After seven years in her current assignment and nearly 20 years at Hopkins, Carrie Bennett is leaving her post within the Office of Student Life as Community Liaison. Citing family medical emergencies, including her mother’s passing in June and her father’s growing level of dependence, Bennett will be leaving the liaison post at the start of the semester.
“My father is in his eighties and has some memory issues — he has never lived alone,” she explained. “I have spoken with my boss, Dean Boswell, and let her know that I am definitely leaving, that I am moving to Pennsylvania.”
Presently Bennett is uncertain about the future of the liaison post, other than a search is underway by the Dean of Student Life, Susan Boswell, and they have started searching from a familiar pool. “I know that they are checking with people within the campus police department, which was where I came from, but I don’t know what the status is,” she said.
Bennett does not foresee herself creating a similar post in Pennsylvania but she will search for work at Dickenson University, near her father’s home in Carlisle, and explore other options. “One of the things I may look at is, as a civilian, working for the Borough of Carlisle Police Department,” she said. “My options are really open.”
Starting out in the Hopkins Campus Police back in 1993, Bennett worked her way to Sargent before exploring the possibility of creating a new position to help bridge the differences between the Hopkins community and the residents of Charles Village. Since the creation of the position in 2005, Bennett has worked to help students transition from on-campus to off-campus living as they progressed from young college students to members of the Baltimore community.
Her efforts to educate students on proper community conduct and personally respond to noise complaints have reduced the number of calls from neighborhood residents to Baltimore police and warmed relations between students and residents. Over the years, she has embraced the unofficial title of "shush lady" among Hopkins undergraduates.
Check back with the News-Letter in September for more on Bennett’s thoughts on her time here at Hopkins.
— Ian Yu, Managing Editor
