Who We Are

Founded in 1951, Dorm Crew is the largest student-run fee-for-service organization in the world. As a division of Facilities Maintenance Operations, we employ students for custodial work in the undergraduate residences. In recent years, one out of every five Harvard undergraduates has worked for Dorm Crew.

What We Do

Term-time: During the school year, Dorm Crew workers provide cleaning services for private bathrooms on campus. We also assist the building managers of most houses with general maintenance duties. See our term-time section for information on how to get involved.

Clean-ups: Just before and after the school year, Dorm Crew employs up to four hundred students to clean the dorms and prepare for students’ arrival in the fall and for Reunions and Summer School in the spring. See our Fall Clean-Up and Spring Clean-Up sections for more information.

Other services: Dorm Crew also provides first-years with toilet paper, supplies for dorm decorating, cleaning supplies, and household tools on loan. In addition, our office serves as a lost-and-found for the Harvard Yard.

Why Dorm Crew?

Professional job skills. Leadership opportunities. Excellent pay rate. Flexibility. Great people.

Working Dorm Crew is an excellent way to acquire management experience and job skills and to gain preparation for summer and post-graduate employment. Term-time work includes the opportunity for advancement within the program.

Working for Dorm Crew steadily throughout the year can lead to your nomination as a Trial Captain, the first step toward a management position as a Captain. From your first responsibilities as a Trial Captain to the broader range of duties that come with being a Full Captain, you will develop leadership, management, marketing, and administrative skills in an organization with an annual revenue of $1 million—all while making lots of money in the process.

What Others Have to Say About Dorm Crew

“Dorm Crew has not only given me some of my best friends here at Harvard, it has allowed me to take advantage of some absolutely incredible opportunities. This summer, I was able to go to South Africa and Spain because of the money I earned doing dorm crew. Far more importantly though, I feel like doing Dorm Crew grounds me in a way that academics or extracurriculars don’t — Clean-ups are some of the most challenging, and satisfying, experiences I have had to date.”

—Robyn Orfitelli ’06

“My Dorm Crew experience was the deciding factor in getting an offer from LEK/Alcar Consulting. Recruiting coordinators are looking for candidates with ‘real’ work experience. All work experience is valuable, but a year or two of cleaning proves that you know how to work and is an indication of the kind of commitment required for a position in consulting.”

—Zachary Gingo ’98

“What amazes me about Dorm Crew is the tremendous sense of family that develops among its members. The shared team experiences of clean-up and the common challenges of term- time bind Dorm Crew members together in a way few student groups do. I know a couple who dated one another all four years after meeting at fall cleanup; and even now, a year out of Harvard, some of my closest friends remain my fellow captains and crew members with whom I shared so many memories.”

—Dan Lyons ’00, Consultant, Bain Co.