Turn to the staff member next to you and let them know they are "awesome," Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration, told a jam-packed Salomon 101 at the start of the eighth annual Brown Employee Appreciation and Recognition Day Thursday afternoon. Wearing dining caps, jeans, suits and orange vests, hundreds of University employees gathered at the event held to celebrate staff contributions to the University.
BEAR Day, which President Ruth Simmons started in 2005, has become an annual tradition that honors exceptional staff members and "puts people on stage who have done great things," said Angela Hilliard, manager of employee programs.
The ceremony began with a video featuring this year's thirty Excellence Award recipients. Each year, the ceremony honors peer-nominated staff members who were department standouts with excellence awards. Each recipient receives $2,500. Among the recipients was Maria Araujo, a custodian with facilities management who was lauded for "caring for the buildings as if they were her own home" and bringing homemade pastries to work.
Simmons spoke to the enthusiastic audience about the importance of maintaining the University's special sense of community.
"I know you all value it — I know you treasure it, but we have to work pretty hard to maintain it just the way it is," Simmons said. "We know you are out there in this community working hard to make Brown look better."
Simmons said she was "in such a good mood" because she had just met with Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, who called for increased contributions to the debt-strapped city from nonprofits like the University at a press conference Thursday morning.
Staff members were also honored based on long-term service to the University and were called up by five-year intervals of service. As the ten-year group was announced, Simmons said, "We're a bit older, so we take some more time to get on stage."
Simmons, who has served as the University president for ten years, was presented with a bouquet of roses by Chancellor Thomas Tisch '76.
"You set the standard like a ratchet," Tisch told Simmons. "We keep raising the bar, and we keep exceeding the bar as a community and as individuals because of your leadership and the inspiration that you've set for all of us." Simmons was honored with thundering applause and a standing ovation.
"That was a little surprise," Simmons said.
Several staff members have worked at the University for over 40 years. "The 30 years are near babes," Simmons joked.
The program was followed with a reception at Sayles Hall.
"I thought it was great. I think it's very nice to have something like this to recognize those people who put in time and really enjoy being here at Brown," said Julieta Thomas Decosta, an operation assistant in the department of biomedicine who was celebrating 25 years of service.
The event was sponsored by the department of Human Resources.
"We want to create a culture of appreciation … where saying thank you is not only common sense, but common practice," Hilliard said.
