Working as a security officer on a college campus isn’t for everyone, but Security Officer Allen Daniels says working at Bowdoin makes his job easy.

“It’s the students. I wouldn’t do this job for any other college—I can’t imagine it,” said Daniels. “I genuinely appreciate the students here. I love my conversations with them. They make my job very, very easy.”

Born and raised in southern New Hampshire, Daniels graduated high school and enlisted in the Army. For four years, he was a part of the third U.S. Infantry Regiment, a unit commonly known as the Old Guard.

“In the Old Guard, we do all the ceremonies and funerals in Arlington National Cemetery…we do all the simple and full honor funerals,” said Daniels. “We’re also the official escort to the president. We are kind of a ceremonial post—we do have training, but we don’t have a wartime mission, only to honor the fallen.”

After his time in the army, Daniels lived in Washington D.C. to gain his “city experience” and then went on to graduate from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. Eventually, he settled in Maine with his girlfriend (now wife), applied for a job at Bowdoin, and was given the position six months later.

“I come to work pretty happy every day, and leave happy every day. The hardest part of my job is seeing people make poor decisions, and I do see people at their worst—I don’t often get to see them at their best, just because I’m usually here during the night time,” said Daniels.  

Last weekend, Daniels and the rest of the security staff prepared for Ivies. Security was given post assignments a week ahead of time. Security was out in full force, stationing as many officers as possible at each event.

“We [aim to] guide things, rather than manipulate what’s happening. It goes back to what I said previously, I wouldn’t want to do this at another school,” said Daniels. “So even this big weekend, our stress level does go up, but mostly because of long hours. The stuff we deal with—especially this Ivies—is really not that much. We had two transports [one alcohol related and one injury related], and other than that it was well-controlled chaos. It’s just planning.”

In his opinion, the weekend went smoothly, and contrary to popular belief, the real trouble did not stem from Bowdoin students. Rather, visitors of students and town residents caused the brunt of the problems during the weekend.

“The drinking gets a lot of publicity, but comparatively speaking, it’s really well-contained,” said Daniels. “I think the policies here, the ResLife office, and the Deans’ office do a good job. It helps to make sure that everyone has a really good time and is safe doing so.”    

Outside of Bowdoin, Daniels runs and plays disc golf, but the majority of his time is spent skiing and taking care of his newborn daughter.    

“Her name is Evelyn Winter. Evelyn is my wife’s grandmother’s name. Winter is because I love winter—the deeper the snow the better... I live to ski and for sliding on snow. My first job was at a ski shop, waxing skis, and I’ve done just about every job on the mountain, and I have loved all of them.”

Daniels lives in Phippsburg, close to Brunswick, but will always call southern New Hampshire home. Although he misses his mountains and their peaks, he always looks on the brighter side.
“I joke with my wife that if I can’t live in the mountains, the beach isn’t a bad place to be.”

Editor's note: A previous version of this article did not clarify that of the two transports during Ivies weekend that Daniels mentions in a quotation, one was in relation to alcohol and the other was in response to a student sustaining a serious injury. Officially, there was only one alcohol-related "transport" during the weekend.