Storm troopers

In late September 2024, Hurricane Helene tore a path of devastation unseen in modern times across the entire southeastern United States. The Upstate was not spared, with flooding, tornados and high winds sending trees crashing across roads and into houses. It was one of the most catastrophic weather events in South Carolina history. At Clemson, the tempest left thousands without power, fallen trees rendered the roads into and out of campus unpassable, and classes were canceled.

It’s in these times, when almost nobody else can move, that University Facilities jumps into action. Crews were in the field working to get Clemson back on its feet before the winds had died.

Chief Facilities Officer Todd Barnette holds up his team’s response in the immediate aftermath of Helene as a perfect example of their workforce’s dedication.

“I’ll tell you this: I’ve been here a long time, and I don’t know that I ever saw it as clearly as after Hurricane Helene last year,” says Barnette, who has been at Clemson 26 years. “We literally had people come in who had trees on their houses and no power. They certainly had things they had to do at home, but they got here and started working on the campus. It was incredible. That’s probably the biggest example of sacrifice that I’ve seen.”

Boots on the ground

The quick and selfless reaction after Hurricane Helene is just one example in a long list of stories about University Facilities teams going the extra mile.

For example, crews were still cleaning up from Hurricane Helene when an abnormally hard freeze struck the Upstate in the first weeks of 2025, plunging temperatures into the teens and bringing the first snow in three years on January 10. Classes were canceled in advance of the storm, and students, faculty and staff were told to stay home — except for Facilities crews.

They stayed in hotels near campus and worked through the freezing night on 24-hour shifts, clearing snow on roads and sidewalks and keeping the heat on in buildings that weren’t necessarily designed for sub-freezing weather. Meanwhile, in the call center in the University Facilities headquarters building, operators worked through the storm to field and prioritize hundreds of calls requesting repairs. It was a long, cold night but their efforts allowed the University to step right back into normal operations as soon as the storm passed.

It’s the kind of thing that happens all the time, and few outside of Facilities would know it. Barnette says that’s because Facilities employees, remarkably committed to the University, do so much of their work behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.

“Sometimes I don’t even know myself how hard they work,” he says. “For instance, the electricity in the fire department went down last Friday because a squirrel chewed through the line. Our high-voltage crew — six people responsible for electrical distribution to all the buildings on campus — worked a 17-hour shift in very uncomfortable conditions to get them back online.

“That’s the kind of thing you don’t hear about: They just do it. And if you ask any of them why, they always say, ‘That’s just what we do.’ It is humbling, to say the least.”

Power up

Ben Quarles, the manager of the high-voltage department, says he and his crew are happy to go above and beyond because they make it a point not to lose sight of the big picture.

“I am a true believer in education because once you get that here, it belongs to you and can never be taken away,” says Quarles, who grew up as one of six children in Greenwood, South Carolina, and has been on his own since he was 15.

“It’s through education that we advance as people,” Quarles says. “It runs cold chills down my body when I think of it. There may be a person who comes out of Clemson who figures out how to end cancer or dementia or become a better leader than we’ve had in our past.”

Quarles added that work done by the good people in Facilities draws a clear through line to the University’s academic mission.

“I promise you: It’s all connected,” he says. “Ultimately, no matter what our jobs are, we’re all helping these students get through their time here so they can go on to do great things. I may never know their names, and they may never know mine, but my great-grandchildren could benefit from their accomplishments, and that is a beautiful thing.”