If it weren’t for the fact that they wear name tags on their uniforms, it would be hard to tell Randy and Robert Diaz apart.

The two brothers, who are twins, take it all in stride, though.

“You can call me Randy, you can call me Robert, you can call me twin,” Robert says. “It doesn’t matter.”

The two brothers come from a close-knit family that has lived in Georgetown all their lives. In fact, the two are carrying on a family tradition by working in Southwestern’s Physical Plant Department. Their older sister, Martha Hurtado Diaz, retired from Southwestern in 2006 after working in Custodial Services for 21 years. Southwestern’s College Town Award bears her name.

Randy took a summer job at Southwestern as an on-call groundskeeper in 2005 in addition to his regular job as a housekeeper at Sun City. At the end of the summer, Physical Plant Director Joe LePage asked him if he wanted to work at Southwestern full time. The timing turned out to be perfect because the developer of Sun City was letting people go and his job there soon ended.

Robert joined Randy as a groundskeeper on the Physical Plant staff the following year after having worked as a stock controller at the HEB store in Georgetown for eight years.

Whether you see the Diaz brothers individually or roaming the campus together in a golf cart, one thing is for sure: you will always be greeted with a smile, a wave, a handshake or even a hug. The two brothers particularly go out of their way to establish and maintain relations with the students. They give rides to students they see are walking around with crutches and enjoy seeing students when they some back for Homecoming.

“I like to treat them like they’re mine,” said Randy, who has three children of his own.

Randy, who spent 22 years in the military, said he also tries to instill a sense of discipline in the students. “I try to make them stay on the right line,” he said. “I tell them they need to have three things – to have a dream, to have a goal, and to always respect your elders.”

Although Randy said his original goal after getting out of the military was to return to Georgetown and become a police officer, he is now happy to have found a home at Southwestern.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.