CAMPUS
SECURITY:
IT WASN'T ME OFFICER: |
 |
CAMPUS
SECURITY:
IT WASN'T ME OFFICER: |
|
By Maria Borri
She’s no Charlie's Angel, but Amanda Barnhardt is IVCCs first female security guard.
A criminal justice student at IVCC, Barnhardt has been on the security staff part-time since October 2000. She has been patrolling the campus on weekends and holidays but will be filling in during school hours.
Barnhardt is proud to the first female guard.
"I think it is great because society is coming around with women in authority," she said. "I feel working with the students shows them this without having to label women with authority jobs."
Barnhardt, who is 29, said she has not had any problems with students even though she is in classes with some and about the same age as many of those students.
Ken Sangston, director of safety services, agrees with her assessment.
"She is very helpful and good with the students," Sangston said. "She is very conscientious of her job. It is a plus for the staff to have a lady."
Barnhardt is currently combining her security work with full-time studies. Originally from Marseilles and a graduate of Marseilles High School, she lives in Kangley with her husband of two years, Mike Jensen.
Criminal justice instructor Rebecca Donna, who encouraged Barnhardt to apply for the IVCC job, expressed confidence in her student.
"I would have never recommended Amanda if I did not think she would be a good representative of the (criminal justice) program," Donna said. "I am very careful when it comes to placing a woman in a security and law enforcement position."
She also complimented Barnhardt as a student: "You could not ask for any better. She is efficient, responsible and does everything she needs to."
Returning the compliment, Barnhardt credits Donna for her decision to pursue a criminal justice career.
"She (Donna) is a very strong, energetic, and passionate woman about her work," Barnhardt said.
Other factors that influenced her career choice are her work at the Women’s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Service in Streator, where she still occasionally volunteers, and her interest in animal rights.
Her career goal is to work with the relatively new rehabilitation program at the Dwight Correctional Center that involves inmates in the training of canine units.
At the end of the semester, Barnhardt will complete her associate degree, and in the fall she will transfer to ISU in criminal justice. Her eventual goal is a Master’s degree.
When she graduates, she will not only become the first person in her family to go into a criminal justice career, she will be the first with a college degree.