University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: April 24, 2008

By CHARLES ANZALONE
Contributing Editor

She’s impossible to miss. There’s that easy, embracing smile. The friendly, melodic voice. The bindi Indian body decoration on her forehead. And her custom of giving the students a “Big Momma” hug after she serves them their salad at Bert’s food court is all part of her local legend.

Kara LaForgia, an accounting and law and pre-law major, receives one of the patented "Big Momma" hugs from Danyell "Big Momma" Pitts at Bert’s food court in Talbert Hall.
PHOTO: NANCY J. PARISI

For more than seven years, Danyelle “Big Momma” Pitts has been a big part of UB’s social landscape, a warm presence and personal touch to the hundreds of students and staff looking for a tasty, individually made salad and human connection in the middle of the day.

“The students come in my line, and I see them feeling down,” she says. “So I tell them, ‘Wait a minute. Big Momma wants to give you a hug. It’s going to be all right.’

“I have a student helping me, so even if it’s a long line, I go around the serving line and give them a Big Momma hug. And then I go back to work.”

In the gallery of UB personalities, “Big Momma” Pitts looms large. A food service employee known for serving “Big Momma salads” in the Talbert Hall food court, Big Momma has the kind of personality and warmth that makes an impression on students and staff alike.

“I love being called ‘Big Momma,’” she says, reaching out and touching the person she is talking to in her familiar way. “I wanted my grandchildren to call me Big Momma, and I’ve been called that ever since. Even the big, big bosses call me ‘Big Momma.’”

The measure of Big Momma’s celebrity was never more apparent than during UB’s Campus Conversation, the university-wide meeting President John B. Simpson held in Alumni Arena earlier this month to outline progress of UB’s 2020 growth plan. The program began with a video featuring prominent and popular UB faculty and staff talking about their experiences at the university.

The last vignette featured Big Momma Pitts, and sure enough, the thousands in the audience responded with warm applause.

“She’s the best-known person on campus, other than the president,” says Graham G. Stewart, associate vice president for alumni relations and an unabashed Big Momma fan.

Others share Stewart’s admiration. Ken Sykes, assistant manager for Campus Dining and Shops at Bert’s, has admiration for many of his workers, but Sykes calls Pitts the “best customer service worker I’ve ever seen.” Sykes has worked in customer service for 25 years.

“She will do more than 150 salads a day, and she knows what 80 percent of her customers want before they get up to the line,” Sykes says. “And the kids really enjoy it. They’re lining up 15 minutes before we open, waiting for her. On Monday, she’ll ask them how their weekend was. On Friday, she asks them what they have planned.

“Just watch her work. That speaks for itself.”

Anyone eating at Bert’s is familiar with the routine. Customers step up to her salad counter and select their ingredients. They pick their lettuce, then choose six mix-ins, from olives to alfalfa sprouts to craisins (If you’re new, you get seven.). Then they can “Momma-size” their salad (there’s a photo of her on a poster behind the salad tray) by choosing a meat. Want extra dressing? That’s a free order of Big Momma love, and Pitts pours the dressing in a wide circle.

All the time, she keeps up a steady banter with the customers, recognizing them by name or their preferred dressing or lettuce.

“How is Miss Iceberg today?” she says during a recent lunch.

“All right, Mr. Lite Italian,” she tells another.

“Aren’t you going to tell Big Momma your dressing first? And don’t forget your bread.”

“I try to give them a little pep talk,” she says. “If they’re looking down, I ask them what’s the matter.”

One student last year told her how his mother only buys him regular oatmeal. So Pitts went out and bought him two big boxes of flavored oatmeal and gave it to him the next time he ordered food.

“He’s still talking about that,” she says. “When you can make someone feel good, that makes me feel happy. And if I make their day, they make my day because I made their day.”

Those who have never met her need to hurry. The backstory here is that this is Big Momma’s last semester at UB. Her 13-year-old son will enter high school this fall, and she plans to relocate to Charlotte, N.C. Her son is a football standout, she says, and their move is an attempt to help him further his career.

So after Bert’s closes on Monday for the summer and the crew finishes the summer cleanup, her run at UB will come to an end.

Sykes’ confidence and rapport with his other workers will come in very handy then. Others will step forward to provide the personal atmosphere Pitts has cultivated. But Pitts knows the love you get is equal to the love you give. She leaves to chase her family’s dreams, but she knows very well how much she will be missed.

“There won’t ever be another Big Momma,” she says, with that signature smile.