The former commander of the Utah Highway Patrol is coming out of retirement to take on a new role: leading security efforts at the state’s largest university.

Michael Rapich, who served at UHP for 33 years, including nine as its colonel, was named Monday as Utah Valley University’s inaugural chief safety officer.

The position was born out of recommendations from both an independent review and a state task force that assessed policing shortfalls at the Orem school following the September 2025 slaying of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

Kirk was shot and killed while speaking in an open courtyard at UVU during the first stop of his “Prove Me Wrong” college tour.

Rapich will step in as the university’s top cop as the school continues to reel from Kirk’s death. His job will include overseeing UVU’s police force — which has been criticized for being too small for a growing campus of more than 47,000 students — as well as leading emergency preparedness efforts.

Jeff Long, the school’s current police chief, will report to Rapich. And Rapich will report to UVU’s president, filling a communication gap reviewers identified.

“I look forward to engaging with students and faculty in defining and promoting a safe and secure learning environment,” Rapich said in a statement announcing his appointment.

In the aftermath of Kirk’s death, UVU has faced criticism for how it responded that day. The school likely had too few officers for an event that drew more than 3,000 people, reviewers found, and failed to coordinate with with nearby city and county police agencies for support. UVU also was reproached for sending out a series of confusing alerts to the community after the shooting.

Kirk’s family has announced it plans to sue the school and has filed a formal legal claim in order to do so, alleging UVU wasn’t adequately prepared.

An independent review commissioned by UVU and released late last month found that the school had tried to convince Kirk’s team at Turning Point USA not to hold the event in the outside courtyard and raised other security concerns that allegedly were ignored.

In its Monday announcement, UVU said one of Rapich’s top priorities will be partnering with local law enforcement agencies — and that his UHP connections will help make that happen.

Rapich said he looks forward to “working with incredible public safety professionals of UVU and surrounding communities to identify every opportunity to ensure that UVU campus is a trusted place for learning, growth and engagement.”

Rapich joined UHP as a trooper in 1992 and worked his way up to leadership positions as a sergeant, lieutenant and superintendent. From 2007 to 2010, he also held the title of chief of the Utah State Bureau of Investigation, focusing on stopping drug trafficking across the state. He became UHP’s colonel in June 2016 and retired late last year.

During his leadership of UHP, Rapich earned recognition for pushing to reduce instances of drunk driving statewide and improving trooper recruitment and pay. But he also faced scrutiny, when he was a major, over how a corporal was not signficantly disciplined after she was found to be untruthful on the witness stand during DUI and drug possession cases.

The agency also faced questions over a large number of troopers allegedly violating the law or state policy.

Before becoming a law enforcement officer, Rapich served with the U.S. Coast Guard as a petty officer and worked as a 911 dispatcher.

He currently runs Rapich LLC, a public safety advising business, according to his LinkedIn page. He is also running as a Republican for a seat on the Tooele County Council.

Having a university-level chief safety officer position is meant to elevate security concerns. The University of Utah similarly created that post for its campus in response to the 2018 murder of student-athlete Lauren McCluskey. It is currently filled by Keith Squires, who previously served as Utah’s commissioner of public safety.

In a statement Monday, UVU President Jon Anderson said for his school: “Colonel Rapich brings decades of public safety leadership, sound judgment and trusted relationships across Utah.”