The Division of Student Affairs is holding open forum interviews on campus for UPD’s next police chief, beginning today.
The final stages of the Division of Student Affairs’ search for the next UPD police chief begins with Terence Calloway. The interview process continues with sessions for Jackie Allan Gilbert on March 7, Ray Hawkins on March 8 and Stephanie Hill on March 9.
Vice chancellor for student affairs Brandi Hephner LaBanc said it’s not uncommon to hold interviews of this kind on campus.
“It’s actually pretty common protocol that we have an open forum and really in this case because our police chief works a lot with extra law enforcement and other agencies,” Hephner LaBanc said.
Ahead of the interviews, an email was sent to all students with information on the forums and copies of each candidate’s resume.
Terrence Calloway has worked in law enforcement for 18 years, beginning as a patrol officer before serving as chief of police in Woodmere, Ohio, and at Austin Peay State University. He currently serves as assistant vice president of Safety and Parking Services and chief of police at Florida A&M University.
Jackie Allan Gilbert has worked as a police officer since 1994. He has worked with the United States Secret Service and helped supervise special operations units on the protection details and motorcades for the 2008 presidential debate at Ole Miss between President Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. Between 2009 and 2014, Gilbert worked as an FBI Task Force officer and worked with ESPN College GameDay to provide terrorism overwatch and security for football games. He currently serves as deputy chief of police for the Tupelo Police Department and Crime Stoppers coordinator for Northeast Mississippi.
Ray Hawkins is an Ole Miss graduate and has worked with the University of Mississippi Department of Police and Campus Safety for more than 20 years. He has served as a field training officer, lieutenant of Special Services, commander of Protective Service Team – SWAT, police lieutenant and detective lieutenant, among other positions. He currently serves as associate director of UPD.
Stephanie Hill has worked in law enforcement since 1997. She served as director of Public Safety and chief of police at Chattanooga State Community College Police Department for five years. She is currently director of Public Safety and chief of police at Central State University in Ohio.
Each interview will occur at 3 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room in the Center for Manufacturing Excellence on the day of each candidate’s interview. A question-and-answer session with faculty, staff and students will follow.
Everyone in the Ole Miss community is welcome to attend the presentations and is encouraged to provide feedback on the candidates.
“This is our chief of police. It’s a very important position on our campus,” Hephner LaBanc said. “It’s a position that serves the community, so we want the feedback of students, faculty and staff saying, ‘This is the person that I would trust in that position and someone that I could see moving the university forward.’”
Former UPD Chief of Police Tim Potts announced his resignation in January and has since returned to his home state of Indiana. Potts headed UPD for nearly three years and now serves as a police chief at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. Ole Miss posted the open police chief position to its job site at the beginning of 2018.
Hephner LaBanc said there is no exact date set to announce the new hire because of background checks, clearance with the HR department and taking time to review feedback, but the university officials hope to have someone in the position as quickly as they can.
