At Campus Dining, Storekeeper Damon Schunk Keeps Reunions Humming

When 25,000 people arrive on Princeton’s campus for four days of Reunions, staff members shift into high gear to ensure that the alumni, family, and friends enjoying the celebration are well fed.

Damon Schunk, a senior storekeeper in Campus Dining, is an essential figure in the elaborate choreography of preparing and serving those meals.

Starting at 6 a.m. and working 14 or more hours each day, Schunk sets up outdoor stations; stocks grills; delivers food, equipment, and supplies; and transports leftover food and trash when the events conclude.

“It’s a special time on campus,” Schunk says. He relishes working with a crew of 12 students hired to help him with Reunions. “I enjoy the camaraderie with them,” he says. Some of those students have sought him out when they return to campus decades later, eager to see how he’s doing.

Schunk, who has worked at Princeton for 37 years, was awarded the President’s Achievement Award in 2024 for his outstanding contributions to campus life. He works at Mathey and Rockefeller colleges, where he is responsible for receiving deliveries, taking inventories, ordering food and supplies, and completing other tasks needed for the dining hall.

“We order 2,000 pounds of chicken a week, and I check the quality and temperature when it arrives,” he says. His territory covers the three walk-in refrigerators, one walk-in freezer, and a dry goods storeroom on the lower level of Madison Hall.

On one occasion, when a company mistakenly delivered frozen chicken instead of fresh, he single-handedly thawed all 625 pounds so that it could be cooked for an event.

Hailing from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he still lives, Schunk enjoys bringing his wife to campus in the fall to see the leaves turning. “It’s a beautiful place to work,” he says.

Outside of work, Schunk’s passion is music. “That’s my love,” he says. “I don’t know where I would be without it.”

When he was 7, his mother signed him up for piano lessons, which he resisted. “I wanted drums, but my parents said no,” he recalls. A few years later, his mother became ill. Before she died, when Schunk was 11, she told his father to make sure her son continued his lessons. He did, and grew to love playing piano, singing, and composing songs.

He has played in several bands, performing covers and original music at clubs, cafes, and weddings. He has also played on campus at cocktail parties and other gatherings. The highlight of his musical career was a performance at Richardson Auditorium during a program honoring University employees. In front of several hundred people, Schunk sang his own songs while playing piano.

“What an experience,” he says.