He’s the hero campus needed, regardless of whether we deserved him—gate guy.

Gate guy’s job is to control the foot traffic around the construction zone for the Diana Davis Spencer Graduate School of Education building. He closes the gates when trucks drive onto campus and opens them when it’s safe again.

Dennis Cook, the original gate guy, said his father started working on construction projects for the college, and that inspired him to serve the college in its new construction projects. 

“I’m a Hillsdale local, born and raised,” he said. “I have worked on seven buildings here. I worked on the Searle Center from start to finish, and I also worked on Christ Chapel when they constructed it. I also got to work on Lane and Kendall. That was one of my first jobs at the laborer’s union.” 

Cook said he has been in the laborer’s union for 15 years.

“When they started this project, I went on with them again. I hop between different companies, but try to stay local if I can,” he said.

Cook said he typically does the same type of construction work. 

“Usually, I work with the masons, and we deal with different types of brick and stone. Right now I’m working with the carpenters to create the foundation,” he said. 

Cook said he enjoyed his brief interactions with students. He said mostly people just greet him politely when they pass by.

“I’ve gotten to meet a lot of students. Some of them have even asked about working, but I tell them that most of the trades do take a four-year apprenticeship,” Cook said. “A lot of it, however, is on-the-job training, and then a little bit of schooling.” 

He said students this year have typically behaved themselves pretty well, except for a few people.

“We’ve had a few people walk up through the heavy machinery gate, and we are just worried about them twisting their ankles,” he said.

His most recent work tending the entrance to the construction site has earned him a fan account on Instagram. 

The account, named “gateguycentral,” has more than 50 followers as of this Wednesday and labels itself as the “#1 Gate Guy Fanpage” in the bio. The page has various memes about Cook and his job. 

“I don’t even have Instagram,” he said, laughing, “But that’s funny. I love the community around here.”

Cook said he will be involved for the duration of the project.

“I’ll be here. There are likely to be many more construction projects too, and I intend to take part in them. I might even retire here,” he said.

Senior Monica Blaney said she hasn’t talked much with Cook aside from greetings as she passes, but she has noticed when he plays music.

“Typically there’s rock music playing, but one day I walked by and he had classical music playing. It was a little out of the ordinary, but I thought it was kind of cool,” Blaney said.

Blaney said she enjoyed the subversion of expectations.

“It was lovely. I thought it was very classy—not what you typically associate with construction workers just ‘getting the job done,’ you know?” 

Erik Benson, a construction worker who fills in at the gate when Cook is on other tasks or on break, said he is newer to the type of construction work they are doing at Hillsdale.

“I’m a local, and I did eight years of residential work,” Benson said. “I just got into the apprenticeship last year to do commercial work, but I’m pretty green when it comes to laying concrete foundations.”

Benson said most students he interacts with are polite and pleasant to deal with—with a few exceptions.

“There are a couple of not-so-smart guys who will try to come through when I have my gate closed, and I just stare at them,” Benson said.

Benson said the amount of workers will increase soon, and they can augment the number of people who have shifts to man the gate.

“We’ve got two more workers who are supposed to start April 17, and hopefully when they come, I can be out in the field learning,” Benson said.

Although the job may be tiring at times, construction work  provides a worker with a skillset that can benefit him or her for life.

“It’s a nice career, because once you learn a trade you can take it anywhere you go,” Cook said.