Yesterday morning on a visit to the Met I had the chance to chat with Officer Abraham Lugo who’s served there on the force for the past three years. We spoke about some of the challenges of providing campus safety and the inherent need for multiple channels for enabling communication across the entire campus community. Common sense shows that constant community involvement, training, and participation is critical to maintaining a safe campus environment.

We live in a complex age of fear and concern that is heightened by our seemingly omnipotent access to information. And the reality is that the world has always been in crisis — the question has been how to manage a path forward in light of the knowledge that we can never guess what will come next. Leadership, community, and ultimately friendship binds us all together as the strength that gives us the courage to tackle the future.

On the topic of leadership, Chief Kenneth Bilodeau has received heartfelt and positive reviews for his management of RISD Public Safety and I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Ken and his team in the upcoming year.