Getting to Know You: Nick Schweickart and Jeff Danaher from Public Safety

There are some new faces patrolling campus this year. Nick Schweickart and Jeff Danaher have years of experience keeping college campuses safe, and they plan to use their expertise at USI as new public safety officers.

With extensive knowledge under both of their belts, Schweickart and Danaher are ready to adapt to USI’s campus and culture.

Nick Schweickart

Schweickart is finishing up his first month at USI, but this isn’t his first rodeo as a public safety officer. Previously, he worked as a public safety officer for the University of Evansville for 10 years. He’s also already familiar with some parts of campus considering he attended USI as a student for a few of years.

Schweickart wanted to be a public safety officer because he liked being able to help people, but it’s an aspect of the job that is not always straightforward.

“One of the more challenging parts is having to work with people and making them see that they need our help or some other type of service,” he says.  

Students are always keeping him on his toes. While he hasn’t had any memorable days at USI yet, he fondly remembers one interesting Halloween weekend when he was on duty.

“I want to say it was seven or eight years ago, I was dealing with an incredibly intoxicated gentleman wearing Insane Clown Posse makeup,” he explains.

When he’s not wearing his security uniform, Schweickart likes to wear kilts, a nod to his partial Scottish heritage. He also enjoys reading, some of his favorite books include The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time series; watching movies, Star Wars and Star Trek; and spending time with his wife and son.

If he could give his younger self one piece of advice, it would be to “take better care of your back.”

Jeff Danaher

Danaher has 11 years of experience as a public safety officer, five of them spent at the University of Evansville. While he enjoys interacting with students and helping them, he states the authority dynamic between students and officers can be a challenging aspect of his job.

 “It can be challenging, but there are ways to work around it and with students,” he says.

He's adjusting well to campus, but he said USI’s Public Safety Office, in a sense, offers more medical assistance than he’s experienced in previous public safety positions. “We’ve been on several medical runs. It’s a new experience for me,” Danaher said.

Aside from work, he enjoys spending time with his family, vacationing at the beach, fishing and hunting. He also likes to tell corny jokes.

“A priest, a pastor and a rabbit walk into a blood bank,” Danaher said “The nurse asks the rabbit what type of blood he is. The rabbit says, ‘I don’t know. I think I'm a Type O.’” Get it?

If he could give his younger self a piece of advice, it would be not to lose sight of your goals.

Be sure to give our new officers a friendly, welcoming wave when you see them out and about on campus!