There’s a new sheriff in town. Well, on campus at least.
The administration hired former Hillsdale County Undersheriff Bill Whorley as the new director of campus security and emergency management. Whorley has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience in Hillsdale — first as a patrol officer and then as undersheriff.
Whorley was hired to replace former director Chris Martini, who left in September.
“I plan to be visible on campus, to eat lunch here and interact in any way that I can, because it is important for everyone to know they are being supported,” Whorley said. “We need to be an agency that does whatever it can to help others, so if we see a student who is trudging down the sidewalk in the snow with just a sports jacket on, why can’t we pull over and offer a ride?”
According to Chief Administrative Officer Rich Péwé, Martini left because his family was struggling with the Hillsdale “quality of life.” When Martini was hired, around 60 qualified applicants had applied for the job as security director.
This time around, Péwé sought out applicants and “very seriously” considered only Whorley.
“We needed somebody with local roots because we didn’t want to go through that again,” Péwé said. “Whorley has a lot of training, is genuinely concerned for students and is well prepared. He is the kind of guy that I trust would know what to do in a crisis.”
Associate Dean of Men Jeffery Rogers served as the interim security director after Martini resigned. Rogers will continue to work with security as an advisor and to help Whorley with the transition.
“I was in the navy for 26 years; that’s a war zone so what could possibly happen here that I wouldn’t be ready for?” Rogers said. “But the current security staff has weathered all the changes and kept the ship sailing, so I take my hat off to those guys.”
Rogers said he has full confidence in Whorley’s ability to keep campus safe and is glad to have someone in the position full-time.
“He is going to have the place running on full cylinders with all his experience and wisdom,” Rogers said. “The student body may not see it all, but there will be a lot of things behind the scenes to make things safer.”
Junior Stephen Sterkenburg has worked for the security office for more than two years and seen four security directors in that time.
“My first impression is that I respect [Whorley], and he is approachable,” Sterkenburg said. “I think he is definitely invested in the mission of the college, and he will be a great guy to have around.”