Post by Bornthrilla on Oct 24, 2006 13:05:18 GMT -5
Article published Oct 24, 2006
Rowe: Janitor’s a savior at A&T
By Jeri Rowe
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO — Sylvester Davis keeps the medallion pinned to his bedroom wall, near a television where he always watches one of his favorites: professional wrestling.
After a turnbuckle-rattling body slam, he knows he can look over and see his gold medal. It makes him smile every time, just seeing it on the wall, held up by two green thumbtacks, a silver dollar-size medal right below "Guardian Angel," a print of a praying little girl.
"Yes, Lord, that is my pride and joy," said Davis on Monday, flashing a wide grin. "I can get up every morning and thank God I have something like this here.''
Davis works as a janitor inside McNair Hall, home for the College of Engineering at N.C. A&T, and in the past eight months, he's prevented a crime and saved a life.
Last week, he received the State Employees' Award for Excellence. Next month, he'll be honored as A&T's Employee of the Year. It's all for what the 51-year-old did — and does — in a job that earns him $10 an hour.
"There's something so special about him,'' said Sanjiv Sarin, associate dean for A&T's College of Engineering. "Most other cultures, if it's not my job, it's like, 'Let me look the other way.' He's not like that. He wants to make a difference. It's that serious courage in which you can look someone in the eyes or see someone slouched, and you go over and say, 'Is there any way I can help you?''
That happened one late Friday afternoon in April. Davis was taking out the trash when he saw a student trying to climb out of a second-floor window at Cherry Hall, the building beside McNair.
Davis took off. When he got to the classroom, he found the student shaking uncontrollably. Davis pulled him from the window and asked, "Are you all right? You're having a seizure.''
Davis calmed him down by draping a washcloth on the student's forehead and asking another student to sit with him. Then, Davis ran out and called an ambulance.
The student, who was taken to the hospital, turned out to be fine. He hadn't taken his medication. But after that episode, every time he saw Davis on campus, he'd hug him, shake his hand and say, "You know, you saved my life.''
Davis' other work-related adventure happened about 11 p.m. on a Thursday in March. At that hour, McNair is always quiet and a bit spooky, especially when small sounds make big echoes down its empty hallways.
That's when Davis saw the man in Room 419.
The man was sitting behind a computer, all fidgety as he talked on his cell phone and typed at a keyboard. Davis spotted something silver at the man's feet. He thought it was a gun.
"Hey, how you doing?'' Davis said as he passed by.
He felt the man's eyes staring into his back. Davis had never seen the man before, and he knew something didn't feel right. So, he had a security guard call campus police. Minutes later, the man was led out in handcuffs.
Those two events helped Davis snag his recent awards. But it's the little things Sarin and others remember. Such as helping students find misplaced laptops. Or using coat hangers to help employees get into their locked cars. Or giving a purse, with $1,800 inside, back to the woman who lost it.
"You're lucky," he told the woman. "If it was anyone else, you might not have gotten it.''
Last week, on a day he'll never forget, Davis wore polished loafers and his favorite four-button suit when he received his medal during a ceremony at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. While there, he thought about the elderly woman he knew only as Ms. Murphy. She called him "Buster.''
Davis took care of her yard and called her every night to see if she was OK. He also told her about A&T, about applying for a job and waiting for that phone call. Always, whenever he talked about it, Ms. Murphy told him: "Buster, be patient. They'll call you.'' Ms. Murphy died before Davis snagged his janitor job five years ago. But she was right. That call came. So did many other things.
"I know she sees me from heaven,'' Davis said of Ms. Murphy, "and I know she's smiling.''
Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jrowe@news-record.com.
Rowe: Janitor’s a savior at A&T
By Jeri Rowe
Staff Writer
GREENSBORO — Sylvester Davis keeps the medallion pinned to his bedroom wall, near a television where he always watches one of his favorites: professional wrestling.
After a turnbuckle-rattling body slam, he knows he can look over and see his gold medal. It makes him smile every time, just seeing it on the wall, held up by two green thumbtacks, a silver dollar-size medal right below "Guardian Angel," a print of a praying little girl.
"Yes, Lord, that is my pride and joy," said Davis on Monday, flashing a wide grin. "I can get up every morning and thank God I have something like this here.''
Davis works as a janitor inside McNair Hall, home for the College of Engineering at N.C. A&T, and in the past eight months, he's prevented a crime and saved a life.
Last week, he received the State Employees' Award for Excellence. Next month, he'll be honored as A&T's Employee of the Year. It's all for what the 51-year-old did — and does — in a job that earns him $10 an hour.
"There's something so special about him,'' said Sanjiv Sarin, associate dean for A&T's College of Engineering. "Most other cultures, if it's not my job, it's like, 'Let me look the other way.' He's not like that. He wants to make a difference. It's that serious courage in which you can look someone in the eyes or see someone slouched, and you go over and say, 'Is there any way I can help you?''
That happened one late Friday afternoon in April. Davis was taking out the trash when he saw a student trying to climb out of a second-floor window at Cherry Hall, the building beside McNair.
Davis took off. When he got to the classroom, he found the student shaking uncontrollably. Davis pulled him from the window and asked, "Are you all right? You're having a seizure.''
Davis calmed him down by draping a washcloth on the student's forehead and asking another student to sit with him. Then, Davis ran out and called an ambulance.
The student, who was taken to the hospital, turned out to be fine. He hadn't taken his medication. But after that episode, every time he saw Davis on campus, he'd hug him, shake his hand and say, "You know, you saved my life.''
Davis' other work-related adventure happened about 11 p.m. on a Thursday in March. At that hour, McNair is always quiet and a bit spooky, especially when small sounds make big echoes down its empty hallways.
That's when Davis saw the man in Room 419.
The man was sitting behind a computer, all fidgety as he talked on his cell phone and typed at a keyboard. Davis spotted something silver at the man's feet. He thought it was a gun.
"Hey, how you doing?'' Davis said as he passed by.
He felt the man's eyes staring into his back. Davis had never seen the man before, and he knew something didn't feel right. So, he had a security guard call campus police. Minutes later, the man was led out in handcuffs.
Those two events helped Davis snag his recent awards. But it's the little things Sarin and others remember. Such as helping students find misplaced laptops. Or using coat hangers to help employees get into their locked cars. Or giving a purse, with $1,800 inside, back to the woman who lost it.
"You're lucky," he told the woman. "If it was anyone else, you might not have gotten it.''
Last week, on a day he'll never forget, Davis wore polished loafers and his favorite four-button suit when he received his medal during a ceremony at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. While there, he thought about the elderly woman he knew only as Ms. Murphy. She called him "Buster.''
Davis took care of her yard and called her every night to see if she was OK. He also told her about A&T, about applying for a job and waiting for that phone call. Always, whenever he talked about it, Ms. Murphy told him: "Buster, be patient. They'll call you.'' Ms. Murphy died before Davis snagged his janitor job five years ago. But she was right. That call came. So did many other things.
"I know she sees me from heaven,'' Davis said of Ms. Murphy, "and I know she's smiling.''
Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jrowe@news-record.com.
