CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, one of the  creators of the project was misstated. Doug McClure, chief bargaining officer for the Service Employees International Union was a co-creator of the project. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

In the basement of Boland Hall, among scraps of broken doors and windows that were once used on campus, Bill Brown constructs dozens of handmade frames for maps seen by students every day.

Brown, the head carpenter for residence halls on Main Campus, usually works alone. But since the middle of February, he has been shadowed by Mayara Martinez, a sophomore anthropology major, as a part of her research on the interaction between Syracuse University students and union workers.

“My goal is to represent the workers in a light that the students can relate to,” Martinez said. “I know I can’t reach everyone, but I know I can reach a few people and really get to know their story in-depth.”

Martinez said the research is a part of a project through her ANT 481: “Ethnographic Techniques” course in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The goal of the project is to help students see workers as three-dimensional individuals who spend their daily lives committed to the university, Martinez said.

The four students from the class participating in the project – Martinez, Arielle Terry, Chu Wu and Alexandra Coughlin – were assigned various union sectors across campus to shadow and further investigate the experiences its workers. The sectors include groundskeeping, food services, library services and housekeeping. The students were instructed to develop a six-page research plan and apply it by shadowing union workers from February until the end of the spring semester.

“Once I learned about the project, it became apparent to me that I had, in fact, been guilty of not acknowledging service workers on campus,” said Coughlin, a senior anthropology major. “It takes a lot of work to make this campus run smoothly, so they definitely deserve more respect from the student body.”

The project works in accordance with the Service Employees International Union, one of the largest service unions in the country, Coughlin said. The union comprises more than 850 workers, with more than 100 different job specifications in each sector.

Coughlin’s research is focused on workers within library services. She shadowed a library technician at E.S. Bird Library, witnessing hours spent answering student questions through an instant messaging service on the library’s website. Much of a union worker’s day is spent serving the student population, so the culture of avoidance between workers and students hits the workers hard, she said.

Terry, a senior sociology and anthropology major, began her research by shadowing workers in Bird’s Pages café. Terry instantly related to the experiences of the union workers since she is assistant manager of operations in the Carrier Dome and knows several other Food Services employees.

“There is a certain misconception among students that the work that Food Services employees do is unskilled,” Terry said. “In actuality, as I’ve seen first-hand, these jobs are very demanding. I’m embarrassed that such a lack of respect exists on campus.”

Seeing service workers as real individuals was the goal envisioned by the creators of the project: John Burdick, professor and chair of the anthropology department, and Doug McClure, chief bargaining officer for the Service Employees International Union.

The two created the project after years of cultivating relationships between union workers and SU faculty, Burdick said.In 2008, he created the Purple Players, a storytelling troupe that allows union workers to share their personal stories with a student audience.

Through the Purple Players and the shadowing project, Burdick has spent much of his career devoted to making sure union workers continue to feel included within the university community.

“Sometimes we separate the union from the educational part of the university,” Burdick said. “The workers know and believe they are an integral part of the students’ education. That’s why this project exists, to show that the students understand and appreciate what they do for the university.”

Wu, a junior anthropology major, understood the nature of student and union worker relationships long before the project began, he said. While living in Lawrinson Hall during his second year, Wu became friends with one of the housekeepers he often saw working on his floor. He felt especially connected to the project when he was given the opportunity to shadow the housekeeper.

“The interactions that I had with housekeeping were really special,” Wu said. “I not only learned how complicated it is to keep the dorms clean, but I was also able to catch up with the housekeeper I knew and learn more about her personal life.”

Brown, the head carpenter, cites the students as the most important people in his job. He said helping students get out into the real world is the pinnacle moment of working on a university campus.

When he first heard about the shadowing program, Brown said, he wasn’t sure about having a student in his workshop. It is the place where he feels most comfortable at SU. As a union worker, spending time on campus can feel like spending time in “another world,” he said.

After one session, he and Martinez had bonded by swapping stories about their personal lives, he said. Brown told Martinez stories about growing up as a part of an Irish family on Long Island while Martinez spoke of her Cuban ancestry.

“Mayara is such a thoughtful person with such a great story,” Brown said. “When I see young people come forward and go above and beyond, shame on me if I can’t learn anything from them. We’re both learning here.”

Martinez and the other students involved are representing an important issue, Brown said. Every country is built on its workers, but the key is recognizing everyone shares the same goals, he said.

“The more that students and workers interact, the better the learning environment,” Brown said. “The best thing about this is that when you don’t think you have a story, you do. Everyone has a story to tell.”

Published on March 7, 2013 at 5:00 am

Contact Annie: apalme05@syr.edu