When Donna Gray first accepted a job at Temple University, she told a friend, “I’m probably only gonna be there for a couple years.”

That was in 1994.

“That was my thinking at the time,” recalled Gray, EDU ’88, a program and project coordinator with Campus Safety Services. “But then I got here, and it was just phenomenal.”

Having completed 20 years of employment at Temple, Gray was recently welcomed into the university’s 20-Year Club, which honors employees with two decades or more of continuous, full-time service.

On June 12, the club held its annual Initiation and Recognition Reception. The event honored employees who are celebrating their 20th anniversary, or any subsequent five-year anniversary (such as their 25th or 30th).

“The reception is a way to thank our most loyal employees for their commitment to Temple,” said Dawn Ramos, CLA ’07, ’14, president of the 20-Year Club and director of administration in the School of Media and Communication. Ramos has worked at Temple for nearly 29 years.

“All of the 20-Year Club members have helped Temple grow into what it is today,” she said. “They deserve to be celebrated.”

During the reception, nearly 50 new members were inducted into the club and received a ceremonial pin. More than 130 employees celebrated a five-year anniversary and received a gemstone to add to their pins.

Ethel Lombard now has eight gemstones. The administrative assistant to the chair of the Department of Neurology, Lombard is celebrating her 60th anniversary at Temple.

“I enjoy doing what I do,” she said. “And because I enjoy what I do, when I reached retirement age, I thought, ‘I’m going to continue working.’”

Lombard said that what motivates her is the desire to keep making a difference in patients’ lives. She also loves working with the physicians in her department, especially the chair, S. Ausim Azizi, who, she said, “is one of the best chairs I’ve served over the years.”

“Temple is my family,” Lombard said. “I’m the mother and the grandmother to everybody.”

Karen Sherlock, director of Parking Services, is celebrating her 25th anniversary at Temple. Her experience gives her unique insight into Temple’s evolution from a primarily commuter school into one that now has a significant residential community.

“Now we have all these fantastic buildings around us,” she said. “This is an exciting time.”

Sherlock has one daughter who is a rising senior at Temple and another who will be a freshman this fall.

“When I walk around campus, I can’t help but feel proud that I’m a Temple employee,” she said.

Donna Gray said her 20 years at Temple have gone fast. Her advice for her newer colleagues is to remember Temple’s motto: Perseverance Conquers.

“That’s what they need to be mindful of,” she said. “You’re going to have rough days. You’re going to have a day where everything doesn’t go perfectly. But if you just hang in there, you’ll always find people here who understand you and support you.”

See the list of new inductees in the 20-Year Club.

See the list of honorees celebrating an anniversary.