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| SCOTT GULLEDGE |
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| Brandon Ethridge, a sophomore from Gilber, Ariz., is a recent addition to the 25-member Hart janitorial crew. |
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Strobe lights slowed the movement into frame-by-frame speed, freezing the dunker sprawled out in mid-air and the crowd rising to its feet in the Hart Main Gym.
Only hours later the gymnasium sat silent and empty with pop bottles and empty food containers bearing silent witness to the previous night’s glory. A different crowd walks onto the hardwood six days a week about this time of day.
The janitorial crew for the John W. Hart Building arrives at 4 a.m. to begin the daily chores of cleaning up and taking care of the campus’s main athletic facility. About 25 students scrub, sweep, dust, mop and restock the largest building on campus for three hours each day.
“The job’s not that bad except for Saturdays,” said Brandon Ethridge, a sophomore from Gilbert, Ariz., and a recent addition to the janitorial crew. He said he doesn’t have much trouble getting to work on time except on the last day of work for the week.
Matthew Skaggs, a junior from Flower Mound, Texas, has been working on the crew since 2003 and is now one of the students in charge of the clean-up operation. He said what some people would dread about this job is what makes it attractive to him.
“Its nice because you get [work] over with while everyone else is sleeping,” he said, which leaves his evenings free. Still, he has two alarms set to make sure he’s on time to lead his crew into battle against dust and empty toilet paper dispensers.
Working alone or in small teams, the crew tackles tasks in different areas of the building. For instance, Laura Nicholls, a freshman from Abingdon, England, cleans windows and entryways.
She said it can be frustrating when someone walks in with snow or dirt on their shoes over a freshly cleaned entry, but she does enjoy getting to see people come in.
Starting wage for these janitors is roughly $7 an hour. The job also includes occasional surprises, such as when Skaggs found two rented school cameras and numerous sets of scriptures, all of which were promptly returned appropriately.
The sun rises as the crew finishes their work for the day. As the day goes on, the gym fills, empties and refills again with thousands of different people. But each morning the janitorial crew will be sure to give the building a good scrub-down.
