From Austin to Altitude

CU Boulder’s new chief of police swaps Texas heat for Colorado peaks—and brings a mission to foster trust, safety, and community engagement on campus

By Christine Mahoney

The University of Colorado Boulder has a new chief of police, and she’s trading one set of horns for another. Ashely Griffin is now a Colorado Buffalo, leaving the iconic Hook ’em, Horns phrase and hand signal back in Austin, Texas. 

Griffin began her tenure as the CU Boulder Police Department’s new leader on July 1, arriving in Boulder from the University of Texas at Austin. In the Lone Star State, Griffin served the University of Texas System Police for 18 years, rising through the ranks from officer, sergeant, inspector and training coordinator, to most recently serving as the assistant chief of police at UT Austin. Her selection at CU Boulder comes after a national search. 

“I’m really looking forward to supporting CU Boulder, from the increasing special events on campus to the partnership with surrounding law enforcement agencies,” Griffin says. “To start, my focus will be on developing relationships with the CU Boulder community and to work collaboratively with all students, faculty and staff.” Griffin says she will also focus on recruiting, training and wellness for first responders. 

The CU Boulder Police Department is part of the university’s Division of Public Safety, which was formed in the spring of 2024 to streamline and enhance existing public safety processes, policies and partnerships.

Griffin knew from a young age that policing would be her path. As an undergraduate student at Indiana University, she served as a part-time officer, living and working in one of the busiest residence halls on that campus. It was through that experience that she first saw the positive results of establishing trust in the community she patrolled.

The law enforcement leadership change at CU Boulder comes during a time of more widespread changes at the top. The university’s current chancellor, Justin Schwartz, began his tenure in July of last year, replacing Phil DiStefano, who had served as chancellor since 2009 and completed five decades of service at CU Boulder overall. Russell Moore is stepping down from his role, after 32 years of services to the university, 15 years as provost. A national search for his successor was ongoing at press time. 

“This is a time of great opportunity for CU Boulder to position itself as a leader in public safety,” says Marlon Lynch, vice chancellor for public safety at the school, noting the department’s pleasure at contributing to the efforts.

 “As a leader who has spent a large portion of my career training and instructing law enforcement officers, I will continue to uphold this growth and learning mindset,” Griffin says. “This will include active harmer training, trauma-informed investigations, and mental health and crisis intervention.”

CUPD is a progressive, community-oriented policing agency that already has two embedded positions supporting CU Boulder’s mental health initiatives—an embedded victim advocate rostered in the Office of Victim Assistance, offering in-the-moment emotional support or responding on-scene after incidents, and an embedded mental health clinician and co-responder in Counseling and Psychiatric Services. 

Griffin is used to supporting public safety at large events like UT Austin football games, with capacity for more than 100,000 Longhorns fans. CU Boulder’s own Folsom Field, home to the Colorado Buffaloes, holds about half that many, but the hype around home games has risen dramatically since the arrival of head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders in late 2022. 

CU Boulder also hosts to a variety of large community events, including the BOLDERBoulder and the Conference on World Affairs. Aspen Hospitality’s newest venture, Limelight Boulder, is set to open on campus this fall, and the campus will also provide venues for the Sundance Film Festival when it arrives in Boulder in 2027.

“It’s such an exciting time to be here at CU Boulder, in the heart of the vibrant and beautiful city of Boulder,” says Griffin, who is acclimating to the mile high-plus altitude. The Flatirons view from campus will be easier to get used to, but she’s still wondering about something: “Is there a hand signal for the Buffs?” She may encounter some debate over this answer, with older CU Buffs fans creating a CU symbol interlocking thumb and finger, and younger Buffs doing a “Horns Up” signal creating buffalo horns to showcase their pride for the university. 

“I’ll have to practice both,” Griffin said with a smile.