From the first footstep on the University of Dayton campus, it’s clear there’s something special about this place. That’s by design. 

Every detail is intentionally crafted by dedicated staff members working to make this campus beautiful, functional and welcoming.

It’s in the crisp, manicured lawns and freshly mulched flowerbeds. It’s in the power-washed red brick sidewalks and the fresh coat of paint on the neighborhood houses. Every inch of this nearly 400-acre campus tells a story of extraordinary care. 

Yet the most vital part of that story is the one that rarely gets captured in recruitment brochures or marketing photos. It’s very human.

A crew member guides the steady hum of a floor buffer echoing down empty hallways. A member of the grounds team has their hands in the cold, dew-soaked grass, trimming bed lines with precision before the sun clears the shaded canopy of the trees. A mechanical technician wipes his brow deep in the boiler room’s 90-degree heat. An IT operator’s face lights up with the glow of IT server racks as she works into the night, making sure the day goes off without a hitch.

They work in the dead of night. They work in the beating sun of the afternoon. They work in the freezing rain of November and the harsh humidity of July. 

This is the invisible, indelible work of UD — the physical, relentless and deeply dedicated behind-the-scenes labor that keeps the University running and makes this place feel like home.

Teresa Terrell

Groundskeeper
44 years

“My day consists of weed eating, pulling them out of flower beds, redoing beds, a lot of mowing, planting flowers and taking care of all the areas around the classrooms like St. Joe’s, St. Mary’s and the chapel. I love working with perennials — hydrangeas and peonies are my favorites. I love being outside. It’s the only job I know where I don’t have to sell anything to anybody! They let me do my thing, and we really do a lot to keep this campus beautiful.”

Gaynor Payne
Residential properties maintenance technician
35 years

“[I fix] anything to do with houses or dorms that need repair — sinks, I work on toilets and faucets. Just about anything in the house. It’s a whole lot different than it was when I first started here (in 1991), we had to do it all — roofs, you name it. But now a lot of stuff is done by contractors. But we have a good time. From 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., this is where I’m at. [I love] being around my co-workers. And the students, they treat me like royalty.”

Denise Dobberstein
Postal operations manager
50 years

“[I love] interacting with students; they’re always so nice and patient with us. We start to get all the bigger packages in before the fall semester. I got three futons delivered yesterday! I wish everyone understood it’s all a manual process. There’s nothing electronic, no sorting machines that do it for us. A human has to actually touch your package off the truck, take it over, print out a label, put the label on — it is very time-consuming. Everyone asks, ‘How can you do that day in and day out?’ I just do, and I still enjoy it.”