Of several innate human tendencies, it seems as if none is more outwardly prevalent than the willingness to complain about anything. At Brandeis, you’ll hear complaints daily about the food and the furniture. You’ll hear for the hundredth time about the broken radiator in your friend’s room, when you frankly couldn’t care less, because yours won’t stop blasting 110-degree air. At a time like this, when four feet of snow covers the ground, that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Much worse of a situation would be trying to wade to the oft-complained about dining halls through immense amounts of snow. Thankfully, that problem remains in a hypothetical realm because of our excellent snow response team.
During the first snowstorm crisis, some students decided to hole themselves up in their residence halls while others cleaned out the C-Store. You could’ve sworn it was the end of times, due to the sight of the masses of people fleeing a quickly shuttered Usdan. While students went into panic mode, the university stayed calm and urged patience while snow removal crews worked tirelessly to restore our campus. While the teams worked, we played in the snow like children—and some of us even skied. Over the course of two days, that storm dumped around two feet of snow on the ground, sometimes dropping more than teams could remove. Still, they were out and operational overnight and during the day, so that we the students could enjoy the amenities of the university.
Another snowstorm soon followed. Again, classes were cancelled and non-essential areas were shuttered. Mixed in with the hysterical cheers in the dining halls a sort of watered down panic ensued and students decided to hole up again. Unfettered by the seemingly never-ending snowfall, crews went back to work clearing paths, roads and walkways so that university life could continue. In that time, facilities workers and Sodexo employees continued to do their duties in the rough conditions, sometimes having to take temporary residence in areas on campus, including student residence halls.
Snowstorm after snowstorm came and went, and snow crews cleared campus with the same devotion, never faltering. Again and again, campus was shuttered and students retreated to Sherman or their rooms, while essential campus workers remained unflustered with the seemingly never ending string of complaint-worthy snowstorms. It seemed as if every Sunday night there was an eruption of cheers in Sherman at the news of another Monday class cancellation. Sodexo continued to keep food options available, facilities continued to keep campus buildings in order, and the snow removal team continued to make it possible for us to actually leave our residence halls and get back to a somewhat normal schedule.
When February break came around, so did another snowstorm. This time, many students had gone home and the university warned that snow removal might actually be slower, due to the less urgent situation since classes were not in session. Despite the warning and the seemingly abandoned nature of the campus, the snow removal teams continued to work as if it was the first snowstorm. There was no relaxation of efforts nor were there extremely hazardous conditions around campus. Despite the fact that there was no urgent reason to clear the campus at top speeds, it was done anyway.
My point here is that Brandeis hires extremely competent and devoted people to make sure campus runs smoothly, in the event of a snowstorm or otherwise. Sometimes, sadly, they don’t get the recognition they deserve, and that’s sometimes compounded with the fact that these people are relatively unknown to the students. In writing this opinion piece, I wish to express my gratitude and the gratitude of my peers to the devoted members of Sodexo, facilities and the snow removal team for their work during the snowstorms and all year round. Perhaps it would do good for the university to organize a sort of meet-and-greet with these less-known workers, like it did with our devoted police officers over at Public Safety. It might help bridge the gap between them and students that prevents them from getting all of the recognition they deserve.
