“Safety is on all of us”

After a career spent serving universities across North Carolina, Guilford’s new Director of Public Safety Jermaine Cherry found his way to the College — drawn by its rich history, Quaker tradition and the opportunity to begin a new chapter close to home.

Jermaine is bringing more than his experience in campus safety to the role. He is bringing a belief that public safety is about people first.

“I believe in community policing. I believe in working together. I believe in collaboration,” Jermaine says. “I believe in all of those things in order to make sure that our community is safe.”

For Jermaine, that belief starts with getting to know the community he is serving.

Although he is new to Guilford, the College is not completely unfamiliar to him. During his time as chief of police at N.C. A&T State University, he regularly worked with law enforcement agencies throughout the Greensboro area, where Guilford was often part of the conversation.

Now, he wants to be more than a voice in that conversation. He wants  the College’s Public Safety team  to be an even bigger part of the Guilford community itself.

Jermaine's approach to public safety is centered around what he calls the “3 Ps”: professionalism, preparation and being proactive.

“I believe professionalism is the foundation on which everything we do stands,” he says.

Professionalism, for Jermaine, means more than the appearance of his officers. It extends to how they interact with and provide services to the Guilford community. Preparation, meanwhile, means ensuring officers are properly trained and ready to respond when challenges arise.

But Jermaine does not want Public Safety to simply respond when something happens — he wants officers to be visible, involved and proactive.

“We don’t want to wait until something happens and just [only] respond, we want to get out into our community,” he says, “be proactive, look for challenges and mitigate those challenges before they become big issues.”

That proactive approach is already shaping Jermaine's plans for the department. He hopes to expand engagement between Public Safety and the community through programs such as self-defense courses, an internship program and a potential citizens’ security academy.

Jermaine also wants students to know that Public Safety officers are responsible for their safety. One idea is a residence hall watch program, where officers would be assigned to individual residence halls as familiar points of contact for students.

“You can expect a more friendly approach from security under my leadership,” he says. “You can expect security to reach out within the community because we are made up of the fabric of this community.”

Jermaine also has another background in community building: education.

Earning a bachelor’s in English Education from Shaw University, Jermaine started his career as a high school teacher before eventually turning to law enforcement. He says working in a classroom helped him connect with young people on college campuses.

“I was able to relate,” he says. “I was able to understand where they were coming from.”

That understanding, he says, has allowed him to listen to students, take their ideas seriously and use them to make improvements within the departments he has served. He believes young people bring an energy and perspective that can be valuable to those leading them.

“Things change so much in this world,” Jermaine said. “What’s in today may be out tomorrow, but guess what? Young people are always in, and so we can always learn from [their] experiences.”

However he also believes students have a responsibility in creating a safe campus. While Public Safety can provide resources, training and personnel, he says safety ultimately depends on the choices members of the community make.

“I wish every Guilford College student knew that safety is literally in the palm of [their] hands,” Jermaine says. “It all boils down to the decisions they make.”

But beyond his goals and future plans for Public Safety, Jermaine is guided by one simple philosophy: “Safety is on all of us.”