Vanderbilt University has created a new position to ensure that minors who spend time on campus are safe.
Dawn Riddle was hired in June as director for the protection of minors. Her office will provide training and education, develop and disseminate best practices and coordinate the response to any incidents.
Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos wrote letters to the Vanderbilt community in April and October of 2012 about the importance of protecting minors on campus.
“Children are considered very special members of our community, whether they are here to receive medical care in a clinic or hospital, early childhood education in one of our child care centers, recreational care through Camp Vandy, or academic instruction through one of the many programs that Vanderbilt offers,” Zeppos wrote in October.
“They deserve and require our dedicated oversight and protection.”
Prior to joining Vanderbilt, Riddle directed a statewide training program for law enforcement through the Tennessee Governor’s Highway Safety Office and Columbia State Community College. She also has been a faculty instructor of criminal justice at South College, a trainer in ethics and integrity and collaborative response to domestic violence at the University of Tennessee’s Law Enforcement Center, and program manager of the domestic violence unit of the Knoxville Police Department.
Riddle has a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University and a master’s from Virginia Commonwealth University, both in criminal justice.