You’ve seen his welcoming smile and friendly face at Marian University’s Starbucks early morning for years, but Bertus “Bert” Whyte is moving on.“I’m going to really miss the students,” Whyte said. “I love the faculty and staff here, but I really love the students.”
For the past five years, Bert has been a constant welcoming start to the day.
“I love seeing their smiles as it brightens my day and I basically know what type of coffee drinks students want, how they want them prepared even when they don’t know how they want their drinks prepared.” he said.
“No way, he’s awesome,” said Marian student Hugo Vasquez ’26, after learning Bert was leaving. “What am I going to do without him?” “He’s always had a smile and a friendly face whenever I saw him.”
A call from Community Hospital with a custom new job opportunity lured Whyte away. His last day at Marian is July 7th.
“I’m going to miss him because we work so well together,” said Starbucks co-worker Lowayne Brown pouting a bit. “I’ve been here two years and Bert always made me laugh and smile as we had a lot of fun together.”