October 2 is National Custodians Day. It is a day to recognize our hard-working custodians that keep our spaces and workplaces clean and sanitary. The custodians in Building Services make up the largest service department on campus. With nearly 300 employees, the group is present in every building on campus. Custodians work around the clock and with great care to keep our campus beautiful.
On National Custodian Day, we encourage you to show your appreciation to the custodians in your life. On this page you'll find...
- Our Thank a Custodian form to share a kind word with a custodian in Facilities.
- Ideas to show your appreciation.
- People behind the title; meet some of our custodians and learn what respect means to them.

Thank a Custodian!
Ideas to show your appreciation
Thank your custodian
- Share your kind words using our Thank a Custodian! form, or in person, or in any format.
- Leave an occasional thank you note.
Do something nice for your custodian
- Bake a cake, grab a gift card, or simply write a note in order to show the custodians in your life that you care.
- Learn their names (list of custodians by college/dorm) and get to know them.
- Keep them in mind while planning staff events, not just as the cleaning crew, but as valued members of the whole team.
Organize a group thank you
- Organize a coffee break, a pot luck, or any group activity to show your appreciation.
- Organize a meet & greet to introduce your custodians to the people in your building/dorm.
Be a little more clean
- When we stop and remember that someone has to come and clean up after the mess we make, there's a good chance we'll put forth a little extra effort to tidy up after ourselves.
Get to know some of our custodians
Meet some of the people behind the custodian role, and hear what respect means to them. The OneRespect poster campaign was created by a TigerChallenge team to help increase respect for service staff on campus. The posters aim to make our invisible service staff visible, and to share their various definitions of respect. We keep adding more custodian posters each year.
Tip: a thank you and a hello are always welcome!