The students and alumni of the University of Colorado want to see a change in the leadership of the university. For 13 years Phillip DiStefano has been chancellor of CU Boulder and in that time has overseen the decline of both the academic and athletic prestige of the college. Not only that, but he has time and time again put financial interests over the safety interests of students.

Today, February 1st, 2022, was the final straw for a lot of the CU Boulder students. We were faced with a potential shooting that could have occurred on campus. Ex-UCLA Professor Matthew Harris was found in Boulder this morning. He had written an 800 page manifesto that included "Burn and attack Boulder outside by the University". Yet, even with this critical piece of information, our classes were not even pushed online. We were put into a shelter in place lockdown, but only for the single block of houses that the assumed suspect was on. This block happened to be 100 feet from campus as it was literally across the street from one of the most popular areas on campus (the UMC). Although there was a shelter in place, classes were still going on according to our regular schedules. The fact that students and staff were still expected to show up to class does not sit right with me. UCLA, who faced very similar threats as us, preemptively decided to move their classes onto Zoom in order to ensure the complete safety of their students and staff. Boulder did not follow suit. This seemingly completely lack of care towards its students is something that doesn't sit right with us as a student body. 

13 years is a long time for one man to be in charge, and the students want a new leader with new ideas and a fresh perspective. We are asking Chancellor DiStefano to honor the wishes of the students and step down.