This story is part of Georgetown Faces, a storytelling series that celebrates the beloved figures, unsung heroes and dedicated Hoyas who make our campus special.
Luis Mendez remembers the quiet mornings of his first years at Georgetown.
He’d arrive at 6 a.m., before McDonough Gymnasium began filling up with sounds of whistles, sneaker squeaks and cheers.
As a custodian in the Athletics Department, Mendez mopped and shined the court floors, making sure they were ready for the day’s basketball practices and volleyball games. Sometimes Coach John Thompson Jr., the late men’s basketball coach, would stop in and say hello, he remembers.
That was 1991. Thirty-two years later, Mendez is the director of Athletic Facilities, overseeing all the services that make athletics run smoothly, from washing jerseys and vacuuming vans to fixing the turf before soccer practice.
But even in his director position, you’ll still catch Mendez with paint on his hands from lining the fields — sometimes even at 3 a.m. before the day’s practices.
“I try to keep people happy and try to keep all those teams doing better every year,” he said. “My passion is Georgetown — lacrosse, basketball, all the sports.”
Mendez immigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala in 1985 and began working in construction. Five years later, he began his career at Georgetown, where he worked his way from custodian to assistant director of support services to field manager to his current role.
No matter his position, Mendez is always on the go, responding to coaching requests, teaching himself how to paint the “G” for Georgetown in the center of Cooper Field sans stencil or “Hoyas” in the endzones.
In 2022, the men’s soccer team created an award named after Mendez. It’s given to the player whose dedication to the team is demonstrated through “selfless actions and giving to others.”
These days, Mendez still keeps busy with athletics and as a pastor at a Christian church. After 32 years, he thinks about retirement.
“But I love Georgetown,” he said. “I love this place. Students, everybody. I’m still enjoying my life in Georgetown.”
Learn more about Mendez, his path toward playing professional soccer and his ritual before every game.
How I started at Georgetown: In 1991, I went to the Human Resources Office. I remember a nice lady told me, ‘We have an open position right now in McDonough Arena.’ I asked her, ‘What’s the position?’ She said, ‘custodian.’ Oh, it’s OK, fine. I need to work. And when I came here, my feeling was like, wow, I like this place. Because I used to play volleyball, basketball a little bit. I said, this is my place. This is my place. It didn’t matter [that] I came to clean the floors. I came to do whatever they wanted me to do. I just wanted to work. And enjoy this place.
My motto at work: When people ask for something, never say ‘I can’t.’ Say ‘Let me try.’ If you can’t — don’t worry about it — but just try. I try to do the best I can. The most I can. I’m not strong anymore like 10, 15, 20 years ago, but I still can give ideas. I still can do my 110%. At the end of the day, I will say, I did it. You got it. It’s done. That’s when I feel, thank God, I still can.
I run on: Dunkin. I wake up at 5:40 a.m. Sometimes I make [coffee] at home, but sometimes I’m tired and stop and buy coffee. I think Dunkin’ Donuts is the best. Hot coffee. Cream. No sugar. Every two to three weeks, I get my classic donut, the Old Fashioned.
What I tell my kids: You have to have a passion for the job. I started cleaning the floors and I came up a little bit, a little bit, a little bit. But I have to work hard every day and I have to be responsible. I have to respect everybody. It’s a lot of discipline in my life and people like that. I told them, we have an opportunity. We have a chance to do different things.
That time the World Cup players came to Georgetown: In 1994, the World Cup was in America. Some national teams like Brazil and USA were supposed to come practice here. The teams showed up, and nobody was here to receive them. Jim Sullivan [the former athletic support director] called me and said, ‘Luis, my assistant didn’t show up today. Can you please take care of those teams?’
I received the USA national team, and I stayed with them. I prepared the fields, I gave them towels, gave them water, gave them whatever they wanted. I stayed at the field all day long. It was so exciting. I want to thank Jim for his support and showing me the work.
I wanted to play professional soccer: I played in Guatemala for three years. After that, I had a chance to come to the USA. I had just finished school and started to look for jobs. I wanted to be a real professional player. Teams started calling me that year. But I said, no, I prefer to come to America.
When I came here, I played with a lot of [local] teams. I went to work early in the morning, came home, changed my clothes and went to practice. Every day. But I met my wife and then I got more responsibilities and needed to concentrate on my work.
[Now] I like to watch people playing and have fun with my friends. I enjoy the games — especially the soccer games here in Georgetown. I love it. I’m with them all the time. If I have nothing to do and they play close to here, I’m going with them. I’m a big fan.
Something people don’t know about me: I pray before every team plays. To put those players in God’s hands. A lot of people don’t know that. But I do that. It’s my life.
Outside of work you’ll find me: At church. I preach every week at the church [as a pastor], and I give a Bible school to people in the church. It is not a job for me. It is something I love. It helped me a lot and keeps me up still. It keeps me happy every day, laughing every day. I walk around with a smile for everybody. That’s the spirit of my life right now.
