By Erick Huber (Whetstone Staff Writer)

To many Wesley students, he looks menacing, even grim, with a face like granite.

Walter Beaupre The Whetstone / Cochise Lucas

“He just looks like someone you wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of,” said former student Laura Carll.

Greg Taylor, a current student, agrees.

“He defiantly looks more intimidating than some of the other guards they have here on campus,” Taylor said.

Beaupre says he’s surprised at his image.

“I don’t find myself intimidating at all,” he said. “In fact, I’m a very compassionate person.”

Beaupre, 49, has directed security at Wesley for nearly four years. Before that, he was associate director for public safety at Washington College in Maryland, after serving 20 years in the military.

He is divorced and has two children Sarah, 22 and Mitchell, 19.

He’s the only son from a family of four, and spent the first 19 years of his life growing up in Rhode Island.

“Growing up there was great,” he said. “We would do the same thing as the students here at Wesley do, go to parties and have fun.”

Beaupre had an especially strong bond with his father, also named Walt.

“My father and I would spend a lot of time together,” he said. “On weekends we would take a 45-minute drive to my grandparents’ beach house and take a small sailboat out and sail for hours. We would also go to Narragansett Bay to go clamming and make homemade clam chowder.”

His father died at 49, when Beaupre was only in his early twenties

‘It was one of the hardest things in my life that I had to deal with,” he said. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him.”

During the time of his father’s death, Beaupre was already active in the military and taking courses in criminal justice.

“At first I really wanted to be a firefighter, but they didn’t have any openings and my recruiter talked me into joining the military,” he said. “I loved it. I got to go all around the world and see and experience different cultures.”

While in the military, Beaupre became a military policeman.

He spent time all around world, including South Africa, India, Germany and China.

The longest time he spent away from the United States was nearly eight years in Europe, his first overseas assignment.

“That to me was one of the best places I have been,” Beaupre said. “Growing up in Rhode Island, we never really left the New England area, even for vacation, so it was a huge culture shock.”

After serving 20 years in the military, Beaupre was ready for something different.

“That’s when I got into security,” he said. “The aspiration of being a firefighter was gone at this point. I get more of a thrill and satisfaction doing what I do now.”

Beaupre spent more than seven years at Washington College before coming to Wesley. After he heard word that Wesley was looking for a director of security, he couldn’t pass it up.

“It was perfect,” he said. “I would be closer to my children who were living in Delaware with their mother, and also be in a higher position than what I was at Washington.”

Beaupre said he found something at Wesley that he never felt at Washington.

“I have more of a feeling of closeness with the faculty, staff and students,” he said.

He’s made his office a place to put his sports memorabilia; he’s a big fan of the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots. With a handicap of 12, he also likes playing golf when he has the chance.

Beaupre said part of the reason he’s considered intimidating by students is because of the job itself.

“We look like the bad guys, but we just follow school guidelines,” he said. “It’s not my determination on what happens to a student at the end of the day. All we do here is send a report of what happened to the college judicial system and administration.”

Beaupre’s demeanor has even benefited some students.

“I have had some parents call me up and thank me, and others who love to give me an earful,” Beaupre said. “But what really makes my job worthwhile is when I see a student who may have had a few runs in with me as a freshman, mature through time, and come thank me on graduation day for something I may have done to them three or four years ago.”

Beaupre said his main goal is for students to get the most out of school – and feel safe while they’re doing it.

“Everyone likes to have fun,” he said. “What you do behind closed doors is up to you. But be smart about it. Don’t attract the unnecessary attention and you won’t have to deal with (the school).”