Becoming Visible

The invisible people of Hunter College

By: Laney Morgan

Posted: 5/14/08

What happens to a dream deferred?

Ask Lamar Hanuman, who reads Langston Hughes poetry in the library on his breaks. But, who is Lamar Hanuman? You know him. I know him. Maybe not by name, but who could miss this giant of a man with his ready smile?

Lamar Hanuman is one of the 90 full-time civil service custodians at Hunter-one of the "invisible" housekeepers, without whom the college would most likely turn into more of a contaminant zone than a well-kept campus. Lamar is one of the many Hunter employees we know and don't know, see and don't see, all at the same time. From the cafeteria workers, to the laborers who move heavy furniture and tend the grounds, to the safety officers and office workers, many of them know us more than we know them. Let's meet a couple. Take a look into their lives, upbringings, daily routines and interrelationships.

As Lamar Hanuman pulls two huge carts of refuse from the North building to the first floor West loading dock, Thomas Montfort, his supervisor, watches and says, "Lamar is the only one who can do that job. He knows how to navigate the crowds. It's not what you do, but how you do it. We have hundreds, maybe thousands of students pouring out of classrooms and through the buildings every day, so safety has to be the priority." Montfort adds, "Sometimes a student will get angry if we stop them from walking onto a wet bathroom floor or from getting onto an elevator filled with garbage. But it's for their own safety."

A 28-year Hunter employee, Montfort describes some duties of the evening custodians: "It's garbage from the get-go, 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. It's brutal. The bathrooms alone have to be mopped and cleaned three times, [and] checked altogether five times on this shift."

"I enjoy supervising though," Montfort said. "It's how you speak to people. There are 30 different people on this shift, each with his or her own preferences."

While steaming the grout and tiles in the third floor bathrooms during spring break, housekeeper Millie Cancana expresses her preference that students "please not take out their frustrations by writing on the stalls or sticking chewing gum underneath classroom chairs." Yes, it happens! And it's housekeeping's job to remove it!

I watched Hanuman as he made a second trip with the two giant wheelbarrow-like carts to the third floor of the North building, where the North custodians have brought down 16 floors worth of detritus from the day. They load it into the carts-empty cartons, half-filled coffee cups and soda bottles, food remnants, wrappings, pizza boxes, and anything else thrown into the bins on each floor.

At one time, there were garbage chutes on each floor in the East and West buildings, and an underground conveyer belt that carried garbage from the East building to the West for disposal. "The garbage would get stuck and attract vermin, so the chutes were sealed," said Nate Sims, senior supervisor during the 1990s, and his West building coworker of 11 years, Eddie Rivera. Sims has worked for the city for 34 years, his first five years at Julia Richmond High School on 67 St. "I took a civil service exam for every promotion I got," said Sims, who is known for his natty appearance (check out the moss green suede boots!). Nate invited his friend and billiards partner, Mass Wilson, to take a city exam as well. Now, 15 years later, Mass can be seen (he's quite tall) moving around the campus with the laborers, working on the never-ending maintenance and moving jobs. During summers, however, Mass works on his fishing technique at his home in South Carolina.

Lamar Hanuman credits Hunter as a place where he has developed many interests. Not only reading poetry and studying computers in the library, but also supporting the Women against Violence project. According to Carmella Cartei, who teaches Women's Studies, "He's supported and publicized our project every year, donating equipment as well as selling tickets for the Vagina Monologues."

"I've seen abuse in my family," said Hanuman. "It had a terrible effect on me. I'd like to see more women take up martial arts so they can better protect themselves." A former professional boxer who trains at Brooklyn's famous Gleason's gym, Lamar wants to arrange an exhibition fight with Mike Tyson, who also trains at Gleason's, to benefit Women against Violence.

"We both go to Gleason's; we could film the fight at the gym and show it at Hunter to raise money and get publicity for the 'Woman' project."

Hanuman has already fought in charity tournaments at Gleason's for both breast cancer and muscular dystrophy.

Charity is not only on Hanuman's mind. Leslie Wise, the tall gentleman in the chef's toque who towers over the steam table in the 68th St. Bistro nine hours a day with only a half-hour break, takes a busman's holiday on Sundays.

"I've cooked meals for the homeless every Sunday for the last eight years at St. Margaret's Church in the Bronx," said Wise. "I love feeding [people], especially when they come back and say, 'Thanks, that was delicious.' And [I'll never] forget the Hunter wrestler who came back for eight chicken breasts [in] one day," Wise reminisced.

Leslie's smiling sidekick, sandwich-maker Sharman Hendricks, laughs at Leslie's remembrance. Hendricks displays daily the patience of a saint as she uncomplainingly caters to uniquely individual ideas of what makes a sandwich ("tuna with mustard and tomato, please") from noon to seven at night.

Customer service is not an easy job, but some people master its challenges. Cashier Debbie Johnson's contagious high spirits led one student on the cash line say, "She looks like she tries to have fun with the job. She jokes with us, makes us feel good." Debbie, a roller-blading grandma who loves plays and movies by Tyler Perry as well as urban fiction, enjoys Hunter's students. "I used to work at a nursing home. Here you see different people every day, different cultures. I'd like to see more smiles though. You want a 'Good morning, how are you?' A lot of people hand you the money but don't see your face. My best customer, though, was the long-tailed cat with whiskers who came through the line on Halloween!" We're sure the feline was very friendly.

PATRICIA DONOWSKI

Pat Donowski, who advises students in the Financial Aid Office, has come full circle. She began her career at Hunter in the same office, only 37 years ago. "I have learned so much at Hunter," says Donowski. "I've learned from every office I've worked in here. During the retrenchments of the 1970s under Mayor Beame, I covered for secretaries that were excessed, three months each in one year, for English, Business and Education. Then I moved to Urban Affairs, ICIT and Anthropology. In English I learned to love Chekhov, and the history of England. When I finally visited England, the Tower of London was familiar to me. Today I enjoy advising students about financial aid. Some students come in thinking loans are unlimited. I try to educate people that the money always has to be repaid, so budget, budget, budget!"

LISA COOPER

Lisa Cooper, mother of two school-aged children, rises at 5 a.m. each day to get to Hunter for the arrival of the 7:30 a.m. bacon and egg brigade. The doors of the Crossroads Café open at 7:30 a.m. and the early birds get the pancakes, French toast, or bacon and eggs. "The best part of this job is dealing with the public-the interaction with the students. They like to joke sometimes, and it lightens the day."

Working on the grill all day "can get a little intense," said Cooper, "especially if the vents break down. Then I just go in the back for a few minutes." Her calm demeanor and kindly expression belie her greatest strength-coolness under pressure, a quality that serves her well as shop steward for Local 100 of the Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union which represents the cafeteria staff at Hunter.

WINSTON EDWARDS

Winston Edwards, a 20-year veteran of food service, is a lunchtime landmark. He keeps his eyes on the burgers and three different kinds of fries, serving them hot, fresh and curly. A native of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, Winston learned to cook from his father.

"He was a chef on a cruise liner out of St. Thomas where we lived. He took me on trips to Europe and the Middle East with him, and I watched him work. I wanted to cook on ships too, but by the time I came of age, the company was looking for culinary school graduates. I came to the States then, and have worked throughout CUNY and at NYU."

Edwards loves to bake. "I can bake anything! I'm used to the heat here, it doesn't bother me. We get health benefits from the Union; and people are happy if their hours stay the same, not reduced."

Edwards relaxes watching the Jets, and has two daughters, one of whom is thinking of studying at Hunter; the other works at Goldman Sachs.

VINCENT SIMMONS

Vincent Simmons is the young man behind the salad bar in the 8th floor Faculty & Staff Dining Room- literally and figuratively! A graduate of New York Culinary School on 23rd Street, he specialized in baking. Here at Hunter he selects and prepares the salad bar.

"I try to give customers what they like," he said, and because the cafeteria has a regular clientele he can almost sense what someone will choose to eat.

I watched as he read the mind of a regular-"She'll probably have pork chops," he said, with dead-on accuracy. Simmons's presence at Hunter was a coincidence of fate. He arrived at Hunter on Sept. 11, 2001. He was supposed to have an interview at the World Trade Center's Windows on the World Restaurant at 8 o'clock that morning, but when he got there he was told to come back at 9:30 because the interviews were running late. He walked about four blocks away when, "I heard people yelling, and I asked what happened. I quickly realized I had to get away and started walking home uptown. When I passed Hunter College, I saw people milling around outside. Debbie Johnson, one of the cashiers at Hunter, was there and she said there was a job fair for cafeteria workers. That day I was hired. It's been seven years." Simmons is completing a degree in computer science at Fordham, where he also plays basketball, point guard.

"I'll get a Master's degree and I'll probably teach," said Simmons. "But, I'd also like to bake part-time."
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