UM President Royce Engstrom Recaps State of the University Address [YouTube]

On Wednesday, University of Montana President Royce Engstrom related his State of the University Address. 

On Thursday, President Engstrom recapped his comments for KGVO News.

"I started the address with news about student accomplishments, including a group of students who received a prestigious Gates Scholarship," Engstrom said. "We also celebrated some of our programs that he recently receive accreditation, including our athletic training masters program, one of only 34 in the entire country. In addition, our family medicine residency program was accredited clear through the year 2025, a program we just started two years ago."

Engstrom also addressed the issue of a new book by noted author Jon Krakauer regarding sexual assaults on the UM campus.

"My only comment about the book was that simply that I knew about it," he said. "I have no idea what's in the book, and at no point did Mr. Krakauer or anyone representing him ever contact us or try to talk to us about the situation, so we will monitor that and see what kind of response would be appropriate."

Engstrom then went on to detail some of the steps the university has already taken to address the subject of sexual assaults on the UM campus.

"We have worked extremely hard on ensuring that the University of Montana is one of the safest campuses anywhere," Engstrom said. "We've put in place extensive educational programming for our students, our staff, and the University Police Department, along with the Missoula Police Department, and we have rewritten policies in our student conduct code to reflect that training. Our goal since the beginning, and I've said this repeatedly, is to care for victims of sexual assault and to work towards the goal of eliminating sexual assault from our campus, so we work day in and day out to accomplish those goals."