Security officer loves job, students
By Kate Gibson
Old Gold and Black Reporter

For nearly eight years, George McBride, a security guard at the Z. Smith Reynolds Library has held the same position. He sits near the entrance of the library, watching university students walk in with their eyes open wide in awe as freshmen and walk out with their careers within reach as seniors.

“When you see students come in as freshmen, to me at least, they look like scared little kids.” McBride said, “And when they leave here they are mature adults going out to start their lives.”

“I try to talk to them like adults, not like kids. I’m here as a sounding board: If they want to talk I’m here, if want to vent I’ll listen. I’m here to be their friend, not their adversary,” he said.

Sometimes students stop and say hello; sometimes they simply smile and nod. But it seems that everyone has time to pick up one of McBride’s signature mints as they pass by his desk.

“At first I would put a few handfuls of them (mints) on the table, and students would come by and ask if they could have one, and then we’d start talking,” he said.

McBride says that, at first, he bought about one bag of mints per week, but today he estimates that he spends about $140 each month on them.

“To me, it’s a little thing between myself and the students – the students are what makes this job so great and I enjoy talking with them. The mints are just something to try and get a little conversation going, and I think it works,” he explained.

Though he (and his candy) may seem like a fixture here at the university, McBride is actually a self-proclaimed “transplant” to the Winston-Salem area. He moved to North Carolina in 1981 after his employer, Corn Products, Inc., transferred him from his home in Peoria, Ill. He says the move suited him, though, and he has made this area his home.
“I love it here — you have a little bit of everything. I know that to young people, Winston-Salem is not a hip city … but for me, at my age, it’s perfect,” McBride said.

“I guess it’s just more of a feeling that I have than anything else. Going back to Illinois now wouldn’t feel like going home to me, because this is my home,” he said.

McBride began working as a security officer purely by chance, but he stumbled into another place that felt like home. In 1994 after 31 years of work, McBride retired from his job at Corn Products. But he soon found that idleness didn’t suit him.

“In about 11 months (of retirement) I got bored. I went looking for a job and found myself here,” McBride said with a smile. “And I’ve been here ever since – they would have to run me off this job.”

McBride says that he enjoys the “family atmosphere” of the university.

“This campus is more like a small community,” he said. “There’s a certain closeness between everyone here. And I think that adds to students’ education.”

His daughter also enjoyed the environment of the university.

“My daughter came out here, and she loved it. She was 35 then, and she started going to college,” he said. “She had worked in customer services areas, and she realized that she needed more than a high school education to get ahead in management. The visit just convinced her.”

In December of 2002, she will graduate from High Point University with her bachelor’s degree.

“I’m a little proud of that,” McBride said.

In his early days as a security officer, McBride worked in Reynolds Gymnasium, but he soon moved to his current position in the library. In both locations, he has tried to make a personal connection with the students by offering them kind words, a smile and even candy.

And in some cases, these encounters lead to real friendships.

“I still receive cards from students who graduated from here in 1996, and there’s probably three or four hundred of them that I know by first name,” McBride said.

Though he wears a police uniform, McBride believes that his job is more about public relations than law enforcement.

“You couldn’t have someone who is grumpy working at this job, someone who didn’t want to talk to the students as they come in,” he said. “I try to smile when students pass by, and speak to them. It’s important that the students know that I’m here to help them, not to monitor them. I’m here to protect the materials of the library, but mostly as a deterrent to theft.”

And, he believes that the rest of the campus police force shares this mission.

“The campus police are really the best friends that students have here. There is a very small percentage of students who look on the police department unfavorably. Most of them understand our role here,” McBride said. “The police department does their best to help all the students – even the officers who write the parking tickets. If it wasn’t for the students, we wouldn’t be here, and I’m no exception to that rule.”

Though they may not appreciate getting parking tickets, students seem to have responded favorably to McBride’s efforts to reach out to them. Most stop by and pick up a mint on their way out, and many stop to share a few words. Sophomore Jack Clayton developed a friendship with McBride last spring while working at the circulation desk.

“I got to know him pretty well last semester and he’s a really funny guy. He’s a great guy – he’s always happy, always smiling. If you’ve had a bad day, you just say hello to George and you always feel better,” Clayton said.

“He’s top notch – above and beyond the norm,” sophomore Lee Arcove said.