Last Monday I sat down with Director of Campus Safety Ray Thrower to shed some light on the department and help students get to know the face of enforcement. He has worked at Gustavus for 13 years and in campus in the field of public safety for 33 years. Thrower has seen a lot over the course of his career and provided me with some thoughtful insight into the inner workings of Campus Safety. He also had some helpful advice for students to help protect them from theft and other incidents.

Who makes up the Campus Safety staff?

The Campus Safety staff is made up of Administrative Assistant Lisa Octigan, eight full-time officers and five part-time officers. Campus Safety also employs over 100 students who provide safe rides and fill other support roles to the main staff.

What is the role of Campus Safety?

Thrower said the role of Campus Safety is two sided-safety and education. “[Many students] see us as the enforcement end, but we also see ourselves as part of the education [on campus].” Along with enforcement, Campus Safety provides crime prevention education and aims to help students be aware of their surroundings. At the end of the day, “our job is to provide an environment for living, learning and working that is safe,” Thrower said. “You’re part of a family. We ‘re here to protect you.”

On the Campus Safety website, it says that we (the students) are the most important piece of the crime prevention plan. What can students do to fulfill this role?

Thrower said the best way to work with Campus Safety is to think of Gustavus as your home. He compared what he would like to see on campus to neighborhood watch programs. “There are only so many of us, but there’s tons of you,” he said. He encouraged students to report incidents and do it as soon as possible. Thrower said that too often students wait to call in an incident, but “if they would have called us immediately, we could have taken corrective action.”

Besides alcohol-and-drug-related crimes, what are the most prevalent crimes on campus?

Thrower said the two most prevalent crimes are alcohol-related vandalism and theft of opportunity. Alcohol-related vandalism most often occurs with cars. “Last weekend we had a couple of cars that had the mirrors knocked off them,” Thrower said. Campus Safety has had incidents of people knocking out car windows to steal items. Incidents involving theft of opportunity happen when students leave valuable items lying around and have them stolen by fellow students. In fact, “the majority of crimes [on campus] are students [against other] students,” Thrower said.

What can students do to protect themselves from these crimes?

“If you have valuable items, make sure they’re with you at all times,” Thrower said. “It’s not right, but it happens,” so keep your valuables safe. For more advice on crime prevention, Thrower suggested checking out the 360 Stay Safe videos on the Campus Safety website. “They were filmed here at Gustavus and used our students [as the actors],” he said.

If students decide to drink, what is your advice to them?

“We want you to do it safely,” Thrower said. “If you go out together, come home together and always have a designated driver,” he said. Many of the sexual assault incidents on campus involve alcohol. “[It’s one of the] biggest things I worry about,” he said. He encourages students to take a buddy with them to a party to avoid issues of sexual assault.

What is one of the biggest fears that goes along with your job?

“My biggest fear is losing a student to alcohol,” Thrower said. “[Campus Safety is] seeing more students walking and talking with high levels of alcohol in their bodies,” he said. “That concerns me.” He thinks that the increase in alcohol levels could be because the consumtion of hard liquor (as opposed to beer) has become more popular on campuses. “Liquors bring you up a lot quicker,” he said, which can be dangerous if students aren’t careful about how much they’re consuming.

What is one of the best things about your job?

“Seeing you grow over these four years and seeing the things you do afterwards,” Thrower said. “[For this reason,] I receive great joy reading The Gustavus Quarterly,” he said. Thrower still receives Christmas cards from students who have graduated, and he said this is also very special for him. “We get attached to you,” he said. ”Every year at the end of May, when we get to watch students graduate, is a day of pride for us,” he said. “There’s nothing more rewarding than that.”

What is one of the worst parts of your job?

“Seeing a student leave Gustavus because they had an alcohol or drug violation,” Thrower said.

What’s the best part of working with Campus Safety?

“It’s a collaborative group, and we have a great support system,” Thrower said. As for the staff, “It’s like having another family,” he said. “They really care about the students. They’ll go out of their way [to help].” Part of the closeness within the office is due to the fact that there has not been a turnover in staff in over nine years. “This shows that our employees care about their jobs and also shows job satisfaction.”

Meet the Team

Pictured are all full-time administrative staff and officers. Not pictured are Administrative Assistant Lisa Octigan and Officers Scott Meyer and Wayne Overson.