Amy Graybill departs from Regis University after 30 years
After 30 years at Regis University, Amy Graybill can look in any direction on the Northwest Denver Campus and experience a flood of memories.
She remembers the security detail stationed on the roofs of campus buildings when President Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II met here in 1993. She can point out where the Jesuit priests used to park at Carroll Hall. And, she remembers when a School of Pharmacy hallway in Claver Hall was a basketball court.
On a recent tour of Regis, Graybill recommended pausing to take in the sounds of the campus.
“If you just come out here and just sit and listen and watch, you get a good sense of what Regis is all about,” she said. “It’s a pretty awesome feeling and I’m lucky to have experienced it for 30 years.”
Graybill, the assistant director of Plant Services, departed December 1 after three decades with the University.
She started at Regis in 1988 at age 19, after being recruited to work as a word processing clerk by her former high school soccer coach, who worked at the University, which was Regis College at the time. Although she left from 2000-2003 to follow her husband to South Dakota for a job opportunity, she spent the majority of the next 30 years at the University, working in departments from Conference Services (now Event and Conference Services) to the copy center to Legal Affairs.
“Regis College took a chance on me as a teenager,” Graybill said. “Throughout my career, I’ve kept that close to my heart, always wanting to do the same: Give back and take chances, not only on my career, but also on other colleagues.”
In Graybill’s most recent role with the Physical Plant, she managed the University’s custodial contracts, oversaw the lock shop and worked as the liaison between Regis and major campus events. Even before she joined the department in 2015, she admired its commitment to Regis values.
“I really saw a sense of value within the department and with the staff that worked there,” she said. “I kept thinking, ‘I want to be part of that. I want to someday be part of that value walk.’”
Regis saw Graybill through many personal milestones: Her marriage to her husband, Shawn, and birth of her two children, Logan and Katie. When Logan was diagnosed with leukemia at age 20, Graybill said, she stayed at his bedside, and worked remotely. Graybill said her son is in remission. Recently, Graybill and her husband celebrated their 29th anniversary.
As her time at Regis ends, Graybill and her husband plan to relocate to Wisconsin to be closer to their extended family. She said Regis has prepared her for the transition.
“I am who I am because Regis took that chance on me, and also allowed me to walk a meaningful and purposeful life,” she said. “My hope for Regis is that those that come after us will take the baton and inspire more, lead with kinder hearts and find goodness in all they do. I often wonder what the Jesuit brothers who labored for years to create this institution thought life would be like 100, 200 years later. I hope we have made them proud.”