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Blinn is a former lieutenant with the Hudson, N.H., Fire Department and a current member of the Sunapee, N.H., Fire Department. He is a certified EMT and completed the N.H. Campus Safety Academy (NHCSA). He has more than 30 years of fire safety experience.
Brennan oversees multiple databases, has been the college Employee of the Year, received an award for exemplary service to her community from the NHCSA, and is a certified Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) instructor.
Cable spent 27 years with the Vermont State Police, finishing with them as a detective sergeant investigating homicides and other major crimes. He graduated from the NHCSA in 2005, and in 2007 he facilitated an outstanding program called “A Common Sense Approach to Personal Safety.”
Henley earned a degree in criminal justice from the University of New Hampshire and has completed the NHCSA. She is certified in Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers/American Heart Association.
Krueger has completed the Public Safety Tele-Communicator 1 Course and a Critical Incident Dispatching course through The Public Safety Group.
Leavitt installs, repairs and maintains the college's locks, door closures, electronic locking systems and panic hardware systems. He completed the Professional Locksmith and Advanced Locksmith courses through the Foley-Belsaw Institute.
Speak has completed the Public Safety Tele-Communicator 1 Course through the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials- International, Inc., and she has completed a Critical Incident Dispatching course, among other workshops.
A 15-year Colby-Sawyer veteran, Stearns spent seven years in retail loss prevention and seven years in law enforcement. He is certified by the Crisis Prevention Institute as a Prepare Training instructor, a MOAB (Management of Aggressive Behavior) instructor, and a RAD instructor. He also instructs the Bicycle Patrol Safety and Awareness course for officers throughout the state of New Hampshire.
White served four years with the U.S. Air Force as a security forces specialist. She is a certified RAD instructor and has encouraged women across campus to become more involved in their own personal safety.
Wilderman earned his master's of education, counselor education degree with a concentration in human relations. This has provided him with a solid foundation of skills and knowledge that positively impact his interactions and communications with the Colby-Sawyer community, especially the students.
Williamson has a bachelor of science degree in education and has been an educator for 20 years. He is certified in Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers/American Heart Association.
Campus Safety — the name conveys an aura of import and a high level of complex responsibilities. It's the department on any college campus that interacts with everyone and everything, a department that, like rust or the tides, never sleeps. The responsibility of Campus Safety includes every person in the college community, every building, every inch of ground, and all 360 degrees of the compass.
The director of Campus Safety at Colby-Sawyer is Peter “Pete” Berthiaume (pronounced birthyoom), who came to the college in 1993. Previous to his arrival, Berthiaume spent six years in the Army as an infantryman, which was followed by time as a security manager in the New York City and Norwalk, Conn., areas with Ogden Allied, a business conglomerate with a large security division.
Berthiaume is highly trained, has earned a degree in security management, and holds numerous certifications, most in his two principal areas of interest, behavior and emergency management, and he is the Emergency Management director for the town of New London, N.H. He has served as president and vice president of the New Hampshire Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. From 1998–2005 he served as codirector of the New Hampshire Campus Safety Academy, which provides training for officers across New England.
When he first visited Colby-Sawyer, Berthiaume remembers it was a postcard-perfect autumn day, and between the beautiful campus and the friendly people he knew almost immediately it was a place he wanted to work. Quick-witted with a ready laugh and an infectious sense of humor, he is also a modest man who likes to push attention away from himself and toward his 11-person staff. He feels that even though Colby-Sawyer is among the safest colleges in America, it enhances everyone's sense of security to have the best possible team in place.
“These folks are pros,” he says. “They have credentials as impressive as any law enforcement group in the area. All of them bring something to the table that's unique, and that makes us unique as a department. Their talents are so diversified and at such a high level of professionalism that they have formed a sort of campus safety special ops team,” Berthiaume smiles as he offers that analogy.
“We have two main areas of operation,” he goes on to explain, “administrative personnel and the officers in the field. On the administrative side we have two people on the switchboard who are professional communication specialists, and there's Donna Brennan, who does just about everything, especially where technology is concerned.
“Our mission,” Berthiaume says, “is to create a safe environment conducive to learning by promoting individual responsibility and community commitment through what we refer to as the four Es: Education, Empowerment, Engineering and Enforcement. We do this by using proactive partnerships throughout the college community. Our philosophy is that everyone on our staff is an Educator who has a wealth of knowledge on a variety of safety-related topics to offer our students.
"The Empowerment is what our staff is instructed to give our students so they can help each other to make good choices and keep each other accountable. In regard to Engineering, our staff makes sure the facilities on campus are as safe as they can be. Lights and warning devices need to be working, bushes need to be trimmed back, locks need to be in working order, and buildings and grounds need to be hazard free. I save Enforcement, which is self-explanatory, for last not because it's the least important, but because it's healthier to think of the other three first.”
When asked what the toughest part of his job is, Berthiaume takes a long moment to think. His answer shows that he is, perhaps, an uncommon safety director who, even after 16 years on the job, is burnout free and still cares deeply about the people he is charged with protecting.
“The tough part,” he begins, “is that we're working with 18 to 22-year-olds and they're all in a different place developmentally. Of course, we understand that, and there are times when our young people are struggling and it's our job to help them get through those struggles safely. The toughest part is when they don't succeed. That's hard to watch. It's frustrating and it's life, but you're always thinking about what you might have done differently. You ask yourself: Is there something more I could have done to help that person succeed?”
Pete finishes what he's saying and sits quietly for a moment lost in thought. One gets the feeling he's remembering specific instances from the past and still looking for solutions, but then his demeanor brightens.
“The part of the job I like the best is working with the great students we have here. I say that not because it's the pat, easy answer, but because it's the truth,” he says. “We have over 20 students who work with Campus Safety in the HOPE Program and with our communication specialists, and we work closely with the resident assistants, which gives us a good chance to know them. Each year you say, 'Oh, that person was so special, that's it, they broke the mold and there can't be anyone better.' Yet, each year you'll meet new students who are just as special and who continue to make the job interesting, fun and fulfilling.
“It's fulfilling because I've seen students when they first arrive, sometimes with a timid or overwhelmed look in their eyes, and I wonder if they're going to make it. Four years later I see them walking down the aisle at graduation and they're different men and women—striding with the confidence of growth and learning. But the greatest thing of all is that, when I see them looking proud of their accomplishments at graduation, I get to think that maybe my staff and I had a small part in the making of their success, and for us that truly is an honor.”
-by David R. Morcom
Colby-Sawyer College
541 Main Street
New London, NH 03257
(603) 526-3000
