On Wednesday, May 3, the Sonoma State University Police had an event honoring important members of the SSU community as well as swearing in a new sergeant, Jason Hight. The night was described by the SSU Chief of Police Nader Oweis as, “A night of giving back, commitment, dedication and hard work. We truly try to make sure everyone feels safe.”

The event was held on campus at The Cooperage and had about 100 people in attendance including family members of award recipients and police officers. Hight was sworn in by Oweis at the end of the event. Oweis explained, “Three people went for the sergeant position internally. Jason has been with Sonoma State since the beginning of COVID-19, and he never got to be formally sworn in the first time, so this will hopefully make up for it.” He also explained that sargeants aren’t sworn in very often, so this was an important event. 

Oweis went on to say that a sergeant is the key to any police department, devoting hours and commitment as well as being on duty when no one else is. Hight was previously a detective for the Marin County District Attorney. He worked on cold cases and was also a field training officer. 

Oweis concluded the event by saying, “Promoting someone as sergeant is one of the unique and special things I get to do.” 

While the swearing in of Hight was the concluding part of the event, there were also many awards handed out by the chief to award their hard work. The intern program at the University Police Department used to be one or two students, but there are now 12 interns graduating this semester. Oweis wanted to bring more students into the program to give them more opportunity as well as grow the work that they do. 

Officer John Howard, who works closely with interns, presented them with a Chief’s Appreciation Award, as well as spoke about their future and growth within the department. There were students from many different majors and were explained to have a great dedication. A few of the interns have been with the department for a couple of years, so they seemed proud to have been receiving recognition for their work. 

Alongside interns, a few members of the SSU community received awards as well. There were four Distinguished Service Commendation awards handed out for people who went above and beyond to serve SSU. 

Andre Bailey, an advisor at SSU, received this award for his service to SSU, the police department, and the Male Success Initiative. Bailey has been on this campus for 30 years and is retiring. Oweis described him as, “Not just a mentor, but what some call the rainbow.” Bailey gave a speech after receiving his award, saying, “This is a tremendous honor and I would like to say thank you to Nader. The past president made two important decisions, our chief of staff and our chief of police.” Bailey wrapped up his speech with, “Sonoma State is in great hands. Thank you to the entire campus community.” 

Another award given was to Adelino Alves, a custodian at SSU. Alves was explained to be someone who works above and beyond to keep Sonoma State clean and clean buildings he is not assigned to. Alves is noted for saying, “important people come through here, it has to be clean.” He had a smile on his face the entire time he was receiving his award.

At the end of the event, Oweis said, “We wanted the community to be a part of those receiving awards, not just the recipients and police department. Thank you to everyone.”