DSU has recently made new appointments to its Department of Public Safety and Office of Development.

 

DSU has named Willie Bell, Jr., a retired 34-year enforcement officer and public safety administrator, as the interim University Police Chief. More than 28 of those years were spent in higher education at three different universities, including 17 years as director of public safety and chief of police for two HBCUs (North Fayetteville State University and Winston Salem State University). 

 

Interim Chief Bell holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Fayetteville State University, a master’s degree in criminal justice from North Carolina Central University and is also a graduate of the Law Enforcement Executive Program of the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

 

He is now the principal of Bell Consulting Group, which specializes in law enforcement and parking and transportation consulting services for higher education.

 

Interim Chief Bell takes over for former DSU Police Chief James T. Overton, who has left the University to become the police chief at the University of Massachusetts, Boston campus. Chief Overton’s last day was Feb. 2.  

 

DSU has also further strengthened its development staff with the naming of Al Lavan and Bryan T.T. Bell as it newest development officers.

 

Al Lavan moves into the development field after more than 35 years as a collegiate and professional football coach. Mr. Lavan served as the DSU head coach from 2004-2010, and prior to that his football career included 18 years as an assistant coach with several NFL football teams. He is a graduate of Colorado State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology.

 

Bryant T.T. Bell will join the development officer team as an alumnus of DSU from the classes of 1975 and 1994. Mr. Bell, who earned a BS in Business Administration and a MBA with DSU, previously worked as a senior brokerage officer and senior client advisor for Wilmington Trust and as an assistant to the director of Continuing Education for Delaware Technical and Community College.