Gloria Graham was officially sworn-in yesterday as the new chief of police at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is the first permanent female chief of police in the UT Police Department’s history. The ceremony was part of the kickoff celebration for the campus’ annual Safety Day.
Assistant Chief Debbie Perry — who served as interim chief of the department before Graham’s hiring — conducted the swearing-in, in which Graham promised to uphold the United States constitution, the laws of the state of Tennessee and the university. Graham, who was assistant police chief at Duke University in Durham, N.C., before coming to Knoxville, was selected from a pool of 81 applicants from 28 states. She was named chief in July and began serving in early August.
Perry had some help during the swearing-in ceremony. Graham’s 3-year-old daughter, Aliyah, pinned her mother’s new badge to her uniform to the applause of those in attendance.
For more information on UTPD and safety efforts on campus, visit http://www.utpolice.org/. For more information on Safety Day, click here.