From Left to Right: Donovan Johnson, Julia Anderson, Barbara Phelmetta, Chris Cox and Tierra Brodie
Service Spotlights from the Heart of Campus
Snapshots of employees who keep Duke University running
No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Donovan Johnson
Donovan Johnson’s job title at the Wall Center for Student Life is pot washer, but he is also a communicator, and his language skills go beyond the kitchen.
“Okay, so I wash pots in the kitchen, and I clean the area, take out the trash,” the 34-year-old Durham native said. “And currently I am helping out as the material control clerk.”
Johnson has worked at Duke for six years and starts his shift at 7 a.m. He explained that a material control clerk stocks the kitchen inventory that arrives by truck.
During the pandemic, Johnson started learning Spanish to communicate with the growing number of Spanish-speaking employees on campus.
“All of them speak Spanish and very little English, really, so I was the only one able to communicate with them,” Johnson said.
And Johnson has a not-so-hidden talent.
“Even when I’m not performing, I’m writing. I’m never without material.”
Donovan Johnson
The quiet, unfailingly polite pot washer with the twinkle in his eye and smile tugging at his lips is a standup comedian – a hobby he took on in 2015, inspired by Tiffany Haddish.
He described his brand of humor as “deadpan.”
“I’m not very expressive, so my face is usually blank. It’s all about delivery,” he said. “Even when I’m not performing, I’m writing. I’m never without material.”
Julia Anderson
Julia Anderson was fresh out of high school when she started working at Duke University as a line server at the Cambridge Inn on West Campus.
Forty years later, Anderson is still at Duke -- a cashier at the Wall Center for Student Life on East Campus.
Each weekday morning at 6 a.m., Anderson is the first face many students see before attending class.
“They are first-year students, away from home for the first time, so they are a little nervous,” she said. “So, with me being a mom myself, I try to make them feel welcome and a little less afraid.”
Anderson’s greatest joy as a Duke employee is meeting students from all over the world.
“They come from places I’ll never travel to, so I get to see that part of the world through their eyes.”
Julia Anderson
“They come from places I’ll never travel to, so I get to see that part of the world through their eyes,” she said.
Devout, joyous and armed with a ready smile, Anderson is leader of the hospitality ministry and an usher at No Greater Love Christian Church in East Durham. She is also proud “Nana” to grandkids Nia Simone, 5, and Logan Alexander, 8.
Among her other loves are antiques.
“I love collecting old coins. I have a nice selection. I have a 1909 Indian head. I want to say penny, but the way it looks, it might be a nickel because it’s so big. I just love old things.”
Barbara Phelmetta
When Barbara Phelmetta started cooking at Duke 40 years ago, Ronald Reagan was president.
“I was 18 when I first came to Duke,” she said. “I graduated from Hillside [High School] in June and started working at Duke the next month.”
When the Durham native learned that the East Campus Union was going to be renamed to honor the legacy of George Wall and his son, George-Frank, she reflected on her own family’s connection to the elder Wall and the university’s service worker tradition.
George Wall lived on on Onslow Street, in the Walltown section of Durham. Phelmetta’s great-grandmother Alice Felton was a Duke housekeeper from the same neighborhood.
“She might have known that man,” Phelmetta said.
Six U.S. presidents later, Phelmetta has seen a lot of changes at Duke.
I like coming into the kitchen cooking for everybody.
Barbara Phelmetta
“We used to just cook from the recipes and not worry about the allergies,” she explained. “Now, you have to really check on and watch how you cook, and make sure nobody gets sick.”
Phelmetta says her greatest joys are her grandchildren and cooking.
The sweet-natured, soft-spoken lady loves baking cakes, which she sells.
Her honey bun cakes are “most of my customers’ favorite,” she said.
“I like coming into the kitchen cooking for everybody,” she said. “That’s my thing. I like to see people eat.”
Chris Cox
Chris Cox was a middle schooler when he started fishing with his dad.
Of course, Cox has a whale of a fish tale.
The biggest fish he ever caught happened more than 20 years ago at Bond Lake in Cary, where he pulled a 30pound, big-bellied bass out of the water.
Cox, 43, has worked at Duke for 23 years. He started as a prep cook at Duke Dining and is currently a lead production worker at the George and George-Frank Wall Center for Student Life.
Cox grew up in Durham and now lives near Garner, North Carolina.
Bond Lake remains one of his favorite fishing holes, along with Lake Benson Park in Garner.
It’s like a peace of mind, it’s so peaceful out there, sitting on the bank or the dock.
Chris Cox
“It’s like a peace of mind, it’s so peaceful out there, sitting on the bank or the dock,” he said.
Cox also enjoys restoring old trucks.
He was a teenager when would visit his uncle’s shop, learning the craft by helping to restore a 1987 Chevy Scottsdale truck.
Nowadays, Cox is eyeing another old pickup that he wants to restore.
“It’s a Fred Sanford truck,” he explained, referring to the truck made famous by the 1970s TV series “Sanford and Son.” He added, “It’s going to take a little work.”
For Cox, it’s all about the learning process, including with his work at the Wall Center. “I’m always learning new things, making dishes and recipes I’ve never made before,” he said.
Tierra Brodie
Long before Tierra and her twin Ciarra, started working at Duke University, the sisters were on campus, even before they were born.
Their parents, Annie and Lee Brodie have both worked as Duke housekeepers for more than 30 years. Annie gave birth to the twins at Duke University Medical Center.
“Some of the ladies I work with now worked with my mom,” said Tierra, a 25-year-old lead food service worker at the George and George-Frank Wall Center for Student Life. “They knew when (mom) was pregnant with us.”
Tierra has worked at Duke for nearly three years. Ciarra has worked with housekeeping for five years.
Growing up, Tierra did not think having a twin sister was all that special.
People thought it was cool, but I thought [Ciarra] was just a person who looked like me.
Tierra Brodie
“People thought it was cool, but I thought (Ciarra) was just a person who looked like me.”
They both liked math. They both played volleyball in middle school.
“But I’m right-handed, and she’s left-handed,” Tierra said. “I’m allergic to shellfish. She’s allergic to cherries. Which is kind of weird.”
The twins each have toddler daughters.
Quiet, thoughtful, Tierra is studying medical billing coding classes at Wake Technical Community College.
She is hoping to work at Duke after she completes her studies.
“But on the health care side,” she said.