University of Arizona - Campus Safety and Security
Almost five months ago, the University of Arizona community suffered a profound loss with the tragic death of Professor Thomas Meixner, Chair of our Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences. Our thoughts continue to be with Dr. Meixner’s wife, Kathleen, their children, Sean and Brendan, his colleagues both here in Arizona and around the world, and his students. Dr. Meixner was a world-class expert in hydrology and a consummate educator who was instrumental in developing the next generation of water researchers dedicated to making our world’s most precious resource safer for all. The loss of Dr. Meixner in the university and global communities is immense.
Very soon after his passing, I committed to a full, independent review of the facts and circumstances leading up to October 5th. As I shared with all of you in October: “The independent review will help inform us about what additional or different steps can be taken to better protect our faculty, staff, students, and visitors and how we can improve our response, policies, and procedures involving campus safety and security in the future. Where we can do better, we will, and we will continue to share changes and new initiatives as they are implemented.”
To fulfill our commitment, the University retained PAX Group, LLC, national experts in campus security, to examine the events leading up to Dr. Meixner’s death and to provide us with a comprehensive review of our campus safety and security. Over the past four-and-a-half months, the experts spoke with more than 139 students, faculty, staff, and others, including Dr. Meixner’s family. They reviewed more than 1,200 documents, including emails, text messages, legal filings, emergency response plans, UAlert policies and procedures, and other external reports. They examined our facilities, including classroom buildings. There was such a commitment to a comprehensive review, as well as an overwhelming desire from so many members of our community to share their thoughts with the experts, that their work did take longer than expected.