President's Campus Safety Initiative

We all want a safe campus environment—safe in every sense of the word. Recent months and events have inspired us to reflect more about what it means to feel safe, respected, and included across our University family and beyond.

To advance our public safety and policing, the University retained CL Alexander Consulting, led by Dr. Cedric Alexander, an expert in law enforcement with over 40 years in public safety, to help facilitate conversations with our Twin Cities campus community, to help us determine where we are strong and where we fall short.

Beginning in September 2020, Dr. Alexander and his team facilitated conversations with more than 200 individuals, including students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and members of the U of M’s public safety team, representing more than 30 organizations across campus. In addition, Dr. Alexander received online and written submissions, reviewed traditional and social media, and examined UMPD practices and training.

Dr. Alexander's Report

Alexander shared his findings with the University’s Board of Regents in February 2021, offering dozens of proposed recommendations across eight broad categories, some of which we worked quickly to operationalize, and many others that we continue to implement.

Read Dr. Alexander's full report 

Implementation Committee

To more closely examine and implement Alexander’s recommendations, President Gabel created the MSafe Implementation Committee, as recommended by Alexander. President Gabel charged the committee to review Alexander’s report and provide recommendations to President Gabel, Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations Myron Frans, University of Minnesota Police Department (UMPD) Chief Matt Clark, and the University Senate’s newly formed Campus Safety Committee.

As directed, the MSafe Implementation Team completed this work by the end of December 2021 and presented its report to the Board of Regents in February 2022. The report submitted is the product of 1,305 hours of thoughtful work devoted by the MSafe Committee members and co-chairs.

Administration response to MSafe Implementation Committee Report

Following the issuance of the MSafe Implementation Committee Report, the administration issued a response, describing next steps to prioritize the safety of our students, staff, and faculty, both on campus and in the neighborhoods surrounding campus. We have implemented and will continue to implement many of the MSafe Implementation Committee’s priorities as outlined in the committee report. To help the administration track and report its work, the recommendations from Alexander and the MSafe Implementation Plan were grouped into similar areas and a section was added describing how the University of Minnesota Department of Public Safety will take action on the recommendations. We will continue to provide progress updates, as well as information on safety, engagement, and inclusion, online.

Access the Administration response to MSafe Implementation Committee Report (PDF)