has also been hard at work doing their best to keep campus safe and clean for those who are on campus. They also had to be innovative in their approaches in installing and utilizing new technologies.

 On top of that, they also had to increase their workload in order to better accommodate the need for increased sanitation in dorms and classrooms.

Another remaining presence on campus is the public safety officers and staff. The issues they deal with did not stop when COVID-19 began, hence they still follow the protocols to keep the campus safe.

Besides these groups, there are other staff members that are going on-campus to do their jobs, most likely because it is a job that cannot be done remotely. If we did not mention you specifically, we nonetheless appreciate you too.

Before the pandemic, it was normal to get your food served by a dining service during a busy lunch hour. It was common to pass by a facilities management team member cleaning up in a residence hall without thinking much of it.

In today’s world, these seemingly small tasks and jobs mean a whole lot. Any job that takes one away from home and into a situation where they can potentially be exposed to the virus deserves extra recognition and appreciation.

These people are making sacrifices in serving the campus community. Even if you yourself are not currently on campus, this is something that you can still appreciate for the sake of the university as a whole. 

So, to all the essential workers on campus, thank you for all that you have done this fall term and will continue to do next year. Your work will no longer go unnoticed.