Arnie Cox

Hours before a special event in the Low Rotunda, a symphony of sights and sounds enters its first movement: a crescendo of clanging chairs, the unfolding of tables into neat configurations and the hum of workers' voices resonating throughout the room. At the center of it all, standing resolute and calm, is Arnie Cox, whose orchestration of the setup inevitably leads to a harmonious evening.

Cox, head laborer of Facilities Management and a Columbia fixture for the past 44 years, has decided to pass on the baton.

"It's time for someone else to carry on the work," he said. "I'll miss all the friendly faces and the people who have been good to me, but it's time."

Known to outpace many of his coworkers half his age, Cox, 74, worked up to the last hour setting up seating arrangements for a Latino Alumni Event, with as much determination and devotion as he did the first day he arrived on campus back in 1956. In fact, a 72-hour shift he completed a couple of years back is now legendary among his fellow workers; a testament to his dedication and commitment.

What has kept him going all these years, he added, was simply the satisfaction of doing a good job. "I care about what I do," said Cox, "I want things to be perfect, no matter what the event may be. And when it's over, it's the smiles I get from people that make my job worthwhile."

Born in Georgia in 1925 to a sharecropping family, Cox is the oldest of eight children. His family moved wherever there was work to be found. To support his family and to take care of his sick father, he dropped out of the seventh grade.

At a young age, he started working on the railroads, making crossties, at $6 for a six-day week. He moved to Florida in 1932 where he did farm work, and thereafter to Syracuse, before coming to New York City. During World War II he received a draft exemption because he was working as a forester extracting turpentine, which was needed for the war effort.

His first job in New York was at the YWCA on 53rd and Lexington Avenue, where he worked as a janitor for 11 years. However, to support his growing family and at the urging of his boss, Cox sought a higher paying job. He would go every day on his lunch break to a nearby employment agency. He became something of a regular there, and one day a clerk who had gotten to know him beckoned Cox over to his desk. The clerk had heard of a job opening at Columbia.

"I'd heard of it, but didn't know where it was," recalls Cox. "So I got the directions and went over to the University, where I met with Mr. Taylor, who was with what was then the department of buildings and grounds. He said 'I don't have anything for you, right now'."

The next day, Cox received a call from Taylor saying that he would create a job for Cox because he was so impressed with him. Thus began the 44-year love affair between Cox and Columbia.

Cox recalls his first day on the job: "My shift was from 2 to 10 p.m., and my duties included securing Low Library and the School of General Studies. I also mopped the main lobby of Low, where the visitors center is now."

He started as a janitor and within two years, Cox became a laborer. He was named assistant to the director of facilities management in 1973, and in 1997, became head laborer.

After leaving school some 15 years before, Cox returned to the classroom in 1952 and received his high school diploma at the age of 27.

His work ethic is not limited to the University, however. Cox is also a lay minister and devotes much of his time to charitable work at local hospitals, nursing homes and churches. Cox and his wife have 14 children, among them a son who works with the Department of Transportation and a daughter who is a special FBI agent.

Cox especially enjoys the excitement of working registration and commencement events. "When students first come here, they're looking forward to the next four years," said Cox, "and we want everything to start off right for them. Then when they're getting ready to graduate, we want them to leave with fond memories of their years here."

It is his inherent sense of showmanship and ability to have fun that makes Cox so enjoyable to work with, say is coworkers. Watching him talk to his fellow workers on his last day, you feel as though any minute the curtain will rise and everyone will take their places, as in a play.

What's next for Cox? He plans to leave the hustle and bustle of New York for the sunny beaches of Daytona, Fla., where he intends to buy a home, and as he says, "continue doing volunteer work and enjoying my life."

Cox has set new standards for how special events are executed at the University, and now that we've come to expect nothing less, it will be difficult for the next conductor to pick up the baton and take us to the next movement of perfection.