(Personal staff profile) By Jack Pinsky ’14
As I walked around the back of the brick buildings on Harrisburg Avenue, I scanned the walls for a door marked “All Deliveries.” Here I find Kevin Stoltzfus, a member of the Special Work Assignment Team (SWAT).
I begin by asking him what his job entails.
“We set up all the events, move professors from office to office,” Stoltzfus said. “Anything, even when students need an event set up. We paint all the sports fields, too. We’re a group of four people who are the ‘go to’ group on campus.”
I then asked, “What were you doing before F&M?” and got a surprising answer.
“This is actually my second tour of duty at F&M,” Stoltzfus said.
He started working at F&M as a security officer in 1989 and moved up to the position of assistant director of Public Safety in 2002. After some changes in the administration of the department, he left in 2007 but eventually came back to F&M as a member of the SWAT team in 2010.
“I like the environment,” Stoltzfus said. “There’s a variety of different jobs,” Stoltzfus said.
Stoltzfus also founded the Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes at F&M with partners at Elizabethtown College and Westchester College. As well as putting together the comprehensive R.A.D. classes for students and the college community, he has been active in promoting fire safety to F&M.
Stoltzfus asked me what grade I am in, and when I told him I am a senior he said, “Me, too!” Stoltzfus is a senior studying criminal justice at Elizabethtown College. He wants to investigate the ability of wrongly imprisoned inmates to integrate into society after their release.
“There’s a lot of inmates,” Stoltzfus said. “Too many.”
Finally, I ask him what piece of advice he would give to the F&M community.
“Don’t wear flip flops in the winter,” he laughed.
Then a more serious look crossed his face.
“Reach for your goals,” he continued. “That’s pretty simple. Even if things get put on hold throughout life — keep them and pursue them. You’re never too old to keep education going.”
With that final note of encouragement, I left the warehouse, wondering how the twists and turns in my life will play out. I hope that, if anything, I can hold on to my compassion as well as Stoltzfus has, like a pair of sturdy boots in the winter.
Kevin Stoltzfus has a son who is a senior wildlife management major at Pennsylvania State University and a daughter who is a junior psychology major at the same school. Kevin’s dream job would be to work in surveillance from helicopters or airplanes, a callback to his background in the Air Force, in either Colorado or Hawaii. He has also coached wrestling locally.
If you would like to nominate a staff member for a profile, email jpinsky@fandm.edu.
Senior Jack Pinsky is a contributing writer. His email is jpinsky@fandm.edu.