Isa Cruz

On June 30, Randy Nichols retired from his position as associate vice president of safety and security. Many students knew Nichols well, as he worked at the College for 20 years. Luckily for students, he had his successor in mind well before he left.

Bill Harwood worked at the office of safety and security for three and a half years as assistant director of safety and security before moving up to become the executive director of emergency management and eventually associate vice president of the office of safety and security following Nichols’ retirement. Before coming to Bowdoin, Harwood served as a member of the Maine State Police. As a Mainer and graduate of the University of Maine, he is used to working for the betterment of the state.

“I came right from law enforcement here [to Bowdoin], and what makes it unique is the students and the community that’s here,” Harwood said. “It is really important to me to work in an environment where people like each other, they like to talk about their different activities and collaborate on things.”

Before becoming a state police officer, Harwood was a chemist. Harwood recalled an unusual start to his career as a forensic chemist when he was mistakenly dispatched to a crime scene—something civilians were not typically called to at the time. After initially being questioned about his presence, he was asked to assist investigators using his blood reagents and forensic tools. The overnight collaboration not only helped the case but also resulted in him accompanying officers when two murder suspects were later spotted nearby. After similar occasions, Harwood’s new colleagues pushed for him to formally become a police officer.

During his time on the Maine State Police, Harwood served as a crisis negotiator and investigator of child abuse, sexual assault and deaths. He also worked with the Maine Emergency Management Agency. He brought both emergency management expertise and experience supporting people in crisis with him to the College, but hopes to never have to use those skills in his current position. For Harwood, soft skills such as listening to people and having compassion are the most crucial elements.

“I don’t know if I learned these skills during my state police career or just got to be exposed to the hardships that people go through and how everybody wants the same thing,” Harwood said. “People want to be happy. They want community. They want relationships. They want good social interactions. And that’s no different here.”

During Harwood’s time in the state police department, Nichols invited officers to have a meeting on campus during the summertime. While on campus, Nichols told Harwood that he might be interested having Harwood work for him, as the two had previously met when Nichols also served as a state police officer.

“There was a class here at Bowdoin on an instrument called an FTIR,” Harwood said. “It’s a four year transform, infrared, micro, spectral photo. And there was no other training that I could go to, so they sent me here. That was cool. And I thought, ‘What a great place, this beautiful campus, and the instructor or professor was so intelligent, and, wow, this is something I need to think about for the future.’”

Being able to transfer the social skills that Harwood learned from serving the wider Maine community is an important part of his transition to his new role.

“People here [at Bowdoin] are coming from all over the world, [with] different experiences, different backgrounds,” Harwood said. “Then they’re mixing all together in this small, little place where everybody lives together with different fears of law enforcement and fears of current political climates and different things like that. So I hope that my prior experience will allow me to listen to people, to hear them and then to help them through whatever it is they’re dealing with.”

While Harwood’s background has prepared him for his role, he also leaned on Nichols for advice throughout his first years at Bowdoin.

“I would say that probably most of his advice has come through osmosis over three and a half years,” Harwood said. “It’s just watching him. You know, he’s got a great spirit and a great caring attitude: a wonderful mentor.”

The Office of Safety and Security has restructured leadership roles with the hiring of Paul Hansen, a former Brunswick police department officer, as director of safety and security, filling the vacancy in Harwood’s former position. Hansen will focus heavily on quality management and day-to-day operations. His new responsibilities include overseeing internal audits, ensuring compliance with accreditation standards and reviewing policies to confirm that stated procedures match actual practice. This marks the introduction of a formal quality management role within the unit.

Despite administrative changes, Harwood does not see the role of campus security being altered further.

“I am so fortunate that [Nichols] has built this wonderful staff here,” Harwood said. “They are very good at what they do. They’re the experts at what they do, more than I am, because I didn’t do patrol here, so I don’t see a need to change anything.”

In terms of fulfilling the visible role that Nichols had on campus, Harwood hopes to establish a similar relationship by attending faculty meetings, meeting students and encouraging the campus community to reach out with any questions.

“We hope that students will come to trust us, but we understand we have to earn that every day, every interaction; our staff knows it,” Harwood said. “We’re not going to be perfect. We’re going to make some mistakes, and I want students to call and tell us if they think something wasn’t handled well or didn’t go well.”

For Harwood, Security’s role in the community is based on trust and communication.

“It’s [our goal to have] an open line of communication, building that trust, knowing that we’re here to be service orientated. That is our goal, and that’s the part I like,” Harwood said. “It’s not that law enforcement is not service oriented. It serves and protects. But here it is much more. It’s like a community that you see every day, and you get to know folks and hopefully build those contacts, relationships and trust over time.”