On Friday, Aug. 1, UNM leaders briefed the community and media on campus safety and ongoing efforts to enhance security on its campuses and in its campus facilities. 

The briefing included President Garnett S. Stokes, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Teresa Costantinidis, and UNM’s Police Chief Joseph Silva. The briefing focused on ongoing and planned investment projects in campus safety and what leadership is doing to provide a secure and welcoming environment for returning students, faculty, and staff. It took place in the ballroom of the Student Union Building on UNM’s main campus. 

President Stokes expressed the UNM community's deep sadness over this tragedy. It is her office’s top priority to build a safe environment for students, and she encourages them to contact her office with feedback. 

“We take the safety of our campus very seriously,” said Stokes. “We continue to investigate and make improvements to ensure our students, faculty and staff feel safe on campus.” 

Constantinidis shared that it takes “…thoughtful analysis to evaluate policies and practices to determine what needs to change to avoid tragedies. This work is underway right now.”

She outlined several ongoing and long-term public safety projects currently in progress, including:

  • Installing new security fences around the residence halls
  • Upgrading the on-campus Code Blue emergency phones with improved lighting
  • Expanding outdoor lighting to eliminate dark areas across campus, particularly in parking lots 
  • Transitioning more campus buildings to key card access to restrict access to authorized individuals
  • Enhancing the university’s alert system to ensure rapid and widespread communication during an emergency

Silva emphasized the university’s zero-tolerance policy regarding guns on campus. He advised the community to follow the “if you see something, say something” guideline. His department is developing policies to educate students about what to look for in these scenarios. 

Stokes also shared the annual training modules that help inform UNM’s community about how to stay safe on campus, which include training for active shooters, sexual harassment and many others. 

Additionally, Stokes shared that anyone in the community and the greater Albuquerque area can sign up for the Lobo Alert system to receive notifications about on-campus activity, and they are encouraged to do so. 

“Since I started with the university, I have been looking at strategic ways to invest beyond the campus boundaries that directly impact our campus,” said Stokes. One example of this approach is the recent purchase of the former Motel 6 on Avenida Cesar Chavez, which will be transformed into a welcoming gateway to UNM’s South Campus. 

University leaders reiterated their commitment to fostering a secure and supportive environment for all students, faculty and staff and emphasized their commitment to safety, action and transparency. While details about the shooting remain limited due to the ongoing active investigation, UNM leadership expressed confidence in the ongoing investments and review processes in place to learn from and improve UNM’s emergency response strategies.