Bryn Mawr Director of Transportation Steve Green is among the longest serving staff members at Bryn Mawr. In the below Q&A Green talks about both his work at the College and his career as a musician.
Can you tell us about the work of the transportation department?
The transportation office since its inception has actually been Tri-Co. We run buses in between Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore. Our mission is to serve the students to allow them to take classes at either one of the three schools. From making sure that the schedules are in-line with the class schedules, to serving the social needs of Tri-Co community events, transportation is an integral part of what makes the Tri-Co Consortium possible. That’s what we do, and I’ve been doing it for 36 years.
Can you share your career journey and what led you to Bryn Mawr 36 years ago?
Previous to working at Bryn Mawr, I was a full-time musician and my employer was Lou Rawls. He was a popular rhythm and blues singer I toured with. I was also a house bass player at Philadelphia International Records. When I came off tour with Lou Rawls, a friend of mine who was working at Bryn Mawr asked if I wanted a job here.
When I came to Bryn Mawr, I came as myself. I didn’t put a suit on or anything, I think my hair was all blonde back then from being on the road. I had two bands previous to that so I knew how to manage people. And during the interview process I basically talked about my people skills. I knew where my strengths lay, and they hired me. I told them that I could guarantee two years...and it’s been a wonderful thing.
What really cemented Bryn Mawr as a home for me was maybe a couple days after I took the position. I was walking through Merion Green and Pat McPherson, the president at the time, walked up to me and said, “Hi Steve! You know, I’m really glad that you took the position here at the College, and I hope that your music will stay an important part of your life as your work here at Bryn Mawr College.” And it just made me feel so welcome that she knew who I was. And you know, I’ve been here for a long time, and I still play music.
Is there anything that your department does that you’d like more of the community to know about?
The big focus for us in the transportation department is teamwork—I’m really committed to creating a feeling of team in the department so that everyone not only feels like they’re coming into a job, but they feel like they’re a part of what’s happening. I consider myself more than anything else, a servant leader. I try to provide what is needed for a task to get done for our mission to be successful and for everyone that’s involved in the team to have a stake and pride in what’s happening. So there’s a lot of support in-house in terms of the drivers supporting each other, and for the mission of supporting the students. We are very committed to that. Through all that we went through during Covid, and all of the challenges that came up, we remain a strong team.
We’ve also been committed to looking for alternative, clean fuels since 2004 and we are now in the process of purchasing an electric bus.
In addition to your music, how do you like to spend your time outside of work?
I’m an elder at my church and I have a ministry I started 12 years ago called Musicians’ Fellowship, which is a fellowship for musicians to come together. We have a meal, one of the musicians will bring a Good Word, we receive inspiration and encouragement, and then we have a jam session.
I also collect cowboy boots, and I’ve been doing that for a really long time. I have close to 100 pairs. When I was on the road as a musician traveling and going out to the Southwest, we would go shopping when we got into town, and we’d look at cowboy boots. Real cowboy boots, how they’re made, the construction, leathers, process, history, I just became very intrigued about it. So I probably know more about cowboy boots than is useful to most people, but it's a joy to me.
I’m also a great-grandfather. I have a beautiful wife, two wonderful daughters, five grandchildren, and one great-grandson who is two years old. God is good.
You can catch Steve Green and his band Breakwater at their next performance on February 14 and 15 at City Winery in Philadelphia.
As part of our effort to build community, College Communications plans to regularly highlight College staff members. If there's someone you think we should feature, please let us know at communications@brynmawr.edu.