Carl Bryant has a simple rule, one that has shaped his 50-year career at George Washington University.
“You have to treat people good,” Bryant says, “and they’ll be good to you.”
Since 1975, he’s been showing up at GW, doing the work and treating everyone he meets with kindness.
“GW was only a couple of buildings back then,” said Bryant who came to work at the university in July of 1975. “I’ve seen the university grow, grow and grow.”
He’s a driver for GW Moving and Relocation, part of Transportation and Logistics Services in the Division of Safety and Operations.
Like many mornings before, Bryant now starts his day at the loading dock outside the GW Support Building at 2025 F St. NW.
“Everything you see around here, these weren’t dorms. They were apartment buildings,” Bryant said, motioning to the buildings nearby that now house GW administrative offices and residence halls.
As he walks through the loading dock, Bryant greets each of his coworkers by name.
“Good morning, Carl,” colleagues shout back. Others call out, “Hey, Moon,” using the nickname he got while he was a student Western High School, now Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
Taking off his GW-branded beanie, Bryant showed the bald cut that earned him the teasing nickname. The friendly, lighthearted energy Bryant brings to work every day has made him a positive presence at GW.
“The way he knows everybody, and his can-do attitude makes him so fabulous to work with,” said Monet Charlton, the staff assistant director of Relocation Services. “He is GW. He has been here for so long. If there’re questions, you go to Carl. He has just such a knowledge that you can’t replace.”
While so much of the job has changed over the years, the good relationships he’s had at GW have remained constant.
In the past 50 years, Bryant has watched not only the university grow and change, but also the neighborhood he’s called home. A D.C. native, Bryant grew up in Georgetown, on Reservoir Road, surrounded by a tight-knit community where neighbors treated each other like family.
“When I was coming up, people would treat everybody the same, and they looked out for each other,” Bryant said. “People really looked out for each other.”
Back then, the streets were lined with farmers’ markets where families could buy fresh fruits and vegetables straight from the growers. Milk was delivered to doorsteps, and people dressed up to go to the movies.
“That’s the way we were brought up,” Bryant said. “That theater, the Lincoln, you had to be dressed nice, or you wouldn’t get in.”
Local corner stores often allowed neighbors to buy groceries on a makeshift credit system, trusting families to pay at the end of the month.
“My mom would send us to the store, and the man would say, ‘I know you, you’re Miss Bryant’s son.’ He’d ask, ‘You want it on the book?’ I’d say, ‘Yep. Put it on the book,’” Bryant said.
When stores closed at the end of the day, instead of throwing out their perishables, they would give them away to neighbors.
Those community ties in the 1950s made Georgetown a wonderful place to grow up. He remembers trick-or-treating during Halloween and stopping at each doorstep for a conversation before returning home with giant bags of candy. During Christmas, children went house to house caroling, and neighbors welcomed them.
“It was good, it was good,” Bryant said.
As rent prices increased, many families moved out of Georgetown over the years.
Since so much of his upbringing was shaped by the close community that helped raise him, the importance of looking out for your neighbors has been a value Bryant has held on to throughout his life.
When he was 18, he worked delivering newspapers for The Washington Daily News, an afternoon tabloid that stopped publishing in 1972. He loved the paper route, remembering how people made a point to get to know the paper boys, and over the years, he started a tradition of exchanging calendars and Christmas presents with his customers.
Carrying the values he grew up with, Bryant mentored two boys from his neighborhood, having them help deliver newspapers and keeping them out of trouble. “I saw they were going the opposite way, the wrong way,” Bryant said. “I wanted them on a good path.”
When he first started in 1975 at GW, Bryant drove trucks hauling trash and recycling around campus. Eventually, he joined Transportation and Relocation. He said working at GW allowed him to build a stable life. He has been married to his wife, Brenda, for 38 years and raised two children, Catrina and Parnell.
He’s seen coworkers come and go over the years and appreciates the people he’s gotten to work with.
Those who work with Bryant have high praise for him. Valerie L. White, supervisor of Transportation Logistics, says she’s been impressed by his integrity and work ethic.
“I’ve never seen anyone with a better attendance record. Carl is always present, greeting everyone with a smile and ready for any assignment. He’s a true team player, putting customers first while looking out for his co-workers. I am thankful and honored to have Carl on my team,” White said.
As for Bryant, he said what’s made his time at GW so remarkable and a place he’s wanted to stay for half a century comes down to how people treat each other.
“Like I said, the GW has always been good to me, and that’s what kept me here,” Bryant said. “Here, you treat people good and you get it back.”
