ABSTRACT
Loitering in a custodial break room at Harrison University (HU), the author overhear two supervisors preparing a snow-removal plan for a storm due to arrive in a few hours. Fear permeates all levels of custodial organizations. Fear is a near-universal feeling for custodians, evident in every phase of their career. Calvin’s strand of fear and fatalism increases the probability that the status quo will prevail. Critics of higher education perceive universities as insufficiently accountable to constituents and governing boards. Caste-Away Fear transcends cleaning enclaves, including those such as custodians and supervisors/administrators, rookies and veterans, superstars and slackers, employees and retirees, men and women, and ethnic minorities and majorities. HU and CU custodians both recognize and accept that as universities reorganize, implement new ideologies, and wrestle with budget crises, their caste’s influence, status, salaries, and benefits will not likely improve.
