Door to the University of Colorado Student Government legislative council meeting room in the University Memorial Center on Jan. 19, 2023. (CU Independent/Isabella Hammond)
The University of Colorado Boulder Student Government will pack the CU Board of Regents meeting in Denver on Feb. 9 to promote a ban on concealed carry on CU campuses.
Tri-executive Rachel Hill presented resolution 97 LCR 05, calling on the board to ban concealed carry across CU System campuses on Oct. 6, 2022, where the legislative council unanimously approved it on first reading.
Since then, the board has gathered for one regular meeting on Nov. 4, 2022, where there was no official response. Legislation such as the concealed carry resolution, which calls for a policy change, must be referred to a committee before reaching the full board.
CU Board of Regents spokesperson Ken McConnellogue said that the regents would speak about the resolution at next Thursday’s meeting. The earliest a potential ban could be voted on would be at the next regular meeting on April 27.
Until next Thursday, the general counsel is briefing the three new regents on the issue, according to McConnellogue. Those regents, who were elected in November 2022, are Mark VanDriel, Wanda James and Frank McNulty. Though Ken Montera was also elected to the board for the first time this past November, he has served on the board as an interim regent since Jared Polis appointed him in 2021 after Chance Hill’s resignation.
Despite this, Rachel Hill expressed disappointment at the lack of response from the regents at this point. She said she spoke with multiple regents at the last regular meeting and between breaks but that they were “largely unwilling to talk about the issue.”
“It’s been kind of an uphill battle trying to get [the regents] to even care about the issue, care enough to even have a meeting to think about it, let alone pass the resolution,” said Rachel Hill.
Instagram post from the University of Colorado Boulder Student Government asking the community to join them for packing the CU Board of Regents meeting on Feb. 9, 2023. Posted Jan. 25, 2023. (Courtesy of CU Boulder Student Government @custudentgov)
To gain momentum for the issue, Rachel Hill plans to pack the next regular meeting with members of CUSG, local gun control activist groups and members of the CU Boulder community. Attendees will have the opportunity to speak at public comment but are limited to two minutes. Groups are also encouraged to identify a single spokesperson, but Rachel Hill plans to speak first and make way for others who wish to comment.
The agenda for the next meeting has not yet been released, but the public comment period usually starts at 1 p.m., when CUSG has planned the demonstration.
The board will meet in the Tivoli Student Union building at 900 Auraria Parkway in Denver. The agenda will be uploaded to their website closer to the meeting.
In a statement to the CU Independent, McConnellogue said, “I would note that the safety of CU’s four campuses is of the utmost importance to the regents, so I expect this issue will get the attention it deserves.”
Contact CU Independent News Editor Isabella Hammond at isabella.hammond@colorado.edu.
