At the beginning of the New Year, Campus Safety Director Tony Nolan retired after a decade of providing leadership and a watchful eye over the safety of the Aquinas community. In his final address to the college and alumni, Nolan had stated that more work lies ahead in the department — although Nolan no longer heads Campus Safety, in the eyes of many his legacy is profound enough to have his department continue to exist as a venue for action to keep the college a safer place to live, learn and interact.

“[Nolan] has always had the College’s well being as a priority,” said Bill Shefferly, Vice President for Finance and Operations and the direct supervisor to Campus Safety Director.

Throughout his decade of services to the college, Aquinas improved lighting in parking lots and along paths to Bukowski Chapel and Regina Hall, added security cameras around campus, as well as keyless access to a number a buildings on campus, which “provides campus safety with information as to who is in the respective building after it is formally locked for the evening,” said Shefferly.

Although Nolan has spearheaded many of these projects during the last decade, in his final address to the school, Nolan said, “Many safety and security additions have been added or improved. More needs to be done, but am confident the institution that I graduated from in 1966 is moving in that direction.”

Nolan, in addition to Aquinas College President C. Edward Balog, looks at improvements to safety in campus as an ongoing initiative with no end, as long as technology is always improving in a way that can ensure the safety of those on campus. Although Campus Safety has a leadership role in providing for the safety of the college, Nolan had always emphasized the importance of students being the “eyes and ears for their college” regarding looking out for safety issues and thinking of initiatives.

Student Senate, Campus Safety, Student Life, the Dean of Students, Career and Counseling, Maintenance, Housekeeping and the Provost Office are all groups on campus that Balog and Nolan credit for helping maintain the well being of those on campus.

Currently the college is working on an outdoor and indoor electronic system that would notify the campus of a crisis situation via a live broadcast over its speaker or a scripted message. On Jan. 9, college administrators tested a similar system with a vendor on campus.

After retiring from a career as administrator at the State of Michigan Corrections Facility in Ionia, Nolan was hired as the Campus Safety Director as well as an adjunct professor for criminal justice. At that time, the college had believed it would be a great opportunity to extend its criminal justice course offerings.

Shefferly is currently amidst a process of reviewing the job description for the Director position in Campus Safety. In the meantime, Lt. Kevin Kwiatkowski will be the Acting Director until the department gets authorization to refill the Director’s position.

“We are confident in Lt. Kevin Kwiatkowski’s abilities to supervise the Campus Safety Office as we begin the search for a new Director,” said Balog.