Campus safety has been a pressing issue for many University of Arizona students, faculty and community members since the shooting of Dr. Thomas Meixner in 2022. The on-campus shooting spurred significant reform and restructuring of the university’s crisis response and management, including the creation of the Office of Public Safety and increased engagement between campus safety officials and the community.

Adriana Grijalva, president of the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, has observed many changes during her tenure. 

“Since Professor Meixner’s shooting, we got the chief of the Office of Public Safety [Steve Patterson] and the change of Chief Olsen [the new chief of the University of Arizona Police Department] — it’s a growing team. Since that shooting happened, there has been a change within ASUA. I don’t think we were as collaborative with the safety department and teams before,” Grijalva said.

One of the significant developments made in the past two years has been the formation of the Student Safety Advisory Group in March 2024. This group, composed of representatives from the OPS and student groups across campus, meets monthly to discuss current safety topics and concerns. 

“Sometimes students don’t know they can come to us; we do sit on safety committees now that we never sat in on before […] I know it may be hard to see that change when so much is going on, but inside of these meetings, there are people in the room that are really advocating for student safety on campus,” Grijalva said.

Grijalva shared her experience from last semester, when a Pima Community College student was shot and killed on the volleyball courts near Arizona-Sonoran Hall. Grijalva was on a ride-along with UAPD the prior evening. 

“When the shooting happened, there was immediate communication between Steve Patterson, who oversees OPS, Chief Olsen and UA Administration,” Grijalva said. “We were all connected and communicating throughout the day as UAlerts came out. That communication wasn’t there before.”

Following the incident, Grijalva spoke with students in the surrounding dorms who expressed concerns about the UAlert system. 

“I submitted a report of what students recommended to me, and Chief Olsen and everybody heard me out and took them,” Grijalva said. 

These concerns were further acknowledged in an ASUA Senate meeting days after the shooting by the Threat Assessment and Management Team, who collaborate with UAPD, OPS and administration. 

According to TAMT Director Jessie Semmann, this cross-organizational collaboration is a priority. 

“I will tell you I am in regular communication with people saying [UA safety officials are] very, very aware about the negative feedback about the UAlert and is very, very intent on fixing some of the issues with UAlerts,” Semmann said. 

Grijalva recognized that although communication during crises has improved, “we still have some work to do in those moments,” and emphasized that one of ASUA and UAPD’s goals is to build trust and improve communication with the student body surrounding these events.

Grijalva also discussed the unrest surrounding May’s Palestine encampments near North Main Gate Square, where UAPD, SWAT and the Tucson Police Department used force against demonstrators, media and bystanders after declaring the encampments unlawful. 

“I will tell them how students feel about those moments, for example, with barricading things,” Grijalva said, referencing the UA mall being barricaded after an on-campus encampment that same month. “Students aren’t going to feel safe.”

The events in May also led to a broader dialogue about free speech and student demonstrations on campus. 

“We created a committee after May’s encampment with the Dean of Students, Office of Public Safety and many others […] we worked on a graphic that we distributed to UAPD and to many departments across campus for students to better understand university policies,” such as the 10:30 p.m. curfew that was enforced at the Main Gate encampment, according to Grijalva.

Grijalva said that ASUA has worked closely with the Dean of Students in regards to free speech.

“We encourage [free speech], and that is something that we have worked very closely with the Dean of Students on […]. They are there for support, but it sometimes doesn’t feel that way for students,” Grijalva said.

Looking forward, Grijalva said that ASUA and UAPD hope to collaborate on future initiatives to bridge this gap with students, highlighting the importance of building relationships. 

“For students, there’s sometimes this pushback with administrative leadership and UAPD, and that’s something that I have told [UAPD] […] It’s never easy to talk to somebody in a crisis. Especially with police officers — a lot of students have had past trauma, and that’s something students have brought up with me,” Grijalva said.

Grijalva also emphasized the importance of student awareness of resources, providing the example of the Emergency Blue Light Phones placed around campus that connect students with UAPD in the case of emergencies. 

“We are working on a guidebook to put on our page with all of [these] resources to guide more students,” Grijalva said. “A lot of people probably don’t know who Steve Patterson or Chief Olsen are, and that’s something [ASUA and UAPD] want to work on.”

The evolving collaboration between ASUA and university administration has also been influenced by the resignation of former president Dr. Robert C. Robbins, who received immense backlash from students and UA faculty over his response to the shooting of Dr. Meixner in 2022, and current president Suresh Garimella taking his place. 

“There’s been a drastic change to our administration, I would say. [President Garimella] came a little bit after the [September] shooting and into the anniversary of the shooting of Dr. Meixner. [President Garimella’s] priorities look a little bit different than President Robbins. Right now, it is a lot more focused on getting the university back on pace with everything it is going through right now,” Grijalva said.

In the coming semester, Grijalva hopes to continue developing camaraderie between the student body and campus safety leadership, mentioning that ASUA is “working on a safety round-table and more town hall style meetings that we hope to open up to students.”

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