Back Story

Victor Ledbetter Director, KVCC Law Enforcement Training Center

Victor Ledbetter was going to be a lawyer. The Hamlet, North Carolina, native studied prelaw at North Carolina Central University and worked at IBM while waiting to go to law school. But when he was laid off and a placement agency asked if he wanted to become a police officer in Kalamazoo, his first thought was “Where?” Then, “Hmm, that'd be great experience learning how police operate, so when I become a defense attorney, I can just be exceptional,” he recalls.

Ledbetter never became a lawyer. He found that being a cop was his calling. “The thing that struck me the most,” he says, “was you come across people and can make their lives better and do something for the better. It sounds like a cliché, but truly, when you give your life to service for others, there is nothing more rewarding.”

Ledbetter, 52, is now training future police officers as the director of the Law Enforcement

(continued on page 37)

Brian Powers

Meet Donovan Roy, Ed.D.

Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) is proud to welcome Donovan Roy, Ed.D., to Kalamazoo as its new assistant dean for Diversity and Inclusiveness. Dr. Roy is a national expert in diversity and inclusion partnership programs with corporations, school systems, universities, athletic programs and a wide array of non-profit organizations.

Let’s Start a Conversation!

Dr. Roy and the staff in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at WMed look forward to talking with civic, business, education, non-profit and philanthropic leaders from Southwest Michigan about developing new collaborations that can extend Kalamazoo’s national leadership in designing innovative educational programs and partnerships for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

So let’s start a conversation and see where it will lead. Please contact Dr. Roy and the WMed Office of Diversity and Inclusion staff by e-mail at donovan.roy@med.wmich.edu or by phone at 269.337.6306.