JIM CAAUWE ’77

MAJOR: Broadcasting & Bible
CAREER : Law Enforcement
HOME: Farmington, Minn.
FAMILY : Wife, Laura; 3 daughters, 2 grandchildren

Fast Learner

Jim Caauwe’s Northwestern experience provided him with lessons that have lasted a lifetime. He began with a goal of going into Christian radio, but he ended up leaving before achieving his degree.

“I didn’t know what direction to go,” Caauwe said. But when he joined the audio department of a Minneapolis church led by a Minneapolis cop, he caught a direction for his life. “I kind of got bit by the bug,” he explained, noting criminal justice as something that just drew him in.

With his newfound clear direction he went to another school for criminal justice and pursued a career in law enforcement. Caauwe spent 10 years in Carrollton, Texas, and 17 years with the Bloomington (Minn.) Police Department.

Caauwe observed that it was his broadcasting training at Northwestern that led to his role as public information officer for the department. “For 12 years when I worked for Bloomington I did their weekly television show,” Caauwe said, also noting that in Carrollton he worked on a syndicated 24-hour police channel.

Now retired from the Bloomington force, Caauwe works as a civilian for the Savage (Minn.) Police Department doing media programs; he also serves as adjunct criminal justice faculty for NWC and two other colleges.

Caauwe has fond memories of his time as a student at NWC. His favorite teacher was Bible professor J. Edwin Hartill. “We used to joke that if you were taking notes in [his] class and dropped your pencil, by the time you picked it up you were three pages behind.

“We had top-notch instructors that would apply the Bible to our culture and to our current worldviews, which then made witnessing and talking to people about Jesus much easier because you could make the Bible real to them.”

Caauwe’s Northwestern sojourn was short but efficient. He reflected, “I’ve learned that no matter where your path leads you, you will be able to use the skills and resources that you have gained.”