01/17/2020
Dear campus community members and friends of GCTS Public Safety,
Below is a letter from the President announcing a difficult decision regarding changes to the Department of Public Safety at Gordon-Conwell.
Effective 2-17-2020 Gordon College Police Department (GCPD) will assume the role of patrolling and protecting our campus.
First, I would like to let you know that I have had the privilege of working with the women and men of GCPD over the years as we are close campuses geographically and at times have worked together for graduations and special events. As Chief of GCTS Public Safety I can assure you as community members that you will receive the best of service from the GCPD - You will be in good hands with Chief Glenn Deckert and his team! I'm confident of that.
Second, as Chief I want to sincerely thank you (all) the Gordon-Conwell community (all-campuses) as I oversaw public safety for all campuses. Thank you for allowing me to serve the seminary and each of you for almost 26 years and just over 13 years as your Chief. It has been my pleasure and an honor to serve you for so many years. I had planned to retire from Gordon-Conwell in two years so I'll be honest I'm sad that I'm leaving early as I will truly miss the community I have served so long. I will miss seeing many of you around campus more than you know. I know that God knew of this transition long before I and I trust in His plan for me even though I'm not sure where it will lead me. I am ready to follow and see what Gods plan is for me and where He leads me and needs to serve next.
Lastly and very importantly to the Campus Safety team, our CSO's, I have always been honored to have each of you as part of the team/Public Safety Department. I could not have assembled a better team if I tried and I know that's because you were also encouraged by the Lord to serve our community as was I. I will miss our team incredibly! So, to the BEST of the BEST - Thank you, I wish you all the best and may God Bless you. Stay in touch!
I could not close without mentioning the Student Life Services team/staff that I was also a part of and have worked very closely with over the years while under direction of several Dean of Students - to Jason, Jana, Julie, Sue, Michelle, Lita and the many student workers who continue and have served that office, what a blessing you all are and thank you for all the support over the years.
Thank you my friends at Gordon-Conwell I will always think fondly of my time here as I reflect and I hope that I had a positive influence and made the campuses safer for all while I was a Campus Police Officer, Campus Safety Officer and Chief.
God bless.
Chief Dodge
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Dear Hamilton Community,
As part of our 5 adjustments, one of the ways Gordon-Conwell has been thinking about stewardship recently is looking at ways to eliminate duplication between us and Gordon College. One partnership we’ve explored is having the Gordon College Police Department provide campus safety services to our campus. We are grateful for their willingness to do so. We believe that this partnership will both save us money, and allow us to maintain the excellent level of security the Gordon-Conwell team has provided in the past. We’re incredibly grateful to the men and women who have been a part of Campus Safety—for the diligence, care, and posture with which they have served. As part of the transition, we hope several of the Gordon-Conwell employees will stay on in various capacities. Details regarding the transition will continue to be shared with you, but here are several key things of which you should be aware:
i. The transition will take place on February 17th, 2020. Until then, Campus Safety will continue to serve our campus in the excellent manner that they have for so long.
ii. As of 2/17, emergency response will be provided by the Gordon College Police Department. The Gordon Police are a sworn and armed police agency (supplemented by a few non-sworn security staff), whose mission statement includes both serving and protecting the Gordon College and Gordon-Conwell campuses and ministering to both communities to the glory of God. GCPD officers are trained as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and they will be able to address whatever emergency arises, as well as work with local emergency response personnel. We will both introduce you to the new officers, and update you on new procedures in the coming weeks.
iii. Physical Plant employees will be taking care of many of important on-call responses that campus safety formerly did.
iv. Gordon College will be regularly patrolling on campus, locking buildings, securing various spaces and ensuring our safety.
v. Please know that your safety is of utmost concern. Our community does a great job of caring for one another in this way, and we certainly encourage you to continue to do that, to alert the relevant folks when something seems amiss, and walk with each other as appropriate. If you have any follow up questions, please feel free to contact the relevant offices: Student Life ([email protected]) or Physical Plant ([email protected]).
We hope you will join us for a time of appreciation for our Campus Safety officers—look for information about that coming soon.
Scott W. Sunquist
President and Professor of Missiology
