Interview with Interim Community Safety Director Kevin Williams
Following the termination of previous Director of Community Safety Gary Granger, Kevin Williams was hired for a limited period of time to fill the role until a permanent replacement is found. Granger faced termination after releasing personal information about a Reed College alumnus to the federal government without the formal presentation of a warrant or subpoena. Williams agreed to an interview with the Quest on December 8.
A majority of the interview focused on Williams’ experiences in municipal law enforcement and community safety. Williams worked for the Detroit Police Department and LAPD, and worked on community safety in University of Oregon, University of Michigan, and Arizona State University, among others. When comparing his experiences in both professions, Williams reflected that they were very different. He explained that “[in community safety], you [have] got to get your mind right that we’re here to serve so the students can be safe, they can be comfortable in their environment, and we can help them succeed… Municipal [law] thought process is beating their chest.”
Throughout the interview, Williams reiterated a focus on community culture. Reed College is the smallest school that he has worked at, in contrast with schools like Arizona State University where there are close to 50,000 students. Williams reflected that his goal at Reed is to get to know the students and the student culture. He says most of his daily routine consists of getting to know staff, students, and the campus at large.
Williams got his start in Detroit, Michigan, where he volunteered for the Detroit Police Department. He expressed that his motivation for joining the police force, and later college community safety, is to help people. He said that he “did not feel served, certainly not by the police,” which was his primary motivation to go into law enforcement.
Currently, Williams is contracted to six months as the interim director. During this time, he intends to fill the two vacancies within Community Safety. He explains that his criteria involves finding an individual that he believes will fit into the unique environment of Reed.
Williams was one member of a pool of candidates presented to Reed as qualified Community Safety officers by D. Stafford and Associates, a firm that Reed is in partnership with. At this time, Student Life, directed by Dr. Karnell McConnell-Black, is searching for a permanent director of Community Safety. According to Kevin Williams’ contract, he will not be eligible for this position. McConnell-Black outlines that the goals of Community Safety are as follows:
“Community Safety works in partnership with the Reed community to maintain a secure and supportive campus environment.”
McConnell-Black provided an approximate timeline for the hiring of a permanent Community Safety Director. He stated that the job posting would be online by January and that they are hoping to find a suitable candidate by the end of the spring semester of 2026.
Reed also has a Community Safety Liaison within the Student Body Senate. Senator Karter Stanton ‘26 explained that the liaison “exists to ensure a constant line of communication between the student body and Community Safety.” In the past, the liaison met with the former director, Gary Granger, but this year they have been working with interim directors, Christo Potgeiter and Dhyana Westfall ‘05, instead. They have discussed issues such as hate speech and AOD (alcohol and other drug) policies. She said that after Granger’s termination, there have been no policy changes to address privacy concerns. However, she hopes there will be a clarification to the policy.
Stanton also stated that Community Safety has developed a protocol for a campus lockdown in the case of federal government officers arriving on campus. Stanton cites that as of now, McConnell-Black has asked a senator and member of the executive board to be on the search committee for a permanent replacement for Community Safety Director. Stanton proclaimed that Reed should take student concerns about Community Safety seriously. “At times, I think that the student body misunderstands how certain processes work or who is able to speak on what topics,” she said. “But I simultaneously know that if Reed wants to profit off of being a progressive university, every single one of their policies should be in solidarity with the communities they’re capitalizing on.”