The first thing people notice about travis (small “t,” no last name) is his appearance: salt-and-pepper dreadlocks that fall past his shoulders, blue hiking boots, khaki shorts, a white button-down shirt, suspenders and a bow tie.
He is coordinator of secretarial services at the Northwestern University School of Law.
“He’s the most colorful character at the law school. Everybody knows him,” says Joanne Howard, director of administrative services at the School of Law and travis’ boss. “With travis, you know you’re dealing with someone very sensitive, kind and humanistic. You know that he’s really interested in communicating. He listens. He’s contemplative.”
“He’s different, but he has a very winning way about him,” says Law School Dean Robert Bennett. “He makes people happy. He makes them feel good about themselves and that helps them feel good about their jobs. . . . He’s one of a kind, and he does a great job. That’s an unbeatable combination-having somebody who is interesting and unique but gets the job done.”
travis’ skill with computers is an important part of his job, in which he supervises the school’s 14 faculty secretaries. He began working as coordinator seven years ago, when the job was created because the school became computerized.
“The secretaries decided they wanted someone to work as a computer liaison between themselves and the Law School,” travis says. “I provide secretaries with immediate supervisory assistance. Whatever they need, it’s up to me to get it. … When they have a problem, they want you to solve it.”
He views his job as being an advocate for the secretaries.
“I think we’d be lost without him,” says Patricia Franklin, a secretary who has worked with travis for 17 years. “He makes it easier to deal with the many situations that a secretary might encounter with a professor. travis is always in the secretary’s corner. You can go to him with a problem and expect it to get solved.”
“He can walk right into the dean’s office, give his opinion, and the dean listens,” Howard says.
Each morning, travis visits each secretary in the Law School’s three buildings. He sees what they are doing and if they need help.
“It’s important to be seen and let them know I’m always here,” he says. “I check in on everyone and see what problems need to be addressed. I don’t limit it to computer problems or software, or even Law School problems. Some people have problems at home, and they need to talk. I deal with that as well.”
travis, 48, says he believes strongly in close, open working relationships. He and the secretaries meet as a group every other week.
“If there are things people need to know or they’re having problems with someone or have a gripe, it’s out in the open,” he says. “Everybody knows everybody’s business here. We’re involved in each other’s lives. People have no compunction about sharing. These people know my business. There is absolutely nothing in my life they don’t know about.”
travis and the secretaries agree that the close working lationships make it easier for everyone to do their jobs.
“It makes people more than just co-workers,” says Maryanne Martinez, who has been a Law School secretary for five years. “It’s about caring for one another. When you know each other’s business, you’re concerned with them personally, not just as co-workers.”
travis adds, “If one secretary is flooded with work and I ask another one to help, she’s not just helping with a job that has to be accomplished. She knows the person very closely, and she knows (that) when the time comes, that other person is not going to blink when she’s asked to give a hand.”
By night, travis is a student, singer and performance artist. His artistic interests are what brought him to Chicago and to the Law School in 1976. He was on his way to California and thought he would spend the summer here.
“I started here as a legal secretary just to pay the rent for the summer, but then I got involved in a band, a performance group and all this other underground madness that is going on in art in this city,” so he decided to stay.
After receiving Northwestern University Employee of the Year honors in 1986, travis decided to begin evening undergraduate classes there. He received a bachelor’s degree in science in 1990 and a master of arts degree in December 1993. He maintained a straight-A grade average in undergraduate and graduate school.
travis, who was born in rural Mississippi, had attended college once before. He went to Akron University in Ohio right after graduating high school there, but he found school boring and decided to join the Navy in 1963. He served six years, including a tour of duty in Vietnam.
He returned to Akron University for three years, but still found it boring, especially after being in the military. He then worked at two Akron companies as a data communications operator and supervisor (he had learned about computers in the military) before moving here.
Currently, travis is researching African-American influences in architecture and how African-Americans experience space differently than other people do. He would like to build architectural models and installations that could double as performance spaces for places such as Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and the DuSable Museum of African American History.
“What I love most in the world is research,” travis says. “I’m discovering a whole new side of me I knew nothing about. When I’m hiding away in the stacks in the library with my laptop computer, it’s like I’m another person.”
