Before the sun rises each day, Hany Tomas makes the trek from Hermitage to Wedgewood Avenue to his job as a custodian in Belmont’s Barbara Massey Rogers Center. But years ago, he made a much bigger trek: from Alexandria, Egypt to the United States in search of a new chapter.
Despite his brother warning him it would be too hard to move to the U.S. to find work, Hany felt he had to try. “If it doesn’t work, I’ll move back,” Hany told him.
It worked. The Tomas family moved from their business and farm in Egypt to Nashville in 2005, Hany working a number of jobs before landing at Belmont in 2007. A lot has transpired in the fifteen years since, including the opportunity to send two of his three children to Belmont to further their education.
His second daughter earned her degree in biochemistry and later moved to Germany to pursue her master’s degree, and his son graduated just last year with a degree in business. His oldest daughter is currently expecting twins—Hany’s first grandchildren.
He calls it a privilege to work at Belmont and love those he gets to work with. Whether it’s those whose offices he cleans, the faculty he calls friends or his manager, Sandra, Hany thinks highly of everyone at Belmont. “The people here are very nice; why would I leave?”
Mr. Hany will happily tell you about his home in Egypt—his family, where to visit, his favorite Egyptian foods—but home is where love resides, where memories are made, where you feel you belong. And he’s found just that at Belmont.
