Dennie Flowers

Recreation Center Supervisor, Yates Field House
Age: 39
Hometown: La Ceiba, Honduras
Time at Georgetown: 17 years

How did you get involved working at Georgetown?
As a student, I started working part time and then I just ended up staying. So that’s how I got involved — as a part time student. And I never left, so when the full time position opened I took it.

What was the transition like going from student to full-time employee?
It was a little hard because you have to supervise and look after other students when you once were a student. So a lot of times it was my peers. It took probably five or six years once most of the people I knew were gone from campus. But that was the only thing that was hard. Other than that it was easy because I was already here and I knew what was going on. I didn’t have to learn anything. It was second nature.

What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the job?
I don’t think I have any least favorites. I mean, I guess staying til midnight. The late hours sometimes affect family life and stuff like that. But there’s a lot of things I like about it. The people I work with, the students, the whole Georgetown atmosphere. Working on Georgetown’s atmosphere is cool. From that to the schedule I have — even though I complain about the late hours — the way we work, I don’t have to come in until late in the afternoon as well and I only work four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days so I have three days to myself. So it’s stuff like that that’s cool. There really isn’t much that I don’t like about it. That’s why I’ve been here so long. Really a lot of pluses, almost zero negative parts to it really.

Through your interactions with them at Yates, what is your perception of Georgetown students?
Being almost 40 years old and having gotten around the world, all over the place, I think the Georgetown students are in tune with what’s going on around the world, not just where they’re from. They’re really well-rounded kids. You can tell they could probably survive anywhere. No matter where you put them, from being the president to maybe going out to Africa and being a missionary type thing. The same person could do either one because Georgetown kids are just like that. And I could see that since I got here and I’ve never really seen too much variation in that. When I first got here, I did expect the kids to be a little bit more snobby, a little not in touch with the whole world but I was completely surprised by that. And that’s one of the reasons I like it so much. Every year I meet and make friends with new kids. It almost feels like, and I’m sure some of them are, younger brothers and sisters of people that went here before or kids I went to school with. Because they all come in with the same mentality and same interests. So I like that a lot.

What’s one thing you would change about Georgetown?
One thing I would change and I guess it would have more to do with the athletic department. I wish we would invest into whatever it is right now. Not just have half-fixed problems and have that create bigger problems in the future. I think a lot of times we do, like the football field for example, I think that maybe they should have just done one big project. Do something where you have everything. You know, just build the right thing, the right complex. Make it look presentable. But a lot of times at Georgetown I think they just patch things up instead of just shelling out the money at the beginning and get it right from the beginning and let that carry you. I don’t know how those things work and I don’t deal with the budgets but if I could change one thing it would be that. Yates, for example, I mean Yates is OK now. But it’s obviously a very important part of the community. We’ve been lobbying for help maybe expanding Yates or making it a little better and they always seem to put it on the back burner or just give you minimal amount and that way you can’t really complete a project the way you really want to. Georgetown’s a pretty big name; people expect a lot out of us, so I think our facilities should be up to par with the best in the area and the best in the nation. And I’m not saying we’re not but I’m saying we could be a little better.

Anything else you’d like to add?
I love Georgetown. Like I said, I love working for Georgetown. I loved going to school here. We just need to get everybody more aware of Georgetown’s mission. And that’s the hard thing, to get people who haven’t been here a long time on board and to get it right. There’s a lot of people coming and going so there’s not a lot of people with a vested interest in the university, so the more of those people we get I think the better off we would be. When it comes to my individual part of this, I’m more than happy. It would take a lot from me to get up and leave Georgetown, but of course there’s a lot of room for improvement. If anything, I would say I just need to, being one of the people who’ve been here a good while, somehow get more involved. I guess I need to just be brave and do it. And I do discuss it with my peers but maybe I need to take action or try to take action. But other than that I can’t think of anything.

Interview by Ian Tice