University leaders joined representatives from city, county and neighborhood organizations on Monday night in a meeting with University Hill residents to provide updates and answer questions in the wake of Saturday’s disturbance that resulted in violence toward police officers and extensive property damage.Ěý
Amid plenty of anger and frustration surrounding the events of Saturday night, many of the panelists in the virtual meeting expressed optimism at the level of cooperation aimed at reducing the amount of college-student partying and non-compliance with public health orders on the Hill.Ěý
Monday’s meeting included university participation by CU Boulder Police Chief Doreen Jokerst, Acting Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs JB Banks, Acting Dean of Students Devin Cramer, Student Body President Molly Frommelt, Director of Off-Campus Housing and Neighborhood Relations Jeff Morris, Assistant Director of Greek Life Stephanie Baldwin and Director of Local Government and Community Relations Kim Calomino. The meeting also included representation from the University Hill Neighborhood Association, Boulder City Council, Boulder Police Department, the Boulder City Attorney’s Office, the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office, Boulder County Public Health and city of Boulder staff.
“I just want to acknowledge to all the partners who are panelists on this that in the many years I have been working on these issues we’ve never had this kind of engagement and representation from every stakeholder that we need to actually make these changes,” University Hill resident and UHNA representative Lisa Nelson said, also noting her frustration and that of her neighbors.
Echoing Chancellor Philip DiStefano’s letter to the campus community on Sunday, Cramer said Monday night that students who took part in violence toward police officers, caused property damage or failed to disperse when asked to do so by law enforcement will be subject to sanctions by the university. Cramer noted that the university would provide as much information as possible in coming days, within the scope of the law, related to student conduct actions taken against students involved in Saturday’s events.Ěý
Since the academic year began, he said that 30 of the 45 student suspensions related to public health order violations were due to nuisance parties on the Hill. Increased cooperation between the university and Boulder Police Department since the pandemic began has helped streamline and expedite the student conduct process when violations occur off campus.Ěý
Cramer also noted that CU Boulder will be opening its mobile monitoring testing site to non-affiliates of the university from March 10 to March 19 to provide testing for anyone concerned about possible exposure to COVID-19 in the wake of Saturday’s events.Ěý
Jokerst and Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold noted the continued collaboration between their departments that will include increased patrols by both entities on University Hill next weekend and through the St. Patrick’s Day holiday in an effort to prevent further large-scale gatherings from occurring.Ěý
“Just know that we are willing participants and that we will come to the table to make sure that we have a safe and beautiful community here in Boulder,” Jokerst said.
Herold said BPD has been reviewing more than 600 videos of Saturday night’s events submitted by community members in an effort to identify suspects. The city also announced Monday that they’d received 750 tips in all from the community. Herold said BPD is receiving assistance from the district attorney’s office, as well as CUPD, in following up on the tips and video footage.Ěý
In addition to increased enforcement, several panelists Monday night discussed other proactive measures that could be taken to curb the hosting of large parties on the Hill, including continuing to engage landlords when their renters violate public health orders or city ordinances.Ěý
Despite the universal anger over what occurred on Saturday, many on the panel recognized that it was a small minority of students who participated and that students, faculty and staff participated in the cleanup of the Hill on Sunday.
“I don’t see students as the enemy,” city council member Rachel Friend said. “They are a valued part of our community and they also want a good quality of life.”Ěý
Frommelt read a statement the CU Student Government Tri-Executives issued earlier in the day condemning Saturday’s University Hill incident and commending the thousands of students who chose not to participate in those events. She said it’s also important for the community and university to have a long-term plan in place for preventing such incidents in the future.Ěý
“One of the positives is that various organizations, the university, the city, the police departments from both of those entities, public health, the city attorney’s office, the district attorney’s office, are all now coordinating their efforts to find the solutions that we can implement strongly,” said Assistant City Attorney Philip Volpi. “That continued interaction and that continued cooperation is going to be a very strong pillar in moving forward.”
Alert message error, apology
Responding to a question about an emergency alert email that went out to all students, faculty and staff on Saturday and included the words “Run, Hide, Fight” in the subject line, Jokerst apologized. She explained that the subject line was an error and the product of an emergency alert template not getting updated prior to Saturday’s message going out. A subsequent message noted that the previous subject line was incorrect.Ěý
Jokerst said CUPD has already addressed how to ensure such an oversight does not occur going forward.
“I know that it caused a lot of alarm and scare within our community, and so I apologize for that,” Jokerst said.Ěý
