Dressed in casual blue work overalls, the tall, robust figure with a baseball cap saunters into the bathroom, mop in hand as he methodically flushes each toilet in turn.

For some, cleaning toilets may be a menial job that few would want. For Reginald Wilkins, toilets are part of his 40-hour-per-week job that he describes as anything but menial -- a perspective that helped earn him special recognition at Auburn Montgomery.

“Cleaning up doesn’t bother me,” he said during a recent shift on campus. “People are nice to me and speak when they see me. It’s an all around good job.”

Reggie, as he’s known on campus, started his work at AUM in November 2006. Before that, he worked for Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base as a laborer and cleaner.

“I did the regular housekeeping tasks: making sure outside and front of the building was OK, vacuuming the floors, dusting cobwebs, just making sure the place looked presentable. I really enjoyed my job,” he said.

The 34-year-old father of three grew up in Montgomery, Ala., in a family of four brothers and five sisters, including a twin sister. Raised in a close-knit family, he said, defined who he is today. He said he was closest to his older brother who died in 2005, adding, “I still think about him every day and I miss him a lot.”

Working 40 hours a week including night shifts, Wilkins routinely checks the bathrooms, makes sure the floors are spotless, checks and sweeps the elevators, dusts the landscape pictures that adorn the library walls. By the end of the day, the area looks like a home decor picture from a magazine.

Students not only respect his work but the faculty also recognize his efforts. Wilkins was named 2008 Employee of the Quarter and Employee of the Year. He was honored with a plaque and a check.

When he’s not working, Wilkins considers himself to be a "shopaholic" -- collecting clothes, coins and designer cologne whenever he can. He has 20-25 bottles of colognes and two sets of state coins.

“What can I say? I looove to smell good!” he said with a charming smile.

Wilkins described his children as his pride and joy. His dreams are to travel the world and visit Africa with his family one day, and build his family home from the ground up.

"Why Africa? I would love to see how the people live there," he said. "What are the struggles and what are the non-struggles.”

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