Kim Brooks Beginning May 25, over the course of 45 days, approximately 9,000 middle and high school-age students will visit campus. The dining hall will serve up to 1,700 students three times a day, as opposed to the 1,100 meals that are prepared during the school year over the course of an entire day. And to coordinate it all, Kim Brooks will be working around the clock. As director of special projects for the university, Kim Brooks handles room reservations for nearly every event on Lee’s campus as well as coordinating locations for off-campus events. She is an integral part of Homecoming, Lee Day and Celebration preparations, but her main responsibility is the summer conferences which began in 2000 with approximately 2,000 students. Under Kim’s leadership, Lee has become a venue for youth camps from across the country. Kim and her husband, Kevin had begun living in Charlotte, NC after their marriage and were working as event coordinator and director, respectively, for Convention Planning, Inc., planning events for as many as 32,000 people. The husband and wife team traveled for the company, coordinating meals, travel, and hotel accommodations for attendees at major events. Kim and Kevin, an alumnus of Lee, were on the lookout for other opportunities, however. “We always wanted to raise our kids in Cleveland,” said Kim, who has one son, Zach, now 15 and a daughter, Elizabeth, now 11. Kim came to Lee in 1998 as the department secretary in the College of Education after Kevin was offered the job of director of Alumni Relations. When the job as director of special events (now special projects) came open, she jumped at the chance to get back to event planning, a vocation she had enjoyed. “I love the diversity of doing so many different things,” said Kim. “I don’t do the same thing every day, and I like that.” Variety can come with surprises, however. One summer, Kim was asked to find a cow for a video a camp was making, so she called a local farmer and arranged for the campers to visit the farm to milk a cow. Another summer, a camp requested 900 ice cream bars. “I purchased every box of ice cream bars that our local Wal-Mart had within two hours,” said Kim. She has also imported 12 tons of dirt to campus to make a mud pit. Now a vital part of Lee’s University Relations team, Kim has taken her position campus-wide. “I work so closely with Physical Plant and food service,” said Kim. “You’ve got to have relationships with all those different departments in order to do this job. I can’t do my job as one person so even though they’re in different sectors, we’re all a part of a team. For instance, if the grass isn’t mowed, the kids can’t play outside. It’s grounds keeping, it’s custodial, it’s food service, it’s everybody.” This teamwork and family atmosphere are what Kim likes best about her Lee experience. “I think that if I was ever in need of anything, Lee would rally around me and my family,” she said. “I love how we take care of each other.” And we can all be sure that Kim Brooks is taking care of Lee.   Posted on - 05/04/07