Kenan Center’s ‘magic man’ wins Massey Award

James Brower came to campus on his day off to talk about winning the University’s highest honor for employees, the C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award. Dressed in a sharp suit, the University housekeeper sat with his wife, Wanda, and sister Brenda Snipes on a shaded bench between the Kenan Center and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s McColl Building, ready to answer the questions.

But the friends he’d made over the past two decades kept interrupting the interview to give Brower a hug and to tell him how much they miss him.

Known for his warmth, Brower is one of six recipients of this year’s Massey Awards. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

Brower is assigned to Fetzer Hall now, but for 23 years, he worked in the Kenan Center, emptying the trash, vacuuming the carpet and checking in on his fellow employees. They were the ones who nominated him for the award, calling the man with the shy smile and the ready chuckle “an institution” and “a magic man.”

“Everyone knows and loves James in this building,” wrote one nominator. “If I don’t know something or somebody, I can count on James to fill me in. I so look forward to my morning and afternoon check-ins from James when he stops by the office.”

The five-story brick building with 60,000 square feet of space is home to the William Rand Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust, the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, offices for the business school as well as a 220-seat dining room and a 130-seat tiered conference room. Keeping it clean and ready to host meetings and events — including the campus welcome for Lee H. Roberts upon his election as Carolina’s 13th chancellor in August 2024 — is an exacting task for a housekeeper.

“It’s a given that the garbage will be removed, boxes broken down and removed, chairs and tables set up and broken down, and that perfect carpet lines magically appear every morning,” wrote one of Brower’s nominators.

But Kenan Center employees appreciated Brower’s personality as much as his work ethic. When Brower wasn’t around, they missed “the warmth, care” and the “exceptional service that we rely on to make our work environment feel welcoming and like an extension of family,” wrote one nominator.

Baby of the family

Brower grew up in Goldston, North Carolina, a town of less than 300 people in rural Chatham County. His father worked at a sawmill, and his mother died when he was only 2. He was the baby of seven children, with three sisters and three brothers. “They spoiled me,” Brower said.

His first job was driving a van and making deliveries. Brower came to work at Carolina in 2001 for better pay and benefits. “I love it,” he said of his housekeeping job. “When I get to work, I make my rounds. I check my floors, my bathrooms and stuff. If they want me do something else, I do it.”

The people at the Kenan Center felt like his extended family. “They ask me how my family’s doing, and I ask them how their family’s doing,” he said.

At home in the Chatham County community of Bear Creek, Brower spends much of his free time working. “I like to wash cars for people. Then I do a little bit of yard work and stuff, keep myself busy. Lay on the couch after I get through,” he said.

Brower was very excited to receive the Massey Award and thanked the Kenan Center employees for nominating him.

When asked what he’ll do with his $10,000 Massey stipend, he gave Wanda Brower one of those shy smiles. “My wife,” he said. “It’s her choice.”