She is called by many names throughout the halls of Old Dominion's student center - from "the star of Webb Center" to "the troublemaker" to, simply, "Mrs. C." She is Katherine Christ, Webb Center's longtime game room supervisor, who will celebrate her 30th year in the position in January. Christ is one of those special employees who brings more to a job than what is called for. Her kids, as she refers to them, are the thousands of students who have passed in and out of the game room during their time at the university and with whom she has developed a special friendship.

"I enjoy being with the kids. Sometimes some of them try and give you a hard time, but I straighten them out," she says with a laugh. "They're good kids, and I try to be like a mother to them. A lot of them are away from home . . . "

Christ makes it a point to pay extra attention to foreign students because they are not only away from home, but also in a new country. She has formed several long-lasting bonds with international students. "I get phone calls regularly from foreign countries," she notes. Former students have called her from as far away as Ethiopia, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates.

Christ's association with Old Dominion dates back to 1950 when she and her husband, John, a native of Greece, operated John's College Restaurant near the corner of 49th Street and Hampton Boulevard. They ran their popular eatery until 1965 when campus expansion closed them down. About four years later, Christ began working part time in the bookstore. One day in 1971 she was asked to watch over the game room for a few days. The few days turned into 30 years of full-time work amid the daily sounds of clanking pool balls, pinball machines, video games and now, movies. "They can't get rid of me," jokes Christ.

Christ more than holds her own in battles of good-natured ribbing with co-workers and students, and often is the instigator of pranks - hence her nickname "the troublemaker." She likes to leave fake money lying around the game room to watch how students react. Occasionally, she runs into former students in grocery stores or shopping malls. And, having been in the job for so long, she's starting to see the offspring of some of her early kids. At a recent Preview, a former game room regular made a point to drop by Christ's Webb Center domain to introduce "Mrs. C" to her son, a newly matriculated Monarch.

Former students often remember her with cards, gifts and flowers on her birthday. At her last birthday, in June, Christ also was the proud recipient of an honorary membership in the Office of Student Services at Old Dominion, "in appreciation of devoted and outstanding service to students."