Vickie Weaver Plays it Safe
Growing up, Vickie Weaver was impressed by her father’s position with the security police in the United States Air Force. So, it was hardly surprising a generation later when Weaver found herself graduating from the Military Police Academy with the U.S. Army, having been drawn in by the crisp precision common to both the military and law enforcement.
Today, after 23 years of distinguished service to the Army, and 22 years with the Department of Public Safety at Rider University, Weaver understands the business of community protection as well as anyone. For that reason, she was recently installed as the Mid-Atlantic Region Director on the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) Board of Directors.
Weaver, who has served as the director of Public Safety at Rider since June 1993, now heads the region of IACLEA that represents the states of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, in addition to the District of Columbia. Headquartered in West Hartford, Conn., the IACLEA is a worldwide professional organization that advances public safety for more than 1,200 of its member educational institutions and 2,200 individual members by providing resources, advocacy and professional development services.
Though she has spent her entire adult life either in the Army or with Public Safety at Rider, Weaver originally aspired to another career – one that may have very well directed her toward a college campus in another capacity.
“I actually earned a bachelor’s degree in Art Education (from Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C.), and wanted to be an art teacher,” Weaver explained. “But right as I graduated, arts and physical education teachers were being laid off all over the country.”
Instead, Weaver enlisted for a six-year commitment in the Army in 1981 that took her to places such as California, Puerto Rico and nearby Fort Dix, N.J. After participating in the early release program in 1986, she took a job in Public Safety at Rider as a senior officer that August. “I was going to stay temporarily, until I found a job with a municipal police department,” said Weaver, smiling at the recollection.
It wasn’t long before Weaver realized she had found a home in Lawrenceville. “It’s really about the people I meet every day,” she said. “The students, the faculty and staff, as well as the opportunity to work for such a well-respected, close-knit community where people genuinely care for one another, means so much to me.”
When her active duty ended in 1986, Weaver joined the U.S. Army Reserves, in which she remained active until retiring in July 2004 with an honorable discharge as a master sergeant. She says that it was her training throughout her years in the Army that helped mold her as an effective public safety professional. “The military provided me with an excellent foundation for a law enforcement career,” Weaver said. “It also allowed me to spend more time near my family, and active duty doesn’t always provide that opportunity.”
No matter in which facet of her career, Weaver has earned long list of commendations. In 2006, the New Jersey College and University Public Safety Association (NJ CUPSA) recognized her with its President’s Award, three years after she was given the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Weaver has been honored on campus, too, earning the prestigious Ziegler Gee Woman of the Year Award in 1998, as well as in the military, where she claimed the 1983 U.S. Army Soldier of the Year Award at the Sierra Army Depot in Herlong, Calif.
Prior to her appointment as director of Public Safety at Rider, Weaver served as assistant director from 1991 to 1993, and as assistant director of Judicial Affairs from 1987 to 1991. Weaver also realized her original plan to teach, as well – though it did not involve art – when she was an adjunct instructor in the College of Continuing Studies from 2004 to 2007, teaching undergraduate courses in Occupational Safety and Industrial Hygiene. Since beginning at Rider, Weaver has also complemented her bachelor’s degree with an M.A. in Human Services from the University.
Weaver says she is proud of the many strides made by her department, and of the partnerships and alliances it has built with departments from other universities, as well as the local responding agencies in both Lawrenceville and Princeton. That success, she says, starts from within.
“We’ve been able to develop a lot of training opportunities for our staff over the years, and our program has received some nice recognition from the state organization in that time,” said Weaver, pointing to the recent honors bestowed upon the seven members of Public Safety who were honored this summer by the NJ CUPSA. Lt. Cliff Harris, Sgt. Al Wharton Sr. and Public Safety Officer Ed Stout were all honored with a Command Citation; Lt. John Archer was cited for Meritorious Service; Administrative Associate Linda Stoop and Clerical Associate Maria Kosul were commended for Administrative Recognition; and Det. Ronald P. Schneck received the Retirement award.
Weaver also credits the backing the department receives from Rider’s administration as key to its ability to progress. “All of us have such appreciation for the support Dr. Rozanski, (Associate Vice President of Student Affairs) Tony Campbell and (Assistant Vice President for Planning) Debbie Stasolla give us every day,” she said. “They empower us to be the best Public Safety department we can be.”
