University of Colorado Board of Regents university affairs committee meets remotely on April 18, 2023, discussing campus safety and weapons policy. (Isabella Hammond/CU Independent)
The University of Colorado Board of Regents held a university affairs committee meeting Tuesday to discuss safety across campuses.
On April 18, regents Callie Rennison, Ken Montera, Wanda James, Mark VanDriel and other university officials began discussions on campus safety and weapons policy, particularly Regent Policy 14.I. The policy allows for the concealed carry of a firearm for citizens with a permit.
CU Boulder Student Government members recently brought issue with the policy, passing a resolution that called on the Board of Regents to ban concealed carry on campuses in October. The author of the resolution, Tri-Executive Rachel Hill, headed a group of community members and activists to support this movement at the Board of Regents general meeting on February 9. The regents referred the issue to university affairs.
Board Vice President Jeremy Hueth opened the Tuesday meeting with an overview of the weapons policy and established that the meeting would be a discussion to educate about the safety measures across CU campuses.
“What the Board of Regents decided to do in February was to ask this committee to hear from the campuses about all the measures that the campuses are taking to protect students, faculty and staff from potential gun violence on campuses,” Hueth said at the meeting.
Each of the four CU campuses led presentations outlining campus security with a focus on firearm violence prevention and preparation. Similarities included staffing dozens of police officers, maintaining and developing emergency alerts, training officers and community members on warning signs and working with teams focused on identifying and preventing threats. For CU Boulder, this included the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.
CU Boulder Police Chief Doreen Jokerst, UCCS Chief of Police Dewayne McCarver, CU Denver Director of Emergency Essi Ellis and CU Anschutz Police Chief Randy Repola all presented at the meeting.
“When I look at providing safety mechanisms on campus, to me, it’s a holistic approach, meaning it’s everyone’s responsibility,” Jokerst said at the meeting. “But I also look at prevention; things we can do to prevent and mitigate risk.”
During the public comment period, students, faculty and community members spoke to the regents and the committee directly. But despite the display of support for a ban on concealed carry at February’s meeting, this Tuesday’s comments were filled with a majority who did not support the ban.
Between the February and April meetings, oppositional groups have begun to speak out to defend the current policy. At CU Boulder in March, a group of Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students spoke at a CUSG meeting calling for a broader survey of student public opinion.
This sentiment was repeated at the committee meeting, with more students and ROTC members across campuses pointing to the notable population of military students at CU who were most likely to be affected by a potential policy change.
“One out of five UCCS students are military-affiliated,” said UCCS Senator at Large Amanda Ford. “It’s imperative to take constituent interest groups, such as UCCS’ large military population, into account when making policy decisions that will affect these groups.”
“[The movement to change policy is] based on nonsubject matter expertise or an enforcement mechanism that makes criminals out of students, veterans and law enforcement who have demonstrated through an extensive process their capability to conceal carry,” said active duty marine and CU Boulder junior Justice Appiah at the meeting.
The university affairs committee will meet again on May 23, but the agenda is not yet official.
Despite the recent increase in opposition, Hill still expresses her support for the ban.
“We’re not going to let up,” Hill said at the meeting. “We’re not going to stop coming. We’re not gonna stop talking about it.”
Contact CU Independent News Editor Isabella Hammond at isabella.hammond@colorado.edu.
