Guitars, Gaming, and Photography: Getting to Know Amherst Custodians

From musicians to photographers and seasoned pros to new hires, Amherst College’s custodial staff are a vibrant and integral part of our community. Our campus could not function without their efforts to create clean, sanitary spaces for us to learn and live. However, the work they do to make Amherst home for students often goes underappreciated. Few take the chance to learn the names — not to mention their lives beyond Amherst.

We decided to highlight a few of our campus’ custodians, shedding light on the experiences and passions of the faces we see everyday.

Eric Baldwin

Eric Baldwin is certifiably an Amherst institution, having greeted students and community members with his infectious smile and warm attitude for over 19 years; in fact, he was elected as an honorary classmate by the classes of 2011 and 2018. However, he did not begin his custodial career at the college.

“Being an ADHD kid, I hated school,” Baldwin said, explaining why he was motivated to pursue a career in food service upon graduating from high school. After 10 years in the industry, Baldwin landed his first custodial job at the University Health Services at The University of Massachusetts Amherst.

“It had no benefits. I was on a contract, and I would come in on holidays so I could get money,” Baldwin said.

Eventually, one of Baldwin’s coworkers advised that he should apply to work at Amherst, where her husband was a custodial supervisor.

“I was definitely grateful I landed the job,” Baldwin said, who currently works as the custodian for Morris Pratt Hall and Barrett Hall. “I had kids shortly after, so it was nice to have the benefits.”

Baldwin certainly has his hands full once he leaves campus, with an 18-year-old daughter and 16-year-old identical twin boys. Despite all of his fatherly obligations, Baldwin still loves working in the college’s dorms most of all.

“I have felt very blessed to be able to make some good connections and some tight, tight relationships,” Baldwin said. “I’ve kept in touch with a lot of [students] way after graduation.”

Baldwin’s most memorable moment in his custodial career occurred while he was working in one of the old social dorms, Davis Hall.

“The [community advisor] for that building came up with the idea of, for the dorm meeting, [performing] a parody of Kings of Leon’s ‘Use Somebody.’ It was called ‘Dorm Damage,’” Baldwin explained with a laugh. “It’s pretty funny. I think I may have the lyrics somewhere still. H[e] and I performed that song together in front of the entire dorm. That was fun.”

Baldwin’s ability to form strong connections with students stems from his deep empathy for them, even when they do not keep their dorms as clean as they should. “I remember being these ages, and self-awareness was not there,” Baldwin said. 

However, Baldwin did reflect on the difficulties he experienced trying to clean the dorms while allowing students to keep their shoes in the hallway. “Last year, I kind of allowed it, because I wanted everybody to feel comfortable,” Baldwin said. “But it was such a hard year trying to keep the hallways clean.”

In order to solve this issue while still being accommodating to students, Baldwin got creative. He explained how there were two girls living together in Morris Pratt and “between the two of them, they must have had like 30 pairs of shoes in the hallway.” Yet, he noticed that they also had an entrance mat in front of their door.

“I would put all the shoes on the entrance mat, pick up the entrance mat, put it in this little common room, just so I could get the floor clean,” Baldwin said with a laugh. 

Over the years, Baldwin has found that “sometimes people don’t realize how hard it is to keep the hallways clean.” However, he still regards students with immense empathy and understanding. “I mean [the work custodians do] wasn’t on my radar when I was young,” Baldwin said.

Outside of keeping the Amherst campus functioning, Baldwin is a prolific musician and currently plays in with three different musical projects; he does guitars and vocals for a sludge metal band, stoner rock band, and indie rock band. “My old band from the early 2000s is doing our second reunion on Black Friday this year,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin was also a member of the Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra, which is an avant-garde musical ensemble based in Northampton that consists of electric, acoustic, classical, and bass guitars.

When he’s not playing with his bands, listening to live music, or going on hikes in the Connecticut River Valley, Baldwin finds joy in building and sustaining connections with Amherst students — and the student body is grateful for him in return. “I definitely appreciate the student body,” Baldwin said. “I feel like I've met some of the most open-minded people at Amherst College. So I’m very grateful for you guys.”

Jimmy Chea

If you have lived in King Hall during your time at Amherst, you have likely noticed Jimmy Chea’s kind and inviting nature. Chhumnith Chea, who goes by Jimmy Chea on campus, began working at Amherst in 2014, when he was only 16 years old and still in high school. 

“My dad actually works here, so when I turned 16, it was an automatic in,” he said. Chea’s father, Ath Chea, still works as a custodian here in the Tyler, Plimpton, and Marsh houses.

Chea worked at Amherst throughout high school and during his time attending Holyoke Community College, and has remained here ever since. “I appreciate the Amherst community — I’ve been here for as long as I have because it’s been a good community,” Chea said.

He works Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; while Chea is originally from Amherst, he now commutes from Chicopee. Chea explains how the schedules differ for each person, but custodians are typically assigned an academic building and a dormitory. Chea himself cleans the campus center from 6 a.m. to around 8:30 a.m. and then moves on to cleaning in King Hall from 9 a.m. until around 2:15 p.m.

“In the dorm, for me at least, I’m pretty personable. So I’ll make sure to engage, say ‘hi,’” Chea said.

He also noted that forming bonds with community members goes a long way in terms of ensuring the space he cleans every day is respected. “In my opinion, it makes the job fairly easier if you engage with students and faculty, because then they get to know you, and then subconsciously they’ll be like, ‘oh, maybe we’ll not leave our trash here,’ or, ‘oh, let’s pick this up.’”

However, maintaining a dormitory comes with some avoidable challenges. Chea explains how he wishes more people would have courtesy towards the spaces around them, as many simple tasks are often left to be taken care of by custodians. “Just picking up a bit after yourselves, or maybe wiping the table down after you’re done eating — very simple stuff that goes a long way for us.”

Chea has even noticed that some people surprisingly fail to do some of the more basic tasks like flush the toilet. “I mention that, [and] some people are surprised, but then when they start living the dorm life, they’re like, ‘oh, I get it,’” Chea said.

Still, he explained how working this job since he was a child has given him the opportunity to make many connections on campus with students and faculty, lasting even after people leave the campus. 

“I have coworkers I pretty much grew up working with here that I still keep in touch with, even though they’re out and about now,” Chea said.

Chea has also formed many lasting connections with students hired to work during commencement throughout the years with which he “usually still keeps in touch with … even after they graduate.”

Outside of Amherst, Chea dedicates time to various hobbies to balance out his busy schedule and long hours working. “I’m pretty active, so I’m in the gym, and [I’m also] a big camera guy, so I’m just recording, editing all the time.”

Chea is also a big fan of action movies: he jokes that his favorites, namely ’80s classics “The Terminator” and “Bloodsport,” will “show his age.” At the same time, he also likes watching movies from “the Marvel franchise.” Further, Chea can often be found playing video games, with one of his favorite’s being Stardew Valley. “I could probably play that forever,” he said.

While working, Chea mostly finds himself listening to podcasts. “Sometimes listening to people talk now just works,” Chea said. His favorite podcast lately has been the comedy show “No Chaser” by Timothy Chantarangsu, which “helps the day fly by for sure.”

Though the work is demanding, Chea ultimately really enjoys working at the college: “I’ve been here as long as I have because the supervisor I have [is] pretty awesome, and my coworkers make it easy to be around.”

Thú Tran 

Thú Tran started working at Amherst at the beginning of this academic year. Reflecting on the few months he’s spent at the campus so far, he spoke highly of his time at the college. “I’ve loved it,” he said. “The [staff] of the campus are so welcoming. Everyone here always [says hello] with a smile, including [some] students. It’s completely different from the corporate jobs I’ve worked in the past.”

On workdays Tran wakes up at 4 a.m. in the morning — before the sun rises. He arrives on campus a little before 6 a.m. Tran is in charge of cleaning Hitchcock Residence Hall (Hitch) and 79 South Pleasant Street — the campus center for Human Resources, Communication, Investments, as well as the Five College Center for the Study of World Languages.

“I go through a daily, a weekly, and a monthly routine for cleaning both buildings,” Tran explained. One of his favorite moments in the workday comes from an unexpected visitor — a cat. According to Tran, there’s a tabby that wanders around the back of Hitch. “I see it in the bushes, near the parking lot, behind the dorm. It sometimes comes up to me every now and then when I’m throwing away the trash and says hello,” he said.

Some of the more difficult work he does, however, also takes place in Hitch. “It’s difficult here at Hitch,” he remarked. “Students leave [bad] messes.” This, he mentioned, is particularly true after parties hosted in the dorm during the weekend. Often, the trash cans are left overflowing onto the floor, and on some of his worst days, he’s had to clean vomit off the furniture and urine in the closets. In such cases, the mess often demands he stay overtime to clean up.

Tran reflected on this behavior, noting students lack a sense of responsibility for the spaces they live in. “Students should know that the dorms and the campus are their second home. They should be comfortable here, but students sometimes don't have a good hold of being cleanly and think that the janitors will just clean it,” he commented. “[It] makes me wonder how students take care of their home[s].”

Despite the students’ disrespectful treatment of the dorm, Tran responded with grace. “We, all the custodians, do it for students,” he said. “We always want to have a healthy, clean environment for [students] because [they] are here to learn. Cleanliness is sometimes the second thing that [they] think about, and I understand [why]. That’s my day to day: cleaning what I need to clean.”

Tran also affirmed that he has had positive interactions with students. “A handful of students that I’ve met have been so nice to me,” he commented. “Building a good relationship from custodian to a student is good because it [fosters] a [sense of] mutual respect. It’s also always a good thing because now we know each other. Being friendly go[es] a long way in everyone’s life.”

Such relationships, however, are not as common as they should be. “Most of the time, when I’m in this dorm, a lot of students ignore me because they just see me as a custodian,” Tran said. “Sometimes I get looks when I’m trying to be friendly. You guys are just waking up in the morning. I get it. I’m the same way. But I will always say ‘hi.’ I will always be polite and respectful. I don’t expect the same back, but when it [is] reciprocated, I appreciate it.”

Tran has hopes to eventually shift his role at the college. This is, in part, what initially drew him to Amherst. “All the benefits and everything [are] great because they help the faculty if they ever want to go back to school. I [see] that as a potential. Also, if I work for a year then I believe I can transfer appointments,” he said.

Tran wants to transfer to Amherst’s video and communications department. “I’ve [been a] professional photographer for 17 years. I have [photographed] weddings, high fashion, portraits, events, landscapes, [and] real estate. I really enjoy it,” Tran said. “I love the art of photography, creating your own image [and] going against what you get taught in school, like the rule of thirds and so on and so forth. [It lets me] see the beauty in people and nature. I love being able to see something through my own eyes and sharing it with people.”

Tran’s love for photography came from his father, a Vietnam veteran who fought against the Viet Cong. “He had a Nikon F film camera. He took [it] with him through all his battles. I have all the photos,” he said. Not only does Tran still possess the photos, but he has the camera itself. “I sent it to Nikon, and they fixed everything up on the inside. They left the outside [with the] patina, the scratches, the dirt still on the rubber grip and everything. That made me want to get into photography. And [I’ve] loved [it] ever since,” he said. He explained that outside of work, he spends his time primarily as a personal care assistant for his father. 

Tran also enjoys a whole range of hobbies. “A lot of the things I do [are in] nature. When I was younger, I was very sick. So now that I’m older [and] healthier, I’m outside a lot.” Such activities include riding motorcycles, mountain bikes, and going on hikes. 

He also plays Magic The Gathering, video games, and is a fan of fantasy and romance movies. Some of his favorite movies are long-time classics — namely, “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars.” “I’m a huge nerd at heart,” he admitted. “A lot of the [staff and faculty] here [are] not just professionals, but also a bunch of nerds.”

Tran reiterated his appreciation for Amherst and its community members — expressing a common sentiment of the custodial staff we interviewed. He ended the interview with well-wishes for the campus: “I hope everyone is good, healthy, and happy.”