No Changes to Community Safety, Say New Acting Directors

The departure of former Director of Community Safety Gary Granger earlier this year left an open position to fill. Last month, in an email from Vice President for Student Life Karnell McConnell-Black and President Audrey Bilger, it was specified that Assistant Directors of Community Safety Dhyana Westfall ’05 and Christo Potgieter “will continue serving as acting directors while we determine next steps for the leadership of Community Safety.” 

The Quest reached out to Westfall and Potgieter to learn more about the changing face of Community safety in this transitional period, especially considering the threat presented to international students and students of color by the increased federal presence in Portland. These concerns are even more pressing regarding the leak of alumni data to federal agents by former director Granger in July. 

In a response from Westfall, it was noted that the new directors of Community Safety “don't anticipate any changes to organization structure, CSO responsibilities or how CSOs interact with students.” Westfall and Potgieter are “narrowly focused” on keeping the team up to date on their training. They noted that timelines vary for recertifying CSOs and dispatchers on certifications such as First Aid/CPR/AED, Mental Health First Aid, unarmed security certifications, and bloodborne pathogen training, since each CSO or dispatcher has a different hiring date. “In summary,” wrote Westfall, “the answer to how the change in leadership will affect how the department operates is: we are doing our best to ensure that it doesn't.”

As acting co-Directors, Westfall and Christo have split management responsibilities, with Potgeiter supervising two-thirds of CSOs and Dispatchers while Westfall supervises the remaining third. Potgeiter is in charge of overseeing training, whereas Westfall is “largely focused on the logistics of making sure we can support the rolling calendar of events that take place throughout the year.” Westfall notes the Great Shakeout Earthquake Drill, the Spring/Fall thesis parade, potential inclement weather, and the Voodoo Doughnuts event on 4/20, along with naloxone replacement and emergency alert system tests, are among the upcoming events and responsibilities that the team is preparing for. 

Westfall stresses that safety of students, faculty, and staff in these “unprecedented times” takes a “whole community effort,” noting the increase of swipe access requirements to buildings across campus, and the need for diligence in reporting potential safety issues to Community Safety, as well as “not propping doors, and not allowing folks to walk into buildings behind them to keep those spaces secure.”

Westfall also brought up the increased security needed during the Covid shutdown, and the closure of campus to the public that occurred during that time. It was “a daily struggle,” said Westfall, for CSOs to inform the general public about the campus closure and get uninvited visitors to leave. 

Westfall summed up the new acting co-directors’ goals for their time in charge. “We will not always be perfect,” wrote Westfall, “but we will always try to do our best.”