University of Utah gearing up for race to promote campus safety and honor Lauren McCluskey
Nov 5, 2025, 6:00 AM
Jill McCluskey, mother of Lauren McCluskey, left, University of Utah President Taylor Randall, second from left, and others participate in a memorial walk for Lauren McCluskey at the McCarthey Family Track and Field Complex at the U. in Salt Lake City on Friday, Oct. 22, 2021. The walk was held on the third anniversary of Lauren McCluskey’s murder outside of her dorm. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
(Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds of runners will hit the University of Utah track on Saturday to promote campus safety and to honor Lauren McCluskey, a student who was a victim of intimate partner violence and was killed in 2018.
Edwin Gianini, Executive Director of the Lauren McCluskey Foundation, said this is the fourth annual race, and the race has had an incredible reach in recent years.
“It’s been adopted by now more than 400 universities across 17 countries,” Gianini said.
Jill and Matt McCluskey, parents of slain University of Utah student Lauren McCluskey, walk past a memorial honoring their daughter after the Lauren McCluskey Memorial Walk at the McCarthey Family Track and Field Complex at the U. in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. Lauren McCluskey, a track athlete, was was shot and killed near her dorm by Melvin Shawn Rowland, 37, on Oct. 22, 2018. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
Lauren’s Promise is a pledge that reads, “I will listen and believe you if someone is threatening you.”
Gianini said this is an important cause for college students to be aware of since they are more vulnerable, often because they are away from their families for the first time and may not see the red flags in dangerous situations.
“They’re in an area where they may not have the existing support network they’ve had for the last 18 years. So, you know, you have a population of people, you know, maybe at a heightened state of vulnerability.”
The message has also been instrumental in colleges becoming more proactive in their safety protocol.
Read more: Low-income students with good grades could get a full ride to the University of Utah
