A 76-year-old BYU custodian will be the most excited fan in LaVell Edwards Stadium at BYU’s last home game Saturday night against New Mexico State. Val Christiansen, of Orem, Utah, hasn’t seen a live BYU football game in over 2 decades. Yet he’s been cheerfully cleaning and waxing the very floors that are walked on by Cougar football players, coaches and cheerleaders in the physical education building on campus for the last four years.
When Katie Davidson, the BYU Ballroom Dance secretary who also works in the Richards Building, heard this from Christiansen in a hallway conversation on Tuesday, she immediately took action and bought him 2 tickets to take his wife to Saturday’s game in Provo.
Then the BYU dance faculty got wind of this. These literal movers and shakers sprang into action. These are professors who teach pirouettes on Val’s very same shiny floors to dancers in ballet, folk dance, contemporary and ballroom genres.
Within hours, Davidson collected donations from faculty and staff through a viral effort and Venmo. Thursday morning, she presented Christiansen with the tickets for Saturday’s game, plus a BYU fleece blanket, scarf, hat and—of course—money for dinner, Cougar Tails and chocolate milk that he most certainly won’t drip on the floor.
“He was so touched,” Davidson said. “His wife, who doesn’t leave the house very often, was so excited to go with him.”
“Val is the sweetest custodian,” said J’Lene Willes, Department of Dance Secretary of 15 years. “He said he wants to work 4 more years until he’s 80! He’s amazing and is always so kind and helpful to everyone.”
“Val came in and thanked me personally, as I am sure he has with many of you ,” said Jeanette Geslison, BYU International Folk Dance Ensemble Artistic Director of Christmas Around the World, in an email to colleagues. “I can tell how much this means to him.”
“Val’s boss called me after we brought him the gift and said that he’d never seen Val so happy,” Davidson said.
Matt Porter, Area Supervisor for BYU Custodial, was the one who hired him 4 years ago. “Val is as kind and genuine as can be. He’s a very dedicated and hard-working individual,” Porter said. “He came into my office 4 different times with the tickets—he couldn’t stop talking about it. You made his year! It was really good for him, very kind of the dancers.”
The Department of Dance Business Manager, Linda Kump, said Val is just a happy guy. “He’s always friendly, smiling and trying to please.”
“I remember the Monday after BYU beat Wisconsin,” said Erin McClellan, Department of Dance Public Relations Coordinator. “He was exceptionally happy, even though his son’s home in Spanish Fork was under evacuation watch due to the fires in the canyon. He had listened to every minute of the game, old school on KSL radio. He was ecstatic to hear his team win such an important game. A pure victory for underdogs everywhere!”
“Thank you all for your generosity,” Davidson wrote to the Department of Dance flash donors. “What a great start to this giving season.”