Gary Margolis is a retired university police chief. Over his decades in campus public safety, he has watched as the boom in online activity and connections with social tools has opened new pathways for aggression between students. His role, and the role of campus public safety, has changed dramatically as a result.
Today, Margolis serves as president and CEO of Social Sentinel. His company has built a product designed to listen for the language of self-harm and aggression online, taking cues from marketing sentiment analysis and repurposing it for something new: protecting students and their institutions from harm.
This week on NACUBO In Brief, Margolis shares his own journey from chief to CEO and looks at how campus safety needs have evolved from blue lights to social media threat alerts. “Administrators need to be aware of the current behavior of their students,” says Margolis, “and understand the tools in place to protect them.”