Baruch mourns the loss of CPO Linzy Chapman

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Denis Gostev | Baruch Athletics

Amanda Salazar, Editor-in-Chief

Baruch Campus Peace Officer Linzy Chapman, 62, passed away from a heart attack this Saturday while on duty in the Newman Vertical Campus. 

He was found in cardiac arrest at around 9:30p.m. by his coworkers, who performed C.P.R. on him until the ambulance arrived, according to Officer Adrian Crespo, who worked closely with Chapman.

Chapman is survived by his spouse, who works with the public safety department at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, and his daughter, a court officer.

He had been nearing retirement, and “he was looking forward to the future, after work,” according to Crespo. He was planning to move down south after he left Baruch College.

The C.P.O. served the Baruch community for nine years as a safety agent and was known as a friendly face by his fellow “Vertical Patrols” and the students he interacted with.

In an email blast to students, faculty, and staff, President Mitchel B. Wallerstein said of Chapman, “He was reliable, friendly and unfailingly helpful. He loved his job and cared about the needs of everyone who works and studies on our campus.” 

“We are all greatly saddened by the news of his sudden and unexpected passing,” he continued. 

In the same vein, Director of Student Life Damali Smith said that Chapman was always warm and eager to help out students and staff in need.

“My work with Officer Chapman was limited, but I often saw him around campus, and he was always pleasant and willing to help when needed.  He was always gracious to our team and the students and his presence on campus will be missed.  I send my condolences to the entire Public Safety team, his family and friends.”

Chapman – who worked the three-eleven shift in the vertical campus alongside Crespo -was known to his coworkers as a dedicated and well-respected person.

“He was very meticulous, paid attention to details, very neat. He always cared about little details, down to a T.,” said Crespo. “He was very by-the-book.”

This sentiment was shared by former school safety agent Peter Flores who also knew Chapman well.

“He was looking out for everybody. So, if you got to do things by the book, then you don’t let things don’t slip by. But when it came to individual situations with students, or faculty, or just anybody, if he needed to go above and beyond, he would do that, within reason,” Flores said. 

“He wasn’t one of those people who played favorites, but he was very, very caring about everyone that was around him.”

According to his coworkers, his interests included fishing, martial arts, and television.

“Me and him, the way we bonded, was that he was an old-school martial artist and I was into martial arts,” stated Flores. 

“As some people know, besides being an officer at Baruch, I was also the self-defense instructor. That was always our main conversation with each other, just about the martial arts, how things were back-in-the-day, and just doing what we can to make the school better.”

The main feeling that Chapman’s former coworkers and friends discussed was their admiration of his kindness.

“I’d have to say that the most memorable thing about him is the fact that he was good to people. He was just a good person and he always looked out for people even if people didn’t necessarily look out for him all the time,” Flores said. “He was just one of those people that he’d rather pay it forward in advance than be one of those types of people who think ‘you have to be good to me for me to be good to you’.”