As the Chair and Vice Chair of the Board of Regents, we have requested an independent review of Regent Wanda James' recent efforts to eliminate certain state funding for the Colorado School of Public Health.

In 2021, the Colorado legislature created and funded a program directing the Colorado School of Public Health, a joint school operated by CU Anschutz, CSU and UNC, to continue ongoing research into the public health impacts of high concentration cannabis, particularly in children. The legislature also directed the Colorado School of Public Health to make recommendations to the legislature and create educational materials. In December 2024, the Colorado School of Public Health created and launched "The Tea on THC," a campaign designed to educate the public on the risks associated with high concentrated cannabis highlighted by the research conducted.

On January 26, 2025, Regent James raised concerns about certain illustrations used on "The Tea on THC" campaign content. The illustrations were reviewed by CU leadership and taken down the next day as there was agreement with Regent James that the illustrations were insensitive. This was a decision we supported.

Soon after, the Board learned for the first time that Regent James was quoted in the online publication Green Market Report as saying that she had "a conversation yesterday with...the governor and members of the governor's team, and we're looking at pulling funding from (the Colorado School of Public Health) for this." In additional coverage of the issue, Westword reported that “[Regent James] would like to see the entire Tea on THC campaign pulled, with its remaining funds directed to grants for marijuana business owners who qualify for social equity licenses.” 

Regents have important fiduciary and legal obligations to the University. As a self-governing body, it is incumbent on each of us to ensure we honor these obligations. This review is requested in order to determine if any regent laws or policies were broken and will not presume any outcome. The review will be performed by a third party in the coming weeks and a report summarizing the findings will be made public at the conclusion of the review. Our expectation is that a full, fair and impartial review will resolve outstanding factual and legal questions.

We know the people of Colorado expect the Board to provide excellent oversight and leadership to the University of Colorado. We expect that as well and are confident this review will fairly answer questions that have been raised over the last several weeks. As always, the entire board remains committed to the University and will continue to focus our attention on the great work ahead.