Dear Orange Friends:
Last week many members of the Syracuse University faculty and staff came to the University’s Chancellor House on Comstock. This is part of a series of ongoing receptions for 100 folks at a time from across all parts of the campus—custodians, faculty members, IT staff, food service workers, admissions counselors, and enrollment staff, just to name a few. We spend two hours together talking, seeing the house, and talking informally about the University to which so many have donated years. Most of the staff have never been in the house, and it feels good to have them at home.
One of the staff members I met at the Friday event was Fred German, a very busy University plumber who was feeling a bit under the weather. He told me about our campus plumbing challenges, and then I asked him what he likes about the place. His answer: playing the piano on the main stage of Hendricks Chapel every weekday at lunch time, so as to make the place welcoming for students, faculty, and staff who need a respite.
Fred pointed me to a Newhouse student project that portrays his story as a pianist/plumber, as well as an array of other amazing Central New York stories . Our faculty and staff, like everyone else at the University, have many dimensions, and that’s why it is a good place.
Chancellor Kent Syverud