UWL hires new chief of police

Picture retrieved from uwlax.edu.

Kayleigh Marshall, Multimedia Editor
August 28, 2019

On August 27, Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance Bob Hetzel announced that the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse hired Allen Hill as UWL’s new chief of police. Hill is currently the chief of police at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. When former UWL Chief Scott McCollough retired in June, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse began the search for a new chief of police.

Hill began working at UHCL in 2008 as a corporal before he was hired as interim chief of police in 2015. In 2016, he was hired as the permanent chief of police.

Picture and caption retrieved from UHCL The Signal. Hill, center, with his family (from left) his aunts, Mary Knox and Francine Sparrow; his cousin, Texas Ranger James Wilkins; his wife, Eva Lanczos Hill; his parents, Clarence and Edna Hill and his sister, Catherine Hill.

Hill was selected over two other candidates for UWL’s position after an extensive selection process that included open forums for students, faculty, and staff. According to Robin Tuxen, Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance and chair of the search committee, each forum was attended by about 70 participants.

The committee also provided the candidates resumes on the UWL search website and gave students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to provide feedback on each candidate on online forms that were sent out via email.

The search committee was made up of nine representatives from different departments and offices from UWL. The search committee was available on the UWL search website and in the announcement from Hetzel. The committee consisted of:

Natalie Eschenbaum, Department of English

Sandy Grunwald, Office of the Provost

Victor Hill, Parking & Transportation Services

Paul Iverson, University Police

Greg Phlegar, Student Life Office

Dylan Schock, Student Association

Robin Tuxen, Administration & Finance

Will Vanroosenbeek, LGBTQA Services

Lisa Weston, Office of Residence Life

An anonymous source told the Racquet Press that each member of the search committee identifies as white or appears to be white. Police brutality against people of color is an issue that has affected many in the United States. According to the organization, Mapping Police Violence, “Police killed 1,147 people in 2017. Black people were 25% of those killed despite being only 13% of the population.”

Tuxen told the Racquet Press that committee members are bound by confidentiality and unable to discuss the search.