To the University community,

Following an altercation and arrest on our campus earlier this week and the subsequent attention created on various social media platforms, I wanted to briefly address campus safety.

As a campus community of over 25,000 people, we face many of the challenges of the community around us.  In this case, individuals who are not part of our University family, are accused of trespassing on our campus, damaging property and, despite repeated requests, failing to comply with our police when they were stopped and questioned. As a result, one arrest was made and the offending individuals were banned from campus.

While I understand the concern surrounding the officers’ actions generated by videos posted to social media, they do not reflect the entirety of the situation.  After talking with chief of our MTSU police, Edwin Kaup, I believe our officers responded quickly to the situation and handled the situation professionally and effectively, assuring the safety of students and others in the area. Chief Kaup said his department will continue to review the incident and the investigation remains active.

We strive to maintain an environment that is safe and welcoming to our entire Blue Raider community and are fortunate to have an exceptional police department committed to that effort. While incidents like this may occur occasionally, we have the people and resources in place to respond appropriately, assuring the continued wellbeing of our students, faculty and guests.

Should there be additional relevant information on the incident, we will be sure to disseminate that to you.

Thank you for all that you do to keep our campus safe.

Sincerely,
Sidney A. McPhee
President
Sidney.McPhee@mtsu.edu