Stupid Union Wi-Fi.
If any thought has consistently rang true in my mind since I first transferred here, it’s been that.
For my entire student career at Union University, the “UU Secure” Wi-Fi that comes with my tuition has never worked, forcing me to use the guest Wi-Fi for the past two years. It never occurred to me that it could be a “me” (or my tech) problem. It was easier just to complain.
It got to a point last week where my guest Wi-Fi completely stopped working, so I had to swallow my pride and go to the HelpDesk for the first time ever. I was surprised at how patient and kind everyone was towards both me and my problem, traits that I hadn’t reciprocated.
“How can I help you?” a man asked as I waited for assistance.
I didn’t know it was him at the time but, Willie George, director of information technology, had come out from his office to help me. He had a certain confidence that immediately told me he was in charge. It was obvious he knew exactly what he was doing and had done this for a long time. With ease, he hit a few buttons, and suddenly my Wi-Fi was working again. I off-handedly mentioned my issue with my Secure Wi-Fi, and he helped set up an appointment for me for this week to finally get it fixed, once and for all, all these years later.
I ran into him again this past Wednesday. Residence Life’s “Find the Cup” event had just started, and as an RA, I was desperately searching for clues so my building could win. The latest one had led us to a picture frame that my residents and I were afraid to move. As we stood around it, I saw Willie George walk up.
“What’s the deal with this picture?” George asked. “I’ve seen kids all around it for days now.”
“It’s for ‘Find the Cup’,” I said. I started explaining what the event was before George stopped me.
“Oh, I know. I’ve seen and heard about ‘Find the Cup for years.’” Without hesitation, George took the frame off the wall. “Well, nothing there.” He started to walk off before I put it all together.
“Excuse me,” I said. He turned around. “Are you Willie George?”
“Yeah?” George said.
“I’m writing a piece for Cardinal and Cream about you this week, and I’d love to interview you in the next couple days if you have the time,” I said.
A few days later, I sat down on the couch in the IT lobby with George.
“These couches are brand new,” George said. “It’s much more comfortable and welcoming than sitting down in a wooden chair in an office.”
There was something comforting and welcoming about George, too. He’s a man of few words but has a lot to say. He’s direct and to the point and keeps things simple and understandable. He was so easy to talk to, with nothing intimidating or tense about him. It was refreshing, a more pleasant experience than I’ve had with somebody in quite a while.
It’s much harder to hate the system when the man behind the screen is standing in the room with you. It’s impossible to hate the system when that person’s a deep, caring, complex human.
“So what is this for again?” George asked.
“It’s a Cardinal & Cream article about you. Do you know how our publication works?”
“I remember how it used to work,” George said. “Cardinal & Cream was an actual weekly paper back in the day. They would have to go downtown to the local newspaper’s press on the morning of release day and print off of it — before that shut down too.”
George is in his 20th year at Union and he still loves it. He began working in September 2005, right after graduating with a computer science degree that May, and never left.
“I was originally just gonna stick around in Jackson until I figured out what I wanted to do, but then an IT position opened up here,” George said. “There was nothing here when I first applied at graduation, but after a few months, that changed.”
One of the biggest reasons George originally stuck around was because of his church.
“I was already so involved at Englewood, there was just no reason for me to leave,” George said.
He met his wife there too, where she now serves as the K-5 Kids Ministry director for the Highland campus.
“Kathleen and I both went to Union at the same time, but she was a little older than me, so we never saw each other,” George said. “It was through church that we really got to know each other.”
They have three kids together, with one as young as 8 months.
George was also here during the 2008 tornado that destroyed all of the University’s then-current dorms.
“The IT team were some of the first people back on campus,” George said. “We were back the next morning because we had to get the systems up and running to communicate with students and families.”
He talked about how all the systems were originally destroyed during the tornado, but if it happened today, modern technology would’ve been able to withstand it.
“Everything has advanced so much,” George said. “IT wouldn’t have even been affected if it happened today.”
George enjoys seeing all the changes in technology but admitted that it’s sometimes difficult for him.
“It’s getting harder for me to keep up,” George said. “As I’ve been here and as I’m getting older, it’s harder for me to keep up with it all, because things are changing so quickly. And that’s coming from someone who does try to keep up with it all and enjoys doing it.”
He took me into his office and showed me some of his old technology.
“Here’s an old Macintosh from 1986. A lot of the old computers right outside the math department are mine too,” George said. “And this radio my dad bought for my mom the day I was born.”
His degree, certificates and Union memorabilia sat right underneath his copy of Dell Technologies’ Microsoft Monopoly, as they all overlooked the rest of the room.
Despite all the changes in technology, he claimed that one thing will always stay the same.
“The students have always been better with technology than the faculty. That’s just how it’s always been. The students introduce them to the newest changes, and they assimilate, but by the time the faculty have figured it out, the students have moved on,” George said.
But while students move on, from both old technologies and Union, George doesn’t plan to.
“I really can’t see myself anywhere else,” George said. “I’ll probably be here until I retire. And I really wouldn’t want it any other way.”