To: The Wellesley College Community
Cc: Parents of Students
From: President Paula A. Johnson
Re: New Director of Public Safety/Chief of Police
Date: October 8, 2021
I am pleased to announce that C. Meshia Thomas will be our new director of public safety/chief of police at Wellesley. She will join us on November 1.
Chief Thomas is currently the chief of police at Virginia Union University, an HBCU in Richmond, Va., where she oversees all aspects of public safety. She has previously served as police captain at Vanderbilt University, overseeing professional standards and accreditation; as captain at the University of Chicago; and as a lieutenant and investigator at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She received her undergraduate degree in criminal justice from Bethel University and graduated from the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy.
Informed by her experience at a number of higher education institutions, Chief Thomas brings a fresh perspective on community engagement and public service to the College. “I am both excited and honored to join Wellesley College as the director of public safety/chief of police,” Chief Thomas wrote after accepting the position. “I consider myself a mentor to students and staff, and I have worked closely with residential life teams while serving as a live-in liaison for public safety in my past roles. I am excited to collaborate with Wellesley to bring a reimagined vision of public safety, in light of the current national climate, that focuses on community engagement and public service.”
Chief Thomas will be a critical partner as we move forward with reimagining public safety at Wellesley College, a process that began with community engagement in the summer of 2020. Our students, particularly our Black students, played an important role in initiating our conversations about this by sharing their experiences, perspectives, and concerns.
After a series of focus groups and public conversations—facilitated by Pamela L. Taylor, assistant provost of institutional planning and assessment and director of institutional research, and Jacquelina Marquez, dean of Religious and Spiritual Life—we outlined a vision for public safety that calls for support in areas beyond policing. We believe that Chief Thomas’ extensive experience will help us develop this new model in concert with community input. Also, as we make this transition, we are changing the name of the department from Campus Police to Public Safety, and we are reorganizing its structure, adding leadership of emergency preparedness to the chief’s role and moving supervision of the department to the Office of Student Life. Chief Thomas will report to Sheilah Shaw Horton, vice president and dean of students.
We are grateful to Acting Chief of Campus Police Phil Di Blasi and his team for their remarkable work during this transitional year. Acting Chief Di Blasi’s leadership during this time has been invaluable and has truly set the College on a new course. We also appreciate the support of the advisory group that helped to inform these changes.
Please join me in giving Chief Thomas a warm Wellesley welcome.
