FEB 6, 2025 | NEWS | By Orlando Monroy
Students at Colorado College may or may not be aware that there are people who clean up the messes they create around campus.
For those who are not, it is a Sodexo employee who often deals with it.
Sodexo is an international company used by CC. It states on the website, “In schools and universities, we help learning institutions foster a fulfilling educational environment in schools and on campuses while enabling universities to boost their attractiveness.”
“[If] we’re not here, the college doesn’t function,” said Curtis Kirby, a Sodexo employee who has been at CC for 13 years. “Bathrooms need to be clean, floors need to be clean, stairs need to be clean.”
If you’ve been around Mathias Hall or South Hall, you may have noticed Kirby cleaning, sweeping and taking out the trash.
When asked about his experience with students, he said, “Sometimes a lot of students are rude. They’ll go out there, they’ll sweep out all their garbage onto your clean floor.”
Despite dealing with literal feces from students, Kirby had a surprisingly friendly message to the community: “It helps when students are courteous, say thank you … acknowledgment, that sort of thing, makes everybody’s day.”
Alan Moreno, a newer Sodexo supervisor on campus, echoed this sentiment.
“Even if you just see us and say hi, a lot of our employees go unnoticed throughout the week,” Moreno said. “So even someone acknowledging them and saying ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ is a huge, huge uplifter for our spirits just because of how behind the scenes we are.”
Moreno provided a good reason for why students should acknowledge Sodexo workers and build a relationship with the people working hard behind the scenes.
“Once people know the person who’s cleaning their building, I feel like they’re a little more conscious about if they’re gonna toss something on the ground,” Moreno said.
What more should students know from the people who clean their messes on CC campus?
Justin Thompson, another Sodexo supervisor, mentioned the amount of stomach-curdling work after the weekend when students have been partying.
“If you vomit, try to clean it up yourself,” he said. “But call us if you need us.”