Position: Assistant Manager, Camden Campus Center

Length of Service: 20 years (12 full time)

Residence: Lindenwold

What he does: From indie bands to corporate luncheons to visits from foreign diplomats – if the event is held in the Camden Campus Center, Rawle Hines is involved. A seven-day-a-week operation, campus center events are implemented by Hines, who oversees eight student managers. The team works together to set up and break down events: That’s about 700 chairs per week, moved about 3,500 times a year. Staff also make sure the 95,000-square-foot campus center is a comfortable environment for all of its various audiences.

A Zen-like approach: As soon as he starts his workday, Hines takes a tour of the facility to see if everything is where it should be. “Most people might spend time with eyes straight ahead, but I’ll check ceilings, walls, and floors as I walk through,” he says. He then reviews feedback from the previous day’s events before he prepares for another marathon of readying chairs, tables, and sound and visual equipment for events that can range from lectures and fashion shows to blood drives and high-end galas. No matter the scale of the affair, Hines approaches the set-up as a kind of a Zen thing. “The way you set the room can set the tone. You may consider this with your own home over time – the way a room is set definitely has an effect on the people who are gathered there.”

What’s prepared him for thinking on his feet? Fourth grade AV club! Talk about learning how to handle a situation: Hines was responsible at age 10 for loading the projector and changing reels for a movie his entire school was watching. Hines still enjoys the challenge of equipment operation – sometimes on a moment’s notice – for events that depend on his technical know-how.

A James Dickson Carr scholar, Hines graduated from Rutgers–Camden with a degree in psychology in 1995. While that background helps him deal with the public and navigate the different personalities of his customers, his years as a student worker allow him to better understand the hectic schedules of his employees. “The experience helps me empathize with my current student staff. I have truly been in their shoes before,” Hines says.

How he overcomes challenges: Accessible by walkie-talkie whenever he’s at work, Hines is perpetually a wanted man. Be it for routine exterminator checks or an 11th-hour tablecloth request, Hines manages to not sweat the small stuff. He’s a believer in counting from one to 10 to de-stress and delivering to customers the service they expect. “We’re not really a convention center or a hotel, but people expect that level of service, and we try to accommodate them,” he says.

What he does when he’s not working: Born in Jamaica, where he lived until age 6, Hines moved to New York City, then New Jersey, where he has lived ever since. He calls upon his Jamaican heritage for a character he created for the massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) “City of Heroes.” Hines’s online creation also has inspired him to begin a webpage and blog to expand upon the details of his character’s life history. Eventually he hopes to develop a related online comic book into a video. But it’s not all about the good guy: Hines also is a member of the MMORPG “City of Villains,” if the workday calls for a little virtual retaliation.

Special thanks: Rutgers, Hines says, has been “the biggest constant in my life” and is grateful to campus center and student life staff, who have become his second family. His job gives him the satisfaction of helping people put on the events they care so much about. Not to mention that the busy campus center allows Hines a backstage pass to some cool events, like a talk by Danny Glover or a visit from the President of Namibia. “I get to meet the person speaking or performing and make sure they have everything that they need,” he says. “Then I’m on my way.”