Upkeeping with the Custodians
Photos and Writing by Cody Cottier
The 131 custodians of WSU clean, sanitize and ensure the safety of the buildings students, staff and faculty use each day, but they rarely receive recognition for it. Their “clients” are often inconsiderate, throwing trash on the floor or neglecting to flush toilets. Some offenses are worse. “We clean up everything you can imagine, and some things you don’t want to imagine” says custodial lead John Dawson.
But despite common misconceptions, most custodians take pride in a job that is more complex than people imagine. Many, like Dawson, even have college degrees. After running two successful businesses, he took up his cleaning supplies for the benefits. But he has found joy and accomplishment as a custodian. “It’s good honest work,” he says.
Jim Nielsen, a WSU custodian of 20 years, vacuums the floor of Ferdinand's Ice Cream Shoppe. He has swept, mopped and scrubbed the same building since he began, and greets everyone there by name.
Nielsen fills a mop bucket before cleaning in the Food Quality Building.
Custodians swap out their dust mops a couple times a week, but Nielsen has used the same frame as long as he has worked at WSU.
Nielsen, left, and John Dawson, a custodial lead, clean near the entrance to Ferdinand's.
Dawson scrubs a toilet. "How do you take pride in a toilet?" he says. "It’s just like any job. If you do it well, people are going to appreciate it.”
Dawson wipes the mirror in a Food Quality Building bathroom. Rather than work steadily in one area, Dawson helps wherever needed. “I have a different challenge every day,” he says.
Nielsen wraps the vacuum cord after cleaning in Ferdinand's. "All my people are really good," he says. "I try to keep their area clean, and they try not to make a mess."
Nielsen mops in the Western Wheat Quality Lab. He gets to eat the baked goods they test there, from cookies to sponge cake.
Two decades in the Food Quality Building have endeared Nielsen to the staff who work there. His picture hangs with numerous others in the Western Wheat Quality Lab.
Sue Lewis mops the floor of a lab in Fulmer Hall. Many bear years of chemical stains, and no amount of scrubbing can make the floors appear clean. “Fighting a losing battle,” Lewis says.