Anyone who has entered Fribley Commons is likely familiar with Sarah McCord, more commonly known as Ms. Sarah. She was known for her enthusiastic greetings, small talk while serving food and true kindness to all. This is what makes it so hard to grapple with the fact that on Sunday, Jan. 25, she passed away in her sleep.
“Loving,” “Biggest Supporter,” “Enthusiastic,” “Caring” and “Hilarious” were all words people used to describe Ms. Sarah, yet all of these descriptions just barely touch on who she was.
“Sarah was much more than a Bon Appétit associate here at Fribley. Sarah was genuinely involved in each student’s college experience. She knew many of our student guests by name. Her loving greeting always brought smiles to our guests and coworkers’ faces,” Jim Boland, Resident District Manager at Bon Appétit, aptly described her impact on the community. Boland also noted her importance in the relaunch of Fribley Commons, as he explained that Ms. Sarah brought “energy, care and pride to the space during a major transition”.
On a personal note, I firsthand saw her care for the community in many ways, but nowhere was it more evident than her habit of nicknaming people. She used “boo” as a term of affection for almost all Case Western Reserve University students. But, as she got to know people more, she would develop a personalized nickname—these nicknames almost always stemmed from a funny story shared between the student and Ms. Sarah. With a yearly undergraduate population of roughly 6500 people, Ms. Sarah saw many faces throughout her 20+ years at CWRU. The ability to come up with and remember these nicknames was remarkable.
Her habit of nicknaming people was a lot more than what met the eye. It wasn’t just nicknaming for the sake of nicknaming. It was about forming intimate relationships with the people she helped every day. Ms. Sarah and the CWRU student population lived two very different lives, but when we walked through the Home Table line and she called us “boo,” there’s a moment of overlap. She put the effort to care, to love and to provide for us like we were one of her own. “In many ways, Sarah filled a void for those missing families from home by being a truly compassionate daily reminder that there was someone who cared about them,” says Boland. It would have been so easy for her to be emotionally detached from her job, but that sense of connection brightened all of our days.
The phrase “Won’t you be my neighbor?” has lost some of its weight in modern times, but Ms. Sarah, in one way or another, was our neighbor. She offered the warmth of Fribley hospitality to us on the coldest winter days, always ready to start up a conversation with anyone. Ms. Sarah was a truly genial person who really cared about all of our lives.
As of writing this, there is a station in Fribley where students can write down a message to the family of Ms. Sarah. And, as always, make sure to thank the staff that improve and make our student experience what it is.