Student employee spotlight: Evan Waddill

Evan Waddill

As the Class of 2019 prepares to graduate this week, Campus Ministry would like to acknowledge the hard work of our student employees and their contributions to the mission of our department.

Dustin Hartuv (COL’21), Campus Ministry staff writer, reached out to our 16 student employee graduands to ask them about their time with the department and brings us this Q & A with Evan Waddill, (SFS’19), the third in a short series of reflections.

DH: How long have you worked for Campus Ministry?

EW: Since my freshman year; I started right at the beginning of the school year and worked all the way through to my senior spring.

DH: What was your job at Campus Ministry?

EW: Hospitality team member and office assistant.

DH: Do you have any “behind-the-scenes” anecdotes or funny stories you would like to share from working with Campus Ministry?

EW: The one thing I’ve loved most about working at Campus Ministry is getting to know the chaplains and other staff members as “real people” and not just formal figures on campus. I think other students see them in their official capacity and forget that the individuals beneath the religious regalia are approachable and relatable in the best ways. I have formed personal relationships with many different members of the Campus Ministry community, finding common talking ground on everything from fiction to feminism. I was a very shy freshman when I started working, but thanks to the welcoming environment (and special encouragement from my first boss and mentor, Tiffany Lightfoot), I found a home on campus in Healy 113.

DH: Has working at Campus Ministry deepened your knowledge of your own faith or other faith traditions?

EW: I have definitely learned so much more about different faith traditions. Being a student worker in the front reception office, I am right near all the chaplains’ offices in Healy Hall. So, I have gotten to know many of them personally and heard first-hand about aspects of their religions. I grew up in a mostly Christian area, but I have loved getting to know about a wide variety of faith traditions here at Georgetown. I have especially enjoyed getting to be a part of some of their events through the work I do with the hospitality team, seeing for myself the beauty of a Diwali or Rosh Hashanah service, for example.

DH: Has working in a multi-faith context prepared you for your future professional career?

EW: Certainly it has, in a variety of ways that are not necessarily directly applicable but are nevertheless very important. I think learning in a multi-faith context translates to work in many types of fields/office spaces with diverse staff from different backgrounds. Learning about different faiths, their traditions, and the unique perspectives that belong to each member of that shared group has shown me how three-dimensional any identity is, much more than the stereotypical assumptions people might make about them. So, I think my work in any career would benefit from that knowledge and from the ability to respect such differences that ultimately do not matter when the people themselves are so worth knowing.