As Department of Public Safety transitions into a new academic year, Roland Corvington, former high-ranking FBI official, settles into his new position as director of public safety at Saint Louis University.
Corvington, who began serving SLU on Sept. 7, has spent almost the past 23 years as an agent in the FBI.
Corvington comes to the campus having most recently served as the special agent in charge of the Eastern District of Missouri, where he directed all investigative, national security and intelligence operations.
“Corvington not only possesses superb training and experience as a law enforcement official, but his education and management background has helped him to be a leader who is able to organize, motivate and inspire those he directs to work effectively with a common purpose,” Vice President and General Counsel Bill Kaufmann said.
As Corvington was approaching retirement age, he began exploring other options for work.
“This opportunity at SLU surfaced, and I was very much interested in it,” Corvington said.
While attending Western Illinois University, where he majored in law enforcement and public administration with a Master’s degree in political science, Corvington acted as a resident assistant, a dispatcher for the university police and as a parking services clerk.
Corvington said he expects to discover many of the same issues at SLU that arose while he was in college, including alcohol or drug abuse among students.
Corvington said he was inspired to become involved with law enforcement by his neighbor, a local preacher and an Illinois state trooper.
“He just impressed me. He looked great in that uniform, and was a very disciplined and very focused individual, yet very personable,” Corvington said.
Corvington said that he admired those characteristics, and wanted to engage himself in a meaningful, yet spontaneous, career.
“I was also looking for something that was very purposeful in terms of the vocation,” Corvington said. “I found that in the FBI, most certainly.”
Corvington said that working for the FBI is not a job, but a way of life and conduct. “If you look at people coming into the bureau, they are not looking for money. They are coming because of patriotism and service,” he said.
Through the FBI, Corvington learned the values of integrity.
“I wanted to be part of an organization that demanded the most from me. The public shouldn’t expect anything less from an organization like the FBI,” he said.
Corvington said that one of his greatest experiences while working in St. Louis was helping to reunite Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck, two young children who had been kidnapped, with their families in 2007.
“That brought with it tremendous satisfaction,” Corvington said. “We were relieved and the emotion was palpable.”
His advice to college students who may be living on their own for the first time is to be cautious and aware of one’s surroundings.
“Don’t do things that will make it easier for a criminal to prey on you,” he said.
When he can’t be found fighting crime and protecting the public, Corvington spends time with his family and takes part in various recreational activities.
“I like to work out. I like to hunt. I like to fish,” Corvington said. “When you’re out there on a pond, all you think about is fishing.”
