Beefeaters Stationed at Gate House

Campus Safety goes British

As part of the transition to a British institution at Andrews University, some significant changes are taking place in Campus Safety.

One such change is that there will now be guards posted at the gatehouse located on J.N. Andrews Boulevard, the main entrance to campus. These guards are what are known colloquially as “beefeaters,” officially as Yeoman of the Guard and properly as Yeomen Warders of Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London and Members of the Sovereign’s Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary.

“The Yeoman Warders are ceremonial guardians in the United Kingdom,” explains Ben Panigot, director of Campus Safety. “Their job is to guard any prisoners in the Tower of London and protect the British crown jewels, which are housed at the Tower.”

Though Andrews University does not currently own any crown jewels, there are still assets to be protected, such as the valuable campus arboretum, the ancient Bible in the Center for Adventist Research, and the the University mace which some rumor to be embedded with jewels after the University’s previous president announced he had not seen the mace for 22 years, since his inauguration.

“They’re not just there for fun selfies with campus visitors and to assist my officers with campus safety concerns,” says Panigot. “They’ll also be in charge of campus tours.”

British beefeaters have conducted guided tours of the Tower of London since the Victorian era.

And why “beefeater?” No one is quite sure where this term originates, but it is suspected that the Grand Duke of Tuscany might be credited with coining the term in reference to the Tower Guards in the late 17th century. He commented once that the guards received a “very large ration of beef” each day, and joked that they “might be called beef-eaters.”

Panigot is quick to assert that this tradition will not be continued on the University campus; while on duty the new gatehouse guards will be provided with one serving each of Worthington Vege-Burger instead.