Search Committee for Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Safety
Meet Our Finalists
Doreen Jokerst
Candidate open forum: Thursday, Jan. 11, 2 p.m. ()
Doreen Jokerst is Assistant Vice Chancellor for Integrity, Safety, and Compliance and the Chief of Police at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is a nationally recognized public safety expert and university police leader. During her CU Boulder tenure, she has implemented highly innovative and collaborative public safety initiatives, drawing upon her extensive public safety and emergency management experience, as well as her engagement with national/international public safety and leadership organizations.
AVC/Chief Jokerst prioritizes public safety initiatives that promote trust and transparency across diverse stakeholder groups, particularly with those who have faced historical marginalization. Campus and community-wide relational building were her focus following the 2020 murder of George Floyd, and the 2021 University Hill Disturbance and King Soopers mass shooting tragedy. She initiated collaborative public safety and university programs after establishing new dialogues with student and community support organizations, university health and wellness entities, and CU’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. Her many initiatives – including multilingual and expanded community alerts, a transparent public data dashboard, an embedded mental health co-responder and victim advocate, and the establishing of a Community Oversight Review Board following dialogue with CU Boulder shared governance groups (students, faculty, and staff) – are examples of her commitment to collaborative education, prevention, and intervention.
Doreen is committed to ensuring public safety excellence at CU Boulder. Her dedication to fair and impartial policing is reflected in her efforts to improve safety and strengthen standards and accountability. Under her leadership, the CU Boulder Police Department has embraced a restorative approach to improve justice outcomes for the CU campus community. Her department achieved both State of Colorado (CACP) and national (IACLEA) accreditation and is the first university police department to achieve SCS Northwest Property and Evidence national accreditation. She enacted body worn and police vehicle camera technologies and implemented a wide array of police trainings, including active bystander intervention, trauma-informed interviewing, integrative and disability-informed communications, and understanding bias – to increase officer skill sets and build community trust. Further, as women represent only 12% of sworn officers and 3% of police leaders across the country, her police agency has signed the national, federally endorsed 30x30 pledge to improve recruitment efforts and actively address the under-representation of women in policing.
Doreen’s national reputation as a highly regarded policing expert is evidenced by her invitations to lead and participate in national educational efforts, sponsored by diverse organizations including, the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives, National Sheriffs’ Association, Reentry Initiative, Justice Clearinghouse, International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, and International Association of Chiefs of Police. She co-sponsored and organized the 2023 International Problem-Oriented Policing conference, bringing policing executives from across the world to Boulder and the CU campus. Her ethical approaches to public safety frequently receive national press, including this year’s review of her specific recommendations for collaborative campus security upgrades by Campus Security, which specializes in sharing evidence-based practices for hospitals, schools, and universities. She is also a founding member of the Curve which provides forward-thinking police leaders with cutting-edge and creative leadership ideas and resources to modernize policing culture to advance justice with dignity, equity, and fairness.
Prior to her current appointment, AVC/Chief Jokerst worked her way to the rank of police commander in a Denver-metro suburb police department, gaining extensive experience while serving in diverse specialized and supervisory capacities. She obtained a State of Colorado Emergency Manager certification and has commanded numerous critical incidents, including participating in a multi-state effort to assist in Florida’s Hurricane Irma's aftermath. She holds a master's degree in psychology and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. She is currently a CU-Denver Doctor of Education in Leadership for Educational Equity, Higher Education candidate (anticipated spring 2024 graduate). She is also a Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command, the Senior Management Institute for Police, and the FBI National Academy graduate.
Marlon C. Lynch
Candidate open forum: Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2 p.m. ()
Marlon C. Lynch is the Vice President and Chief Safety Officer at Michigan State University. Marlon leads the university’s Department of Police and Public Safety, including police services, community engagement and support, health sciences security, emergency management, security systems, parking, and transportation.
Marlon’s career progression includes 30 years of police and public safety experience in the municipal and public and private campus environments to include health systems. He received a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University and earned a master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Boston University. He is also a graduate of the 216th Session of the FBI National Academy and the 256th Class of the Northwestern University School of Police Staff & Command.
He is an accomplished police and public safety professional who currently serves as the Chairperson and Commissioner for the Commissioned Agency on Law Enforcement Accreditation (CALEA) and is a past president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA).
Randy Repola
Candidate open forum: Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2 p.m. ()
Randy Repola is the current Associate Vice Chancellor/Chief of Police for the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. The CU Anschutz Police Department comprises four divisions: Police Services, Electronic Security, Emergency Management & Preparedness and Support Services. He currently serves on the Board of Executive Directors for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and is a member of the Accreditation Commission panel for the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA). Repola is also a member of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals.
Chief Repola began his career with the four-campus University of Colorado System in 2012 at CU Boulder as Deputy Chief of Police. While at CU Boulder he led the Business and Information Services Division in the CU Department of the Department of Public Safety and later led the Police Services Division. In the spring of 2017, Repola was hired as the Chief of Police at CU Anschtuz.
Chief Randy Repola has more than 26 years of policing experience in municipal and university settings and nine years of municipal administration experience overseeing police, fire/rescue, risk management, human resources and various other municipal services. In between his municipal career and transition to higher education public safety, Repola spent approximately four years on projects for the US Agency for International Development in Iraq and Kosovo. Repola has a BS in Economics and an MBA from Colorado State University and is a graduate of the FBI’s National Academy. He lives in Thornton, Colorado, with his wife Elizabeth and their yellow lab, Grace. They have 5 grown children, 10 grandchildren and enjoy spending time outdoors and with their family.
Committee Chairperson
- Jessica Doty, Associate Vice Chancellor for Health and Wellness
Members
- Pritha Agarwal, GPSG President of Administration
- Gaby Aguijosa, CUSG Tri-Executive
- Jeanne Baak, Associate Counsel, University Counsel
- Will Chapman, Principal Investigator, OIEC
- Devin Cramer, Acting Dean of Students, Student Affairs
- John Galvin, Associate Athletic Director for Game Day Operations and Events, CU Athletics
- June Gruber, Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
- Megan Hatten, Executive Director of ISC Admin Operations, Integrity, Safety and Compliance
- Jessica Ladd-Webert, Director, Office of Victim Assistance, Health and Wellness Services
- Kenny Nelson, Assistant Vice Chancellor for HR Shared Services and Employee Relations, Human Resources
- Catherine Oja, Director of Integrity and Compliance, Integrity, Safety and Compliance
- Clara Smith, Senior Diversity and Inclusion Training and Development Specialist, Human Resources
- John Zizz, Events Police Sergeant, CUPD
Search Administrator
- Sarah Garcia-Smith, Executive Aide, Strategic Resources and Support
HR Recruiter
- Andy Horovitz, Director of Talent Acquisition, Human Resources