Farewell and Good Luck to Bill Curtis!

Bill Curtis“I am not alone in expressing that Bill Curtis made our college better than when he entered it,” Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Evette Clark said. “He brought a high level of professionalism to ensuring our safety, emergency, and security systems were enhanced and brought up to date for the institution, at all three campuses.

Over the past three years, Bill has made Lewis & Clark a stronger institution because of his leadership. A few of his accomplishments include:

• Formalized the Emergency Operations Center and emergency tabletop exercises
• Created incident action plans
• Upgraded our emergency/alerts, cameras, transportation, and log systems
• Established emergency supply containers
• Supervised and led a great team of Campus Safety officers, dispatchers, and the Transportation and Parking manager.
• Served twice as interim director of Campus Safety
• Built relationships with safety and emergency professionals across other Northwest Five consortium colleagues in addition to local public institutions and agencies such as the Portland Police Bureau and the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management

“Bill made time to work with anyone who needed his help and was available for calls in the wee morning/late hours,” Clark said. “Jokingly at times, I called Bill ‘Batman’ because he was literally everywhere for everyone.”

While a transition plan for Bill’s position has not yet been announced, Clark emphasized that hiring a new director of Campus Safety is a top priority before Bill departs.

The Vice President of Student Life threw a farewell party for Bill Curtis on Nov. 14.