Meet a Colleague: Schuyler Phillips Schuyler Phillips serves as a sergeant with public safety.

W&L News Office
September 13, 2023

Q. How long have you worked at W&L?
I am going into my third academic year which I guess makes me a junior.

What do you like most about working at W&L?
I love being around and conversing with many amazing and different people. Learning about others is something I have always enjoyed, and the community gives me the ability to do that. I am also a dog lover and love that everyone likes to bring their dogs around campus.

Where is your favorite location on the W&L campus?
Not to be cliché but the colonnade. Working night shift for my first couple of years I always found it peaceful once everyone went to bed to just walk up and down the area to clear my head and relax.

Where did you grow up?
This is always a hard question due to my dad being in the Air Force. However, I spent most of my formative years in Northern Virginia. More specifically, I grew up in a place called Woodbridge. I do not miss the traffic!

What advice do you have for students (or parents)?
Take advantage of every opportunity you are given whether academically or socially. After graduating I always dreaded the “what if?” whenever I said no to an opportunity.

What is the most adventurous thing that you have ever done?
I got to play with and feed penguins in the middle of the desert. Inside the Mall of Emirates in Dubai, there is a small indoor ski slope and a place where you can meet penguins, my favorite animal.

What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re not working?
Either something outside such as kayaking or walking/hiking. If not, I am usually sitting at home listening to music and playing video games.

If you could live anywhere, where would you build your dream home?
Somewhere around Pittsburgh. My family is from there and would love to retire up there some day. I am a diehard Pittsburgh sports fan. Yes, sadly, this includes my pitiful Pirates.

Who most inspires you?
My daughter. She makes me want to be a better person. It’s amazing to see how happy she always is and explores everything with so much curiosity. I thrive to live like her more often and try to spread positivity.

What book are you reading now?
I do not have enough room to put them all here, they are typically full of big letters and lots of pictures. I typically read aloud to a certain little girl. My favorite is “Go Dog Go” which was my favorite as a kid.

What music are you listening to these days?
Metal. I am a metal head and have been listening to a lot to “Bring Me the Horizon,” “Electric Callboy” and “Wage War” recently. I recently did get to see Blink-182 for the fifth time – they were my favorite band growing up.

Your favorite film (movie) of all time?
“Airplane.” It is one of those movies that elicits just nonstop laughter and seems to get funnier with age. It has a lot of funny quotes that I try to use, and is one of those movies I can watch over and over and never grow tired of it.

What is the website you visit most often and why?
Youtube. I watch a lot of videos. A lot of the time I like to watch concerts of bands that I want to see or might never get the chance to see live. I also like to watch documentaries to learn something new about something I know nothing about or would like to learn more about.

If they made a movie about your life, who would play you?
Jack Black – I think his love of music and his love of making people laugh is remarkably like mine. Though his stature is not comparable, I think his personality and inability to feel shame is similar.

Which historical figure do you most identify with and why?
Fred Rogers. He is someone that I always admired growing up while watching him. He loved to bring people together and loved to help people learn. He is a role model and someone who wanted to help people, which is something that I love to do as well.

If you could have coffee with one person (living or deceased), who would it be and why?
First off and this will make a lot of people hate me, I do not like coffee. However, if I could ever sit down with someone I would like to sit with Roberto Clemente. He was an outfielder for the Pirates and an amazing person who provided a lot of physical and financial support for many charities. Sadly, his life was cut short due to a plane crash while providing relief after an earthquake.

What is your desert island food?
Jersey Mikes – I could not contain my excitement when they finally opened one up five minutes from campus! Specifically, my favorite is the chipotle cheese steak. I do not think I have ordered anything else.

Tell us something most people don’t know about you.
I used to be an intern for ESPN radio while attending college. The hosts gave me the ability to write and produce one entire show. I wanted a huge guest and was able to lock down Jerome Bettis, one of my all-time favorite athletes. I secretly kept his phone number until I lost my phone a year or two after graduating.

Q. What is your secret talent?
Forgetting people’s names. I am the world’s-best in forgetting someone’s name. I usually tell students if you see me feel free to call me “hey you, dude, man, brother” because I will forget their name too. However, with that said, I am so good at remembering faces. I might not be able to remember who you are, or where I know you from. But I remember every face I meet.

Anything else you’d like to share?
I love this school. This being my third ODAC school including my alma mater, I can honestly say this is one of the most unique places I have ever been. I have loved my time here and hope to continue working with some of the most amazing people and some of the brightest students on the planet.