Amid the whirring of printers and humming of Foothill College’s radio station KFJC 89.7, Student Resource Coordinator Nick Muntean’s printshop is filled with tools of the trade – the 200 pound printers, industrial hole puncher and paper folding machine – while fossils, minerals and geodes, musical instruments and a telescope in the corner decorate the eclectic workspace.

Muntean has worked at Foothill since 1991, and he will retire June 30. Though most only know him as the printshop coordinator, his roots and hobbies reflect his dedication to lifelong learning.

“As an artist, you always are challenged by the necessity to pay rent and bills,” Muntean said. “Fortunately, Foothill has given me that cushion that I need to live in the Bay Area … and pursue my interests on an extracurricular level.”

Foothill roots

Muntean began attending Foothill College in 1991 to pursue dance and acting.

“I enjoyed dancing a lot, but I was 30 years old at the time,” Muntean said. “I started studying theater.”

In the early 90s, Muntean worked as a student employee at the Ye Olde Grind, an espresso bar in the old Foothill campus center, to supplement his income.

“I had gourmet coffee. … Then I used Guittard chocolate, which was a fancy chocolate, so my mochas were to die for,” Muntean said. “I used to have bus drivers and their supervisors make pit stops … because of my mochas.”

Ye Olde Grind became a campus gathering place.

“It became the hot spot to be,” Muntean said. “I played harmonica, and I used to bring in bands and occasionally jam with them.”

As an ally, Muntean also collaborated with English professor Scott Lankford, who was active in the LGBTQ movement, to host events around Pride week in the mid-90s.

“We made the first LGBTQ section of my Owl’s Nest space where we put up posters and flags and did some events,” Muntean said. “It was the first one on campus.”

After Ye Olde Grind changed ownership, Muntean continued working for Foothill.

“I was a community service officer … that was a big shift in how I was perceived on campus being the coffee guy to the parking (enforcer),“ Muntean said. “I took it on as an acting lesson, like character study.”

A few years after running the mailroom, Muntean started working at the print shop. As he now nears retirement, the print shop may close down permanently.

He is concerned for faculty once he retires. Though Foothill does have division printers for staff use, “If you increase the number of people that are utilizing those machines, then they’re more prone to breaking down,” Muntean said.

Some departments like the Allied Health programs at Foothill college heavily rely on Muntean’s printshop to handle reams of student manuals, syllabuses and graduation handouts.

“It’s not just a packet of papers. This is their (students’) tool for success,” Rachelle Campbell, radiologic technology program director, said. “Even if they don’t know him by name, … he’s probably the linchpin to our student success plan.”

The Allied Health programs still do not know what they will do without an on-campus printshop to support students since outsourcing the work would be expensive.

“I bet it takes three people to replace him and probably costs a lot more, but that’s what it’s like when you’re losing a giant like that,” Campbell said. “He’s like a tree. His root system goes deep and touches everything.”

Muntean said he still has bittersweet feelings about moving into his retirement.

“It’s going to be fun, slightly traumatic because I love being of service to the faculty and the students,” Muntean said.

‘Simply act nice to all’

Muntean also works as a professional Santa Claus for the San Francisco Giants and Foothill-De Anza Community College District.

“We had a counselor here that used to do Santa Claus for (Extended Opportunities Programs and Services) … He hurt his back, and he came to me in an errand of mercy and asked me if I would fill in for him as Santa,” Muntean said. “It was probably 17 years ago, maybe 18.”

Muntean described himself as a skinny young actor with a black goatee at the time, but he played the role with a drugstore Santa suit and a fake beard.

“I did it,” Muntean said. “Every year I got more and more Santa-like.”

Betsy Gebhart, De Anza College journalism professor, said Muntean reminds her of the original St. Nicholas who is known for his generosity and charity.

“It’s 1600 years later, but the myth lives on in our own St. Nick,” Gebhart said. “His name is Nick! Can you believe it? Just like the Greek St. Nicholas was Nicholas.”

Muntean acknowledged that being Santa Claus has its difficult moments. A little boy once asked him to help make his dad feel better.

Muntean told him “Santa doesn’t necessarily have that power,” but he still held his hand and made a wish with the boy “to encourage him to just keep up hope.”

He also brings the magic of Santa to adults who never got to experience it as children. One time, a senior citizen asked Muntean, not in Santa gear, if he was Santa Claus.

“She’s like, ‘I don’t know how to ask you this. … I’m almost 80, and I’ve never had a picture taken with Santa. … Can I get one with you?’” Muntean said. “I scooted my chair out, and she sat on my knee. We got a picture, and it made her day.’”

Even in his everyday work at the printshop, Muntean provides additional support for faculty, embracing the Santa Claus spirit.

“You’ll tell him to drop stuff off in the division office, and then it ends up in your classroom. It’s that extra step that nobody else would have done,” Campbell said. “He looks like Santa, and that’s how it feels sometimes. He’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

Today, Muntean is still the Santa Claus for Foothill’s Extended Opportunity Programs and Services and Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education programs, which fill gaps in federal aid for students and families. He also worked for Great America’s Winterfest for four years.

“‘Santa’ is an acronym that stands for ‘simply act nicely to all,’” Muntean said. “I don’t just pretend to be Santa, … I live it all the time.”

Renaissance man

Muntean spends his time pursuing a wide variety of scientific and artistic hobbies.

“I’ve always been a lifelong learner. My interests are in fields that I can never stop learning … music, photography, astronomy,” he said. “It has made me curious.”

Muntean said he turned his childhood passions for geology and astronomy into artistic pursuits.

“I started out as a child interested in the sciences: rocks, minerals, fossils. I’ve been collecting since I was a boy,” Muntean said. “I also got into astronomy at that age.”

While pursuing the 2017 total solar eclipse, Muntean visited the American Fossil Quarry in Wyoming to hunt for fossils.

“It was about 100 degrees on that August day,” Muntean said. “You go in with a hammer and chisel … and start splitting the limestone to see what you can find.”

Muntean found a tilapia-like fossil.

“This is from the Green River Formation in Wyoming, which is a famous deposit of limestone,” Muntean said. “I wish I would have found the head.”

He also transformed his interest in geology into artistry with a chrysoprase and sterling silver ring.

“I made this ring, which was my mom’s Mother’s Day present in 1981. I cut that stone and cast that ring,” Muntean said. “I gave it to her for Mother’s Day, and then I reclaimed it when she passed.”

Muntean’s scientific interest also extends to astronomy. With his Celestron NexStar telescope and iPhone, he photographs the sun, moon, and comets.

“I never get tired of looking at the stars and planetary bodies,” Muntean wrote. “Especially our star, it warms us, provides energy, and connects us in ways we’re only beginning to understand.”

Muntean also plays the dulcimer, a stringed instrument.

“I found this dulcimer at a local thrift shop. This was handmade by a guy named Paul Pyle in Tennessee,” he said. “Over the course of the 20 years, they (Paul and Louella Pyle) made 1,648 and of which I have No. 244. … It’s special I have one of theirs.”

The next chapter

Muntean balances his creative passions with work, showing students the value of lifelong learning and cultivating interests beyond their careers, as he plans to during retirement.

“I want to spend more time traveling, … doing more rock and mineral hunting …, astrophotography, traveling and enhancing my culinary experience, music and acting,” he said.

As Muntean enters a new chapter in his life, he leaves behind many legacies, as well as some advice for those in his path.

“Try to learn more about the people who you might not necessarily interact with. Talk to somebody older and ask them questions about their life and their past because everybody has a story to tell,” Muntean said. “They’d love to tell you their stories.”

This story was originally published on La Voz Weekly on March 24, 2026.