Close Up
Whigham moves the UB community
Ken Whigham keeps busy at UB, maintaining a near round-the-clock schedule as a shift supervisor and shuttle driver for Parking and Transportation Services. Photo: NANCY J. PARISI
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“That’s my reward—when you see kids moving on and progressing in life instead of being behind bars or in caskets. When I see these kids on campus here, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Ken Whigham describes his job as “moving the crowd.” Either directly or indirectly, he has moved thousands of UB faculty, staff and students across the three campuses.
The burly, good-natured Whigham maintains a near round-the-clock schedule with Parking and Transportation Services. From 4 a.m. to noon daily, he is shift supervisor of the Stampede buses with UB subcontractor First Transit, auditing drivers in the field, assigning and dispatching buses to accommodate various passenger needs.
Then after a quick lunch, Whigham begins a 1-8 p.m. shift three days a week as a motor vehicle operator for UB, behind the wheel of the Green Line shuttle servicing locations near the Flint Road entrance to the North Campus.
It’s all in a day’s work for Whigham, whose mantra is “You want to move the crowd and get them where they want to go—safely.” This includes tackling challenges that range from traffic situations to weather conditions to the occasional unruly passenger.
A Buffalo native, Whigham has seen a lot in his 24 years as a bus driver. Prior to his arrival at UB six years ago, he was a supervisor with another school bus company in the area that served elementary to high school students.
“Since I’ve been driving school buses for so long, a lot of kids that used to ride my bus—from Buffalo schools like City Honors, Performing Arts and Hutch Tech—now go to UB. I see them on campus. I’ll hear, ‘Hi Mr. Kenny!’ I get a big kick out of that. That’s my enjoyment.”
Whigham relishes giving back to the community. He attends True Bethel Baptist Church in the East Side neighborhood where he was raised. And he feels a close connection with life on campus. “I feel good that UB is all about building up the community. I’m all for that.”
Whigham has been a long-time volunteer coach with the Buffalo Vets Little League Football organization. “That’s the team I played for growing up and that’s my way of giving back,” he says. “There are six players right now on the University at Buffalo football team who played football for me. I see them on campus and hear, ‘Hey, Coach Kenny!’”
He chuckles warmly, and with wistful pause says, “That’s my reward—when you see kids moving on and progressing in life instead of being behind bars or in caskets. When I see these kids on campus here, it’s a beautiful thing.”
Whigham’s range of duties as shift supervisor has extended even further recently. He has become a classroom instructor over the past year and was involved in the mass hiring of drivers during the summer for the Stampede and shuttle buses.
He likes the fact that his supervisor, Chris Austin, assistant director of parking and transportation services, has asked him to deliver a bus transportation presentation for the students who attend the Upward Bound summer programs over the past two years. “I was excited about that because I was an Upward Bound kid here at the university,” he recalls.
The father of four, Whigham is eagerly anticipating seeing another familiar face around campus when his oldest son begins attending UB next semester.
In the meantime, he’ll keep “moving the crowd,” getting the UB community to its destinations and helping drive the community forward.
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