Charles Leone will step down from his role as executive director of Campus Safety Services on April 29, ending his 40-year career at Temple University, wrote Ken Kaiser, chief operating officer, in a message to the Temple community Thursday evening.
Deputy Director Denise Wilhelm will serve as interim executive director while Temple conducts a national search for Leone’s permanent successor.
Leone will stay at Temple through April to help with the beginning of former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey’s audit of Campus Safety Services.
Leone has overseen recent campus safety initiatives, like efforts to increase Campus Safety Services’ forces by 50 percent, in response to the rise in violence near Main Campus, including the fatal shooting of Samuel Collington, a senior political science major, in November 2021.
Yesterday, Temple shared plans to create a security upgrade grant program, increase patrols near campus, establish a neighborhood watch group and provide housing for students who want to relocate on campus as part of its efforts to improve campus safety.
“It is bittersweet for me to leave now, but I know campus safety is in a much stronger position today, and this is the right time for me personally to step aside and enable a new leader to build the department’s strategy for the future,” Leone wrote.
Be the first to comment