School’s compliance manager named to U-M task force on campus policing2 min read

Ann Arbor, Mich., Jan. 14, 2021 – Mary Jo Gray, the Compliance Manager for the School of Dentistry, has been named to a University of Michigan task force that will review and assess the Division of Public Safety and Security.

U-M President Mark Schlissel and Provost Susan M. Collins have appointed 20 people to the Advancing Public Safety at the University of Michigan Task Force, which had its initial meeting last week. It will review and assess the campus police force’s current practices, identify areas of strength and areas of concern, and provide concrete recommendations for improvement that are based on best practices.

The task force is among several anti-racism initiatives that U-M leaders announced last fall, after the deaths of George Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police sparked protests and a national conversation around structural racism and policing. The task force will focus on public safety on the Ann Arbor campus.

“I’m honored to have been chosen to contribute to the important work this task force will do,” Gray said. “We intend to engage the broad campus community, and I hope students, faculty and staff in the School of Dentistry community will contribute to our knowledge and recommendations as we solicit campus input.”

Collins said the task force will use a fact-based approach to improve understanding of policing and public safety on campus. “It will engage stakeholders from across our community, using a process that is inclusive and transparent, and provides a platform to bring the U-M community together. Findings and recommendations will be made public,” she said.

The task force is chaired by faculty members Earl Lewis, the Thomas C. Holt Distinguished University Professor of History, Afroamerican and African Studies and Public Policy, and by Daphne C. Watkins, a professor of social work.

For more information on the task force, see this story in the University Record.

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The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care and community service.  General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the school to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan.  Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia and public agencies.  Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide.  For more information about the School of Dentistry, visit us on the Web at: www.dent.umich.edu.  Contact: Lynn Monson, associate director of communications, at dentistry.communications@umich.edu, or (734) 615-1971.