Dining Services employee receives President’s Distinguished Service Award

Sara Lopez, a North Campus Dining Hall employee, received the President’s Distinguished Service Award.

When walking into the North Campus Dining Hall, it‘s common to hear students yelling out “Mami, mami,” to one particular employee — Sara Lopez.

For many students, Lopez is their mom away from home.

“When students come to campus, many are leaving home for the first time for an extended period of time, and they are really happy to find someone who seems to care so much about them,” Dining Services spokesman Bart Hipple said.

The University of Maryland recently named Lopez as a 2015 recipient of the President’s Distinguished Service Award. She has worked at this university for 21 years and has held various jobs in the South and North campus dining halls on the campus. She currently works as a cashier.

“We honored several staff people because of their dedication and excellence of their work,” university President Wallace Loh said. “But I must say, she is truly, truly special.” 

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The Distinguished Service Award is a way for the university to recognize those who exhibit distinguished performance in the school community, university spokesman Brian Ullmann said. 

“In this particular area we recognize staff people who go beyond in what we think is their job responsibilities,” Ullmann said. “This particular award is really the highest level.”

Lopez has a bubbly, friendly personality but is also a steady and reliable employee, which makes her invaluable to the department, Hipple said.

Lopez said working the cash register is her favorite job thus far because she gets to interact with the students.

“I love working with the students because they are so adorable,” Lopez said. “They are making my life.”

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Sophomore history and secondary education major Katie Evans and her friends specifically go to Lopez’s cash register when she is working because they know they “will have a good interaction with her.”

“Even if she doesn’t know you, she will smile at you, say hi to you, and you never know when she’s having a bad day because she’s always smiling,” Evans said.

Two students recently told Lopez they are going to make the effort to come to the North Campus Dining Hall twice a week — even though they live on South Campus — just to come see her, Lopez said.

“That makes me feel really special,” she said.

Students “introduce her to their parents when they get picked up for breaks and go, ‘This is my mom at school,’ and it’s a beautiful thing,” said Kevin Williams, one of the four managers at the North Campus Dining Hall.

The students also come to Lopez with personal stories because they know she will listen, Williams said.

“She remembers people, she tells people she misses them, and she just has this tremendous gift on reaching out on such a personal and loving level to the students,” Hipple said.

Lopez, who is originally from Guatemala, has a son and daughter and five grandchildren.

“When I was talking to her, she treats each of her students as her son or daughter,” Loh said. “It’s amazing, the personality of this woman.”