Bob McEwen, who has served as Dartmouth's college proctor since 1976, late last week announced his intention to retire effective one year from now, on July 1, 2003.
As proctor, McEwen is in charge of all matters relating to campus security. He also handled all personnel matters within the Department of Safety and Security.
McEwen's colleagues spoke of him and his 37 years of service to the College in glowing terms.
"He was the best boss anyone could ever ask for," said Beverly Lancaster, an executive secretary at Safety and Security. "He had more integrity than anyone I've ever known."
Over the last 26 years he has been "always on call, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except on the rare occasions when he has been out of town," according to Dan Nelson, senior associate dean of the College.
"It is an unusual evening when Bob doesn't receive at least a couple of calls at home in the middle of the night," Nelson said in a BlitzMail message to The Dartmouth.
Lancaster especially admired the way that McEwen was able to recruit and train women as Safety and Security officers. Before his tenure as proctor, no women had worked for the department.
Rebel Roberts, sergeant and crime prevention specialist at Safety and Security, praised McEwen's creation of a campus security organization which is "assistance-oriented" rather than "enforcement-oriented," -- one that aims to assist students rather than merely to apply rules.
She said that it will be difficult for Safety and Security to find a replacement who has McEwen's talent for interaction with the broader Dartmouth community.
McEwen has said that he looks forward to taking the opportunity to spend more time with his grandchildren, according to Lancaster.
McEwen joined the Safety and Security force when he was hired as a patrol person on the midnight shift in 1967. In 1969, he attained the rank of lieutenant, according to Nelson.
Nelson told The Dartmouth that he would soon be convening a search committee to start looking for a replacement for McEwen. He indicated that the year's advance notice McEwen has provided should allow the College an ample amount of time to attract a pool of qualified applicants for the position.
McEwen was out of town on Monday and could not be reached for comment for this article.
