To Members of the Clark Community,
I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Sgt. Lauren Misale, MPA ’12 as Chief of the Clark University Police Department (CUPD), effective November 2. Lauren is a 12-year veteran of CUPD and therefore brings to this leadership role deep familiarity with, and long experience at, Clark. In addition, she brings tremendous energy, focus and commitment to providing safety and security in the special context of an educational environment. Being able to promote a longstanding and dedicated member of our staff — and a Clarkie — makes me especially proud of this appointment.
There is nothing more important than ensuring the safety and well-being of every member of our University community — students, faculty, and staff — and CUPD plays an absolutely critical role in that. As chief, Lauren will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day functioning of the department and, importantly, for evaluating and recasting as needed the overall relationship between the department and all whom it serves. After spending time with Sgt. Misale and learning more about her determination to move CUPD forward, I am very confident that she is the right person to be serving as the next leader of safety and security at Clark. I am thrilled she has accepted the opportunities and challenges of this role and am looking forward to working with her, members of the CUPD, and many others throughout the University community going forward.
The issue of safety and security at Clark, as well as in the local, regional and national contexts, rightfully has been a focus of attention for us at the University. The appointment of our next chief is part of what has been and what must continue to be a broader, deliberate community-wide effort to improve in this area. To ensure we make progress, we are taking several immediate next steps. First, to help foster an exchange of ideas and perspectives on campus safety, we will be scheduling a series of University-wide virtual listening sessions starting next month. More details about these sessions will be available shortly. I know that this is a particularly busy time of year, but we wanted to take this opportunity to hear from all parts of our community, especially our students, before we end the semester. Second, we will be appointing a task force to help lead our exploration and evaluation of alternative models for providing safety and security on our campus, and to make recommendations to me. Our new chief will be a member of this task force, as will representatives of the student body, staff, and faculty.
Finally, I am making a change in administrative oversight of CUPD. As of November 2, when Sgt. Misale formally takes up her role as chief, she and CUPD will be reporting to the University’s Executive Vice President, Danielle Manning ’00, MBA ’06. Ms. Manning has successfully overseen police operations at two higher education institutions for which she has worked. This change will help our new chief get off to a strong start as she assumes responsibility for steering change and improvement within CUPD.
I want to thank Jack Foley, Vice President for Government and Community Affairs, who has overseen CUPD for more than 25 years and who led the search process. Let me also acknowledge and thank the other members of the search committee who contributed significant time and energy to assessing candidates and providing me with advice about the finalists for this position:
- Gloria Anderson, undergraduate student and representative of the Black Student Union
- David Everitt, Director of Human Resources
- Esther Jones, Associate Provost and Dean of the Faculty
- Megan Kersting, Director of the Clark University Center for Counseling and Personal Growth
- Lynn Levey, Title IX Coordinator
- Quincy Milton III, Graduate Student Council Co-President
- Sheree Ohen, Chief Officer of Diversity and Inclusion (until September 23, 2020)
- Tony Penny, Business and Auxiliary Services Manager
- Grace Sawyer, undergraduate student and member of Clark Rapid Response team
I also want to thank Chief Stephen Goulet for his extraordinary service to the University, which spanned 37 years, 31 of them as chief. Over that time, he has guided CUPD to be a department recognized for its commitment to the community and has been a force for positive change. We are grateful for his leadership and his service at Clark.
Please join me in congratulating Sgt. Misale on her new role, in thanking Vice President Foley for his longstanding work with CUPD, and in wishing Chief Goulet all the best on his retirement.
Sincerely,
David Fithian
President