At 6:30 in the morning, when most of campus is still asleep, mechanic Jose Alanis is already crouched on the tile floor of the Benson Memorial Center bathroom next to the Williman Room. Janitors had reported that the water wasn’t going down, requiring facilities staff to be called in to fix the pipe blockage. By midmorning, after hours spent testing access points and continually getting sprayed with sewage water, he stepped back and shrugged before claiming the situation was “not too bad.”

After all, he had eight hours to finish and at least—unlike earlier in the week—he hadn’t broken the toilet.

Jose Alanis attempts to use a snake to unclog a pipe after failed attempts with a plunger. **(Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)**

Jose Alanis looks at the splattered sewage water. **(Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)**

While most mechanics scattered to their assigned buildings, Juan Topete stayed behind at the Facilities Building, replacing a torn screen from a Swig Hall window. Before leaving to his building, a passing mechanic peered over and pointed to the mangled mesh.

“That’s what happens when students touch things,” he said.

Juan Topete pulls out the last piece of mesh from the damaged screen. **(Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)**

At the Mission Church, Sergio Rodriguez installs new lights. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)

Sergio Rodriguez looks at the label of a light bulb before installing it in the Mission Church. **(Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)**

While campus began to stir with early classes underway, Raul Saavedra was already deep into his shift. He works 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., tending the landscape that frames Kenna Hall, the Walsh Administration Building, the Mission Church and Heafey Hall. On Friday, Nov. 14, he spent the morning pruning roses—his favorite task—and raking wet leaves that were too damp to blow. He loves the details, especially over his weekly grass mowing.

Saavedra prunes roses outside of Heafey Hall. **(Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)**

1-3: Ruben Solis finishes his quarterly inspection of the exhaust fan that keeps air flowing in Graham Residence Center. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)

4: Ruben Solis checks a kitchen on the fourth floor of Graham Residence Center. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)

5: Ruben Solis turns on a light switch to check whether a light in Graham Residence Center is broken. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)

Robert Solis (right) and his coworker inspect machinery that keeps groundwater from flooding in Bellarmine Residence Hall. **(Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)**

Beneath the surface of the University—sometimes literally—are the people who keep its systems running. Without them, roses don’t bloom, doors don’t open and lights don’t turn on.

“Sometimes it looks impossible, but we’ll get it to work again,” said Alanis. And they do, walking building to building, checking every system that students never think twice about.