Bronson Hilliard

4/20 at CU-Boulder: Is it dead yet?

Yesterday, CU-Boulder Police spokesman Ryan Huff called 4/20 on the campus, which was closed for the second consecutive year, a "non-event," and the description is apt. As a huge crowd gathered at Denver's Civic Center Park for a rally marred by a shooting, CU-Boulder, which once drew 10,000-reveler ... More >>

4/20 at CU-Boulder: University expects quiet day but will be ready for anything

Earlier this week, we chatted with CU-Boulder Police's Ryan Huff about the school's preparations to close campus on 4/20 for the second consecutive year. He said many of the 100 or so people who'd requested visitor passes for tomorrow seemed more focused on attending tonight's Macklemore concert tha ... More >>

4/20 at CU-Boulder: Rob Corry explains why he won't challenge campus closure

Last month, after CU-Boulder announced that it would be closing campus on 4/20 for the second consecutive year, marijuana attorney Rob Corry, who unsuccessfully challenged last year's shutdown, said he was exploring the possibility of seeking a permit for a 4/20 event at CU this year as an alternati ... More >>

4/20 at CU-Boulder: Attorney may seek permit to hold pot rally on campus despite closure

CU-Boulder recently announced that it would close its campus on April 20 for the second consecutive year in an effort to squelch the annual 4/20 rally traditionally held there. Attorney Rob Corry, who last year took CU to court in an unsuccessful attempt to thwart the closure, has some new tactics ... More >>

4/20 at CU: University on possible lawsuit to block campus closure and more

While speaking about CU-Boulder's plan to close the campus again on April 20 in an effort to end the 4/20 event there, spokesman Bronson Hilliard stressed the need to communicate clearly about the university's rationale, and he wasn't kidding. After we published posts about a threatened lawsuit to b ... More >>

4/20 at CU-Boulder: Legal action in attempt to block campus closure?

Last year, CU-Boulder closed its campus on April 20 in an attempt to squelch the annual 4/20 event -- and the university, whose spokesman deems the 2012 shutdown a great success, plans to repeat the feat next month. Can anything stop this action? Well, the ACLU of Boulder is asking the school to re ... More >>

4/20: Why CU's going without fish fertilizer to stop pot rally, but still closing Boulder campus

Yesterday, CU-Boulder announced that for the second consecutive year, the campus would be closed on April 20 in an effort to squelch the annual 4/20 event there; see our original coverage below. Why take this controversial tack again? CU-Boulder spokesman Bronson Hilliard is straight-forward, deemi ... More >>

Photos: CU-Boulder proposes 8.7 percent tuition hike after $170M sports-facilities-upgrade pitch

Talk about awkward timing. There's no direct connection, monetary or otherwise, between CU-Boulder's proposal for an 8.7 percent tuition hike next year and a plan for a $170 million upgrade to the university's sports facilities; see graphics and more below. But a CU spokesman concedes that the schoo ... More >>

Thomas Cunningham hit with 18 felony counts, possible years in jail, over "pot brownie assault"

Update: On Monday, we reported about the arrests of CU students Thomas Cunningham and Mary Essa for "pot brownie assault" -- secretly feeding a professor and classmates dosed sweets, prompting three hospitalizations; see previous coverage below. Cunningham was originally busted on suspicion of four ... More >>

Obama to talk at CU's Norlin Quad, annual 4/20 site: Don't expect any fish fertilizer

The announcement that President Barack Obama will be speaking at CU-Boulder's Norlin Quad on Sunday marks the first time this particular campus spot has made headlines since April -- when the news was very different. Note that Norlin Quad is the site of CU's annual 4/20 event -- or it was until this ... More >>

Number of students using new CU-Boulder rule allowing guns in some housing units: Zero

A new rule at CU-Boulder allowing concealed-carry-permit holders to have guns in some family housing units has gotten a lot of attention in recent weeks from different news outlets. But despite all the coverage, and with the fall semester under way, no students are taking advantage of the policy.

CU-Boulder doesn't think gun restrictions discriminate against concealed-carry holders

In March, two years after adding Nerf guns to its list of banned weapons, CU was ordered by the Colorado Supreme Court to allow concealed-carry-permit holders to pack heat on campus. Now, CU-Boulder has announced new rules restricting access in undergrad dorms and at events -- but a spokesman doesn' ... More >>

Michael Tracey, CU prof in Ramsey family-John Mark Karr debacle: Negative job evaluations

Remember Michael Tracey? He's the CU journalism professor whose obsession with the JonBenét Ramsey murder helped lead to a media frenzy over false confessor John Mark Karr back in 2006. Could his apparent disinterest in actual student instruction have finally caught up with him? One possible indica ... More >>

CU-Boulder refutes attorney's claim that its 4/20 tactics were "fascist"

Update: When speaking about the decision of three CU-Boulder students arrested for trespassing on the closed Norlin Quad amid the university's effort to shrink the annual 4/20 event to fight the charge on First Amendment grounds, attorney Sean McAllister described the school's tactics as "fascist" i ... More >>

4/20 at CU-Boulder: $278K to shrink event well worth it, spokesman says

After a long delay, CU-Boulder has finally released the figures about how much it spent to shrink the annual 4/20 event on campus. The administration doled out $124,561.34, while student government spent $154,236.18. CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard thinks those numbers should be considered separately, ... More >>

Barack Obama at CU-Boulder: University more excited for POTUS visit than 4/20

When chatting about President Barack Obama's planned visit to CU-Boulder this evening, university spokesman Bronson Hilliard and Ryan Huff, communications director for the CU Police Department, couldn't sound more different than they did when discussing the last sizable event on campus -- the annual ... More >>

Photos: CU-Boulder touts 4/20 success despite boundary breech, concert disaster

CU-Boulder's decision to ban campus visitors and close Norlin Quad in an effort to shrink the annual 4/20 event prompted an unsuccessful court challenge and plenty of controversy. But despite security breaches and a free Wyclef Jean concert that failed to siphon off more than a handful of students, ... More >>

4/20 at CU-Boulder will be a drag, so go to Denver, university says

With a judge ruling yesterday that CU-Boulder can go ahead with its plan to close Norlin Quad and ban visitors from campus as a way of shrinking the annual 4/20 event, people who'd planned to mark the day in Boulder have a choice -- face cops lined up at every CU entrance, look for somewhere else in ... More >>

4/20 at CU-Boulder: Fish fertilizer used on Norlin Quad a favorite of pot growers

Irony alert: Foul-smelling fish fertilizer of the sort CU-Boulder applied this morning to Norlin Quad, which has been closed as part of a plan to shrink the annual 4/20 event on campus, is a favorite of marijuana growers. Great minds think alike.

4/20 at CU-Boulder: University closure okayed, judge rejects Rob Corry complaint

Update: After a four hour hearing, Boulder District Judge Andrew McDonald reportedly denied attorney Rob Corry's request for an injunction to prevent CU-Boulder from closing its campus to visitors as a way of undermining the annual 4/20 event. As such, the CU Police plan outlined by spokesman Ryan ... More >>

4/20 at CU Boulder: ACLU blasts claim event's a party, not a protest

In defending CU Boulder's decision to close Norlin Quad and ban visitors on 4/20, Chancellor Philip DiStefano claims the event is a party, not a protest -- an assertion echoed by the institution's spokesperson. But Mark Silverstein, legal director for the Colorado ACLU scoffs at this argument even a ... More >>

4/20: CU Boulder denies crackdown rumors but says cops will be "more active"

Earlier this week, we shared CU Boulder's plans for shrinking the annual pro-pot 4/20 event on campus -- a Wyclef Jean concert that gets underway just before the magic minute combined with what we termed a "police crackdown" on those who choose to mark the occasion in the usual way. Since then, wild ... More >>

CU Boulder is America's druggiest campus? Spokesman offers rebuttal & 4/20 move update

​Last week, in a post about the CU Boulder student legislative council passing a resolution to move the annual 4/20 event off campus, we noted that the university had topped a survey by Newsweek and the Daily Beast of the nation's druggiest colleges. But CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard -- who la ... More >>

Billionaire Ted Turner offers a herd of bison to the city of Boulder

Michael Hoffman, 1st student alcohol-overdose casualty at CU in 7 years, mixed booze, Opana

Michael Hoffman.​Update: Earlier this month, CU-Boulder spokesman Bronson Hilliard speculated that Michael Hoffman, a 21-year-old student from New Jersey who passed away after being found unconscious near an apartment house in the neighborhood known as the Hill, died of an alcohol overdose. Tu ... More >>

Ram This T-shirts confiscated at CU-CSU game, but shirts preferring AIDS to CU diploma okay?

​The CU Buffs' 28-14 victory over the CSU Rams during Saturday's Rocky Mountain Showdown didn't feature the kind of bad fan behavior (including a 1999 riot) that's marred past contests. But did stadium staffers go too far trying to prevent trouble by confiscating T-shirts featuring the slogan ... More >>

Wendy Kale, veteran Boulder music writer, R.I.P. -- and also say a prayer for Colorado Daily

Wendy Kale.​This week, the local journalism community is mourning the loss of Wendy Kale, longtime music writer for the Colorado Daily, who died at age 58 of still-undetermined causes -- although her death is not seen as suspicious. Her passing ends an era for the Boulder music community -- an ... More >>

Nicholas Brooks: Ex-CU student charged in Sylvie Cachay murder had no record in Boulder

Nicholas Brooks.​Update: Yesterday afternoon, we noted that local media had not yet reported that Nicholas Brooks, 24, the suspect in the sensational slaying of fashion designer Sylvie Cachay in New York City, had previously attended CU. Now, however, the Boulder Daily Camera has picked up th ... More >>

Medical marijuana: Does John Suthers really think CU dorms partner with dispenaries?

John Suthers.​Do medical marijuana dispensaries have double-secret, underground agreements with the dorms at the University of Colorado in Boulder? Is there a secret plot to get all the innocent, cherub-faced freshmen at the nation's sixth-best reefer hot spot school hooked on the ganja? Than ... More >>

CU gets high and mighty with a pot-smoking RA

Ward Churchill Butts Heads With a Reporter

What started as a simple class visit has now resulted in an arrest warrant.

Heckuva Job, Brownie

Try Again

A CU instructor admits he's behind a pro-Ward Churchill blog known for bawdy humor and a pronounced nasty streak.

To the Max

A publicity-hungry student shows how easy it is to become a media darling -- with a little help from CU.

More Messages: Comings and Goings

Naming Rights

Paper Trail

The Colorado Daily has been on a long, strange trip for over a century. Is the journey ending or starting anew?

Letters to the Editor

From the week of August 3