I'm very excited today to introduce you to the final honorees in the Serving Our Community category—the 17 members of the Housing and Residential Services Operations Team.
- Carla Bengtson, House Operations Manager
- Michael Collins, House Operations Manager
- Sean Durst, Assistant Director, 3rd Shift Operations
- Kenneth Donaghey, House Operations Manager
- Julie Gagnon, House Operations Manager
- Jhon Gonzalez, House Opertions Manager
- Joseph Graham, House Operations Manager
- Nika Hollingsworth, House Operations Manager
- Denise Lanfranchi, House Operations Manager
- Chris J. Lonero, Evening Shift Supervisor
- Kathy Matuszewska, Supervisor, Night Watch/Dorm Patrol
- Gertrude Morris Physic, House Operations Manager
- Keith Moser, Assistant Director of 2nd Shift & Security
- Jonathan Nolan, House Operations Manager
- Bob Ramsay, Housing Operations Manager
- Duarte Vieira, Evening Operations Manager
- Brian Ward, House Operations Manager/Unit 12 Weekend Manager
We are honoring this team today for outstanding work supporting our residential communities during the pandemic. These 17 individuals made every possible effort to protect the health and well-being of MIT students, staff and faculty.
In the spring of 2020, the team managed the hugely complex physically-distanced move-out of more than 3,000 undergraduates over a 5-day period—a process that usually takes four weeks. Then, they organized and executed the accelerated move-out of 1,000 graduate students.
The team then embarked on a major clean-up operation, set up accommodations for students testing positive for COVID, and tended to the multifaceted needs of those in quarantine. They also prepared multiple residences for emergency personnel who were fighting COVID across MIT and the larger community.
While many staff across the Institute have been able to work remotely, the members of this team were on the front lines of the pandemic—day in and day out. Because of their amazing efforts, COVID transmission was kept to a minimum at MIT.
As one nominator stated, "The changes in life in this new pandemic world have put a large amount of additional work on this group of staff, the majority of it front-line, in-person work…Without this team, there would be no residential services or opportunities for students. We owe them a great debt of gratitude."