The colleagues of Thomas Meixner, the University of Arizona hydrology professor who was shot and killed on campus, have sided with a faculty committeeβs findings that Meixnerβs death occurred amid a breakdown of trust and communication regarding campus safety.
Voting members of the UAβs Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences unanimously passed a resolution Monday saying as much. The resolution is contained in a letter sent to UA Faculty Senate leadership. It is signed by Christopher Castro, the interim hydrology department head.
Castro previously told the Star that he, like Meixner, had received alarming communication for months from Murad Dervish, the ex-student now charged with murder in Meixnerβs death, and had reported it the university to little effect.
Six months after Meixnerβs Oct. 5 death, the departmentβs resolution reads:
βWe support the work of the General Faculty Senate Committee for Safety of All, and thank them for their service in the goal of improving safety at the University of Arizona.
βWe express our concern for the reasons cited by the committee regarding its dissolution, as documented in the final committee letter sent to the Faculty Senate president dated 3 March, 2023.
βWe express our disappointment that this committee did not receive the full support and cooperation of the mentioned University of Arizona administrative units and personnel necessary to complete its important work.
βWe request that the pending report of the external investigative agency PAX LLC be made fully available to the public upon its completion, for purposes of transparency.β
The resolution comes about six weeks after an ad-hoc, faculty-led committee released an interim report on campus safety.
The UA has hired PAX, LLC, an outside consulting firm, to review its campus safety protocols.
The faculty committee formed separately and did its own investigation, relying on public records and interviews.
Meixnerβs colleagues have also submitted the hydrology departmentβs resolution to the dean of the UA College of Science, to UA President Robert C. Robbins, and to the principal investigator of PAX.
In response, UA spokeswoman Pam Scott issued this statement Tuesday: βOur hearts continue to be with Tom Meixnerβs family and friends and his colleagues in Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences. Last week, University Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff Jon Dudas shared with the Committee on Safety for All the appreciation for their work and that their full report was made available to the PAX Group. We expect the PAX Groupβs report in the weeks ahead.β
UA President Robbins talks about faculty safety report, which criticized the UA's campus safety protocols in place at the time of Tom Meixner's death.
βDisregards ... safety concernsβ
The faculty-led committee released its interim report on Feb. 1.
It detailed how, according to the authors, the UAβs βapproach to violence risks established an administrative culture that consciously and consistently disregards employee and studentsβ safety concerns.β
At the time of its release, the committee said it had plans to release a final report after it completed its investigation.
But thatβs not whatβs happening now.
After the UA questioned the reportβs conclusions, saying it βrepresents the work of a subset of faculty that has reached sweeping conclusions based in large part on misleading characterizations and the selective use of facts and quotations,β UA faculty and students started pushing back against that notion.
The Faculty Senate passed a unanimous resolution affirming the report. Two student groups β including one representing the hydrology department β and Meixnerβs family all made statements calling on the university to take the committeeβs findings seriously in conjunction with the consultantsβ report.
But the UAβs attempt to discredit the interim report, the committee said, led to its decision to dissolve earlier this month.
βCertain recent statements and actions of the university leadership have materially impacted our ability to complete our inquiry,β the committee said in a letter dated March 3. βAdditionally, the university leadershipβs public statement about the legitimacy and integrity of the committee created concerns that committee members might experience negative consequences for serving on the committee.β
Collection: Updates on the Oct. 5 shooting at UA
President Robert Robbins says over the past several months the University of Arizona has emphasized the safety and well-being of students and staff.
Several measures, like an automated door-locking system, have been installed over the past few months, following the fatal shooting of a professor on the Tucson campus.
The trail for former University of Arizona graduate student Murad Dervish was originally scheduled for September. It now is pushed back to at least May 2024.
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Before attending the University of Arizona, Murad Dervish was a student and teacher's assistant at San Diego State University, where he also harassed and threatened professors and students via email.Β
Detective said ex-student attempted to buy gun earlier in year, but couldn't agree on price with the seller.
Multiple students and staff members saw the former UA student lurking around the John W. Harshbarger Building moments before opening fire and chasing professor down hallway to office.Β
On March 8, Murad Dervish was issued a no contact order by the University of Arizona due to his ongoing threats to professors in theΒ hydrology and atmospheric sciences department. San Diego State University also told UA police of similar threats by Dervish to staff at that school.
Crisis management consulting firm, PAX Group, LLC, is expected to release its findings and recommendation in two months.
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