He is on the job 24 hours a day keeping the campus safe. He says he rarely takes vacations because Brandeis needs him to maintain order. One of his many tasks is fielding frequent interviews with the Justice; in this one, he reveals some of the intricacies of his job.Edward Callahan
Role at Brandeis: Director of Public Safety
Time at Brandeis: 26 years

JustFeatures: What is your job exactly?
Ed Callahan: I do a lot of things. I'm the director of Public Safety, I work with University Police, I deal with parking and traffic, the Escort Safety department, BEMCo and the Environmental Safety department. I basically am involved in just about everything on campus. Each of those departments has a certain number of people involved with them, and I keep them organized and running smoothly.

JF: What is a typical day for you?
EC: Well, with my job, there is no typical day. I get here around eight in the morning and I can be here until seven at night sometimes. I check all the messages and reports from the night before with the Police, BEMCo, [Residence] Life and the Health Center and I make sure everything is running smoothly.
Some days I have conferences or events, like this weekend was Bronstein and we just had the Spring open house where I had to deal with an extra 300 to 400 people on campus. Each day there is something different to do, someone else I have a meeting with. It is a very full job, and I usually put in somewhere between 70 and 100 hours a week into it because it doesn't end when the weekend comes around.

JF: What do you do with your free time?
EC: Well, because this is such a demanding job, I don't get a lot of free time. Even on the weekends, people from the campus Police or the Health Center will call me, and I have to still deal with campus issues when I am home. I also deal with Waltham Police, especially with off-campus parties. I very rarely take vacations because I am needed for so many things that go on at the campus.

JF: What do you think is the biggest public safety issue on campus?
EC: I would have to say students not locking their doors. I get complaints all the time from students about gum and cigarette butts shoved into the doors to residence halls to keep them open, and that is a big problem on campus. It's a safety issue, keeping non-Brandeis people from getting into residence halls and stealing things.

JF: Compared to Brandeis, what are the public safety departments like at other schools ?
EC: Well, at a lot of other schools, you deal with a more urban, more police-oriented environment. Here, 90 to 95 percent is dedicated to public service, while at other schools, the police deal more with anti-authority and actual physical confrontation at other schools.

JF: What is the hardest part of your job?
EC: I would say the hardest part is doing 100 things at once. I do believe that success in this business is being asked to do everything; it shows trust, and when you have been here for 26 years, people call [on] you to make all the decisions.

JF: What is most rewarding about your job? Is it an ideal job for you?
EC: The most rewarding thing is the relationships I make with students and staff here. I love working with them and they make this job great to go to. I dedicated my life to public service and being able to work with college students is great. It's a great job and I love doing it.
-Stefanie Tuck