A maroon apron awaits patrons of East Tennessee State University’s third floor cafeteria, The Marketplace, on a daily basis. An ordinary garment of cloth it is not. Reflecting into the light are small pins resembling basketball jerseys of Buccaneer greats, including Keith ‘Mister’ Jennings, nods to various performing arts groups, student organizations and logos representing ETSU.The apron belongs to Penny Hughes, a cashier with 25 years of service on campus.

“I’m known as the pin lady,” said Hughes, a Carter County native who resides on Seminole Drive with husband, Jerald, a campus police officer with 22 years at ETSU.

Since her days stocking the salad bar and creating sandwiches, Hughes has taken an interest in those who’ve waited in her lines over the years. “I try to know them to be more personal,” she said.

The special bond with ETSU students is a big reason why Hughes loves her job and has remained with the school for a quarter of a century.

Many of those students have taken an interest in her as well. In his five years as location manager of The Marketplace, George Johnson hasn’t seen anything like it. “The students know her personally,” said Johnson. “They know intricate details of her life and she knows them. Everybody loves Penny.”

An obvious example of that shines from the apron she wears behind the cash register where she swipes students’ identification cards and welcomes them with a warm smile. Many of the pins are gifts from students, teachers and others who have known Hughes throughout the ears. Some she wears to show her support for ETSU.

Hughes keeps many of the special ones at home, particularly those from international students originating in Iceland, Brazil, Japan and Thailand, among other nations. “Some of these kids are from foreign countries and they don’t know very many people,” she said. “I try to be nice to them especially.”

Hughes, however, does not share her good nature with international students alone. She makes efforts to support athletes, musicians and others by attending their campus events. Johnson says she’s one of the school’s biggest fans.

“It’s all ETSU all the time,” said Johnson. “She’s really gung-ho about ETSU, particularly athletics.”

Students should take pride in their school, Hughes says. “If I see someone in a (University of Tennessee) hat, I tell them they don’t go to UT and need to change to ETSU,” she said. “I support ETSU as much as I can.”

While she’s known for her job and interaction with others, Hughes also reveals her caring side outside of the Culp Center.

One instance, according to Hughes, is her support of Trio programs, specifically the Upward Bound program that helps local high school students from low-income families who aim to become first generation college students.

“She was really supportive of us,” said junior Hallie Dukes, who was an Upward Bound student from 2002-05. “We all appreciated Penny for being active with us when she didn’t have to.”

At one point earlier this decade, the Department of Education was looking into cutting funds for Upward Bound. Hughes was among those who wrote letters to members of congress and other government officials to urge maintaining the program. Because of the outpouring of support, government support of Trio programs remained intact.

“I’ve got a great relationship with those Upward Bound kids who have gone on and went to college,” Hughes said. “They were trying to shut it down, but I wrote some letters . because it would benefit many of those kids to be here for a summer and not in poverty with their moms and dads. I hope I have helped some.”

Then there are students such as Matthew Cross, who have been invited to spend Thanksgiving with Hughes and her family.

“I know one Thanksgiving I was particularly down,” said Cross, a senior from Aiken, S.C. “She offered to let me have Thanksgiving with her and her family and I barely knew her . she’s just one of the sweetest people you can meet and everybody cares about her a lot.”

Hughes has always wanted to treat people the way she would want to be treated, going back to lessons learned as a youth.

“My daddy always said, ‘You give what you get. Be nice to people and it’ll come back to you.’

“And I have really noticed that,” she said. “It has really come back to me quite a few times.”

Those pins keep coming.

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