TIMOTHY GREEN
January 2nd, 2017
I went to the pit in search of Tim. I had been scheduling with him the last couple of days for a decent interview time. I had been mentioning to him since the middle of first semester of my project. He had said since then that he would be willing to sit down and chat and share what years of employment at the University of Rochester had done for him. After much searching and inquiring I had finally found Tim on the fourth floor of Wilson commons reclining in a comfy chair, gazing out at gridded glass windows. I apologized for my lateness and quickly settled into the Wilco fourth floor view and into what he had to share with me.
One of the first things Timothy shared with me was that he been working for the University for 15 years, since January 10, 2001. His first job was working for a nonprofit organization and he hoped to keep his first job working for the University as well, but he expressed that the University had a way of being an all-encompassing factor in his life. Timothy explained to me that working for the UR for a decade and a half entailed witnessing five job contracts, bidding for jobs, and shuffling between various dining locations on campus called reordering. Yet despite all those transitions and alterations Tim boasted, “You can just about count the days I’ve missed,” He laughed, “I don’t miss no days.”
The University of Rochester held a consistent presence in Tim’s life. He grew up on South Avenue and attended Monroe High school. Growing up and living right across from Mount Hope cemetery meant that the roar from the University football games was always within ear shot. He reminisced the University held less students and the overall campus vibe was more relaxed in comparison with the high populated and pulsing dynamic I was familiar with. Tim described the school as being more of an open space for the public — the “hang out spot.” He recalled, “It was more open to the community as far as coming to activities like a dance or a concert…” It was where both students and community members would collaborate musically and celebrate together. According to Tim, the University gym used to be open to the public youth, and sometimes they would play with the University basketball team. If a youth performed well enough he/she was sometimes placed in the coach’s future considerations. Today, however, it seems the university has taken a more insulated approach in its relationship to the greater Rochester area and community. Overall, Tim has adjusted to change well saying, “It’s cleaner, it seems calmer, which means I come to work and do my thing and you can come get your education and do your thing.”
The information Tim gave me about the University’s past and it’s — dare I say laid back — relationship with the community made me curious as to what Rochester used be like. Was it as dangerous as most people think it is now? I asked Tim how he would describe the Rochester of his lifetime and he replied, “Safe.” Tim distinctly remembers that he was 29 years old when he first saw a gun, and he could proudly say that he never seen any of his childhood friends die from homicide. This surprised me, as most of the news I had heard about Rochester was the fear and caution needed when walking alone at night in the 19th Ward or even across the bridge. Tim was sure to inform me that it was true that some parts of Rochester have worsened in crime over the years, but it is not as bad as other well-known cities and most importantly it was not widespread.
As I continued to talk with Tim, his hope and faith in the University and its influence was unmistakable — specifically his hope in Joe Seligman. He boomed, “I’m put my money on him — on Big Joe.” Although his interactions with Seligman have been brief, Timothy was not shy in his praise of Seligman’s work as president. Timothy mentioned that one of the prominent changes he noticed at the University was the rise of diversity within the student population. “You know, I believe he’s the one. He’s the one. Donald Trump may not be the one, but he’s the one...” he chuckles, “You can see it, every year the freshman body is growing and growing, so he’s [Seligman] determined and with that there is an increase in minorities.” Timothy went on to say how little black and Latino representation there was on campus and he considered that a beautiful change to see. His particular wish was to see black sorority and fraternity houses on campus. “I don’t know if they got a black frat house or a black sorority but I think they do, somewhere around here don’t they?” After being informed that the campus maintains only “traditional” fraternities and sororities that are majority white he countered, “So we still got a long way to go…it’s not here, but one day, one day.” A most poignant moment in this stretch of the conversation was his hope in the student body and our impact on the future. With his hands outstretched and motioning towards me encouraged, “We are all minorities. We all matter and education is very important. My future depends on you, my future is in your hands, and what you do here it may one day save my life — like my taxes or anything else. You may be teaching my great grandchildren one day.”