The 麻豆影院 reduced the cost of curtailing the 4/20 event by nearly $17,000 in 2013 compared with costs incurred in 2012. CU-麻豆影院 spent $107,794 to close the campus to non-affiliates this year, and $124,561 to close the campus on April 20, 2012.
The CU-麻豆影院 administration conducted both closures due to the disruptions of research, teaching and basic university business resulting from the previous unsanctioned gatherings related to 4/20, which grew to around 12,000 participants in the Norlin Quad in 2011 and presented numerous safety, emergency response and crowd management challenges.听
鈥淭his unorganized gathering disrupted the basic business of the campus and, as the violence in Denver this year demonstrated, it also has all the elements to become a public safety liability,鈥� said CU-麻豆影院 Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. 鈥淔or these reasons, we remain determined to permanently end the 4/20 gathering on the CU-麻豆影院 campus.鈥�
Costs for this year鈥檚 4/20 campus closure were as follows:
鈥⑻�$70,850 for CU police/security/dispatcher/parking overtime and labor听costs for officers from outside agencies;
鈥� $9,881 for Argus security staff assisting with police/parking operations;
鈥� $4,431 for Fire Department/ambulance coverage;
鈥⑻�$12,025 on miscellaneous expenses, including equipment, supplies,听operations facility rental, printing, and food and water for personnel;
鈥⑻�$5,016 for parking equipment/rentals, such as cones, barricades and听variable message signs noting the campus closure; and
鈥⑻�$5,591 for overtime labor costs in facilities management听(groundskeeping, locksmiths and other facilities employees).
On the matter of the costs to the campus of ending the 4/20 gathering, DiStefano summed up the university鈥檚 position in clear terms.
鈥淲hile this is not money we are eager to spend, we have to ask ourselves what the costs are to us for having our work disrupted or having a student or bystander injured because we allowed the gathering on the campus,鈥� he said.
Funding for both campus closures came entirely from campus insurance premium rebates resulting from reductions in liability and hazard claims. The expense will not impact tuition or utilize taxpayer dollars.
Contact:
Bronson Hilliard, CU spokesperson, 303-735-6183
Ryan Huff, CU police spokesperson, 303-492-7581