Students began returning to the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus earlier this week for fall classes.

“I’m thrilled our enrollment numbers are up. We have the biggest class joining the Twin Cities in decades,” said Dr. Rebecca Cunningham, the new president of the University of Minnesota System.

Cunningham is set to be inaugurated as the 18th president on Sept. 18, but she started in the job earlier this summer.

She comes from the University of Michigan, where she was vice president of research and innovation.

Cunningham was at the State Fair on Wednesday checking out the U’s connection to the state’s annual tradition. She also stopped by the KSTP Building to sit down for the first time to speak about her first couple of months on the job.

“I think we have to make sure that we’re remaining the top university that we are, and you have a great reputation for that,” Cunningham said.

As parents leave their children at the school, we asked Cunningham about her take on a reoccurring issue of public safety.

“I know there’s been a lot of progress. We’re opening a safety resource center in the next couple of weeks,” Cunningham said.

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But she feels more could be done to enhance relationships with the community.

“My history and background was actually working in communities to be safer,” Cunningham said. “I think we need to work with the local community and work on prevention tactics as well as helping our students understand what is available to them to feel safer.”

Cunningham said the university system will soon begin working on a new five-year strategic plan for their five campuses.

Tuition went up this school year, one of the largest in recent years. Cunningham pointed out that some students, after financial aid and scholarships, are paying much less than the “sticker price” of tuition.

“At the end of the day what they pay is less than any other four- year university in the state,” Cunningham said. President Cunningham said her administration will be monitoring the economic pulse of the system in the coming months as they decide about next year’s tuition.

Cuningham pointed out that legislative support for the campuses plays a key factor in deciding tuition.

“At the end of the day we need to move ahead and give students the support they need,” Cunningham said.

On Tuesday, the Board of Regents adopted a position of neutrality when it comes investing its consolidated endowment fund.

The board’s action instructs that those investment decisions continue to be based on financial criteria already defined in policy, according to a release from the university.

The action comes after some members of the campus community protested earlier this year, asking the university to divest from Israel-related investments due to the conflict in Gaza.

“I’m thrilled that we have activist students, who are willing to use their voice to change the world. We want to give them opportunities to do that,” Cunningham said. “Also, when you speak, doesn’t mean everything changes right in the way you hoped. You certainly have the ability to speak.”