The man behind the man behind the counter
The life, career of Chartwells' Miguel Delgado
By: Greg Linch
Issue date: 4/11/06 Section: News
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With the swipe of a 'Cane Card, Miguel Delgado admits students into the dining hall with a smile.
"I love my job and I love talking to the people [and] being nice to them because all American people [have] been nice to me," Miguel said.
Miguel has worked in the dining hall for 18 years, carrying milk, working at the salad bar for many years and doing check-in for the last year and a half.
"I work all the time here and I'm very happy here," he said. "I love this place. I love the students and you can find out that they all care for me too."
Students have shown their admiration for him by creating a Facebook group aptly titled "The Miguel Delgado Fan Club," which boasts a membership of 256 students.
Miguel said he is very happy in the United States, a country which he calls his own, for the good life and treatment he has received.
"I give thanks to God everyday for being in this country, which I love with all my heart," he said.
Born in 1930 in Cuba, Miguel first started working in a factory at age 13 for only $3 a week.
"I've been through hell over there because everything was difficult for me," he said.
He was able to leave Cuba in 1950 and went to New York with a visa, where he worked nights cleaning dishes in a restaurant on 46th Street and Broadway.
"It was very bad because I didn't speak English, I had no friends," he said.
Miguel left the city for three years to work in the cafeteria at Brown University in Rhode Island before returning to New York, his home for almost 40 years in all.
The next move for Miguel came in 1988 when he moved to Miami. He got a job working in the dining hall at University of Miami and he's been there ever since.
"The friends that I have here in this restaurant, the only thing I can say is they are wonderful," he said. "I've been treated very nicely at this university and I got wonderful bosses.
