Duke Guiding Principles: Trustworthiness

Officially, Oscar Dantzler is a housekeeper at Duke. But everyone really knows that "Oscar," as he insists everyone call him, runs the Duke Chapel.

With that unofficial duty comes a set of responsibilities, and he takes them all quite seriously. Just as he diligently dusts the crevices and nooks hidden throughout the Chapel's neo-Gothic architecture, he is equally careful when he sees a student or visitor who looks likes he or she could use a kind word, or an open ear.

"I love helping people," said Dantzler, who has worked at Duke for 15 years. "I see that as part of my responsibility."

Dantzler exhibits the Duke Guiding Principle of Trustworthiness through values such as integrity, truthfulness and ethics.

He is one of the privileged few to have keys to the glorious structure - home to numerous artifacts and the crypt, where the bodies of many prominent persons identified with the university are buried.

Dantzler spends a large amount of time alone in the chapel that was completed in 1935. He starts his day at 5 a.m., mopping floors, polishing pews and straightening up - all tasks he holds quite special. He also sets up, and then cleans after weddings, services and other special events.

Oscar was featured in the 2009 documentary, "The Philosopher Kings," which captured life lessons in interviews with eight college campus custodians from across the country, including Dantzler.

Dantzler said his job is much more about relationships than it is about polishing and vacuuming. That is why student groups have asked him on trips and athletic coaches make sure recruits and their parents meet him.

"The Chapel is one of the main places people want to come when they visit Duke," he said. "I talk with a lot of parents visiting with their kids, and I always tell them that they will be in good hands at Duke. I don't tell them that because it is my job. I tell them because that is what I believe in my heart."