Dedicated Hopes


For the first 14 years of my time on Penn's Campus (started my 36th year on campus in September), I worked for Dining Services.  What always impressed me about Dining was the dedication of its workers to come to work, no matter what, to serve the Penn Students.  It did not matter if it was snowing, icy, torrential rain, freezing cold, boiling hot, Dining was always open and serving.  Now it was not home cooking in the dining halls, but there sure was a taste of home!  And that usually came from the workers who always had a smile, always had a kind word.  In the vernacular, they'd be called the "lunch ladies" but they were more than that.  There were caring, kind, concerned, always had a "hey baby" greeting as they swiped your PennCard for the meal.  Two of these women were celebrated on the 288th day of 2021.  Ada Lawry, the famous "Mom" of Training House and then Hill Dining and Anne Morrison Muldrow, the leader of the staff at 1920 Commons.  Together, Ada (55) and Anne (51) have _106_ years of dedicated service to the students at the University of Pennsylvania.  My father celebrated his 55th reunion from Penn in May 2021.  So, it's possible that Ada checked the cards (I am sure they did not swipe in 1966) of THREE generations of Sherr family Penn Students.  Personally, as a student and as a staff member at Dining, Ada and Anne were always there to provide me with a smile, a kind word, and a lot of wise advice.  One could say I "grew up" at Penn Dining and these wonderful women were a large part of that.  So, as I head to bed on 10/15/2021, I have dedicated hopes.  I hope that the kind of dedication shown by Ada and Anne could be more of the norm rather than the exception in this word today.  And I hope that I can, someday, reach that same level of dedication to the Penn Campus I love.  Thank you Ada and Anne, know you will be missed by all, and enjoy your retirement!

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