Conflict has escalated in the weeks after the University of Colorado Board of Regents censured Regent Wanda James as each side has refused to back down from their position and been unable to find common ground.

James maintains that she has done nothing wrong and, since her censure on July 2, has called the board “racist” and “anti-black” on her LinkedIn page — and on Facebook wrote that the board has “joined hands with the MAGA crowd and endangered Black voices.”

Board of Regents Chair Callie Rennison said the accusations of racism are unfounded.

“Those are completely ridiculous attempts to distract from the issue at hand, not dissimilar from tactics used by other prominent politicians,” Rennison said.

The Board of Regents is the elected body that oversees the CU system.

The board decided in a 7-1 vote July 2 to censure, or formally reprimand, James, saying she violated her fiduciary responsibilities under regent policy, which requires regents to reasonably act in the best interest of the university. The board determined, based on an independent investigation, that James advocated to defund a state-funded CU campaign about the risks of high-potency marijuana.

James disagrees about the reason she was censured, saying the board did it because they’re tired of her bringing up issues of racism.

“They want me silenced, and that’s exactly what they did,” James said.

The matter began in January when James, a marijuana dispensary owner, raised concerns about what she said were racially insensitive images used in an educational campaign called “The Tea on THC,” produced by the Colorado School of Public Health at CU’s Anschutz Medical Campus. She brought her concerns to CU President Todd Saliman and CU Anschutz Chancellor Don Elliman, who agreed the images were racist and had them removed within 24 hours. Public statements containing apologies from the campaign and the School of Public Health were issued within two days.

In the following days and months, James continued to speak publicly on social media, in emails and in news media interviews, discrediting the campaign and saying its funding from the state should be revoked.

“It is my goal that the funding for this group is pulled by the state,” James wrote on LinkedIn within days of becoming aware of the images. “I am working to make that happen.” According to an investigation report, she also posted on Instagram that she “will be … speaking with the governor about this.”

A Governor’s Office spokesperson, Ally Sullivan, said Gov. Jared Polis was skeptical of funding the “The Tea on THC” program long before James got involved. Polis had suggested cutting the campaign’s funding to the state’s Joint Budget Committee before and after James said the funding should be pulled.

“The Governor was not influenced by Regent James and has long been skeptical of the funding,” Sullivan wrote in an email to the Daily Camera. “He is mystified as to how CU could justify spending hundreds of thousands of dollars investigating a Regent that was just doing her job as an elected official.”

The censure is not because James flagged the racist images in the campaign, Rennison said, adding that James was right to do so. The censure, she said, came because James later advocated for funding to be taken away from the campaign.

“That is inappropriate for any regent to do, to advocate for defunding money away from CU,” Rennison said.

Regent Elliott Hood said the censure came because James baselessly attacked one of CU’s scientific research programs, tried to undermine the integrity of the research and advocated to defund that program.

“I think that’s highly problematic, especially at a time where science is under attack from certain corners of the government and funding for science is uncertain,” Hood said. Researchers “don’t need their elected leaders casting unfounded doubt on the integrity of their work.”

Regent and Board Vice Chair Ken Montera said a solution to the situation will likely require James to take some level of responsibility and an admission on her part that she acted inappropriately. Sanctions against James are in effect until the end of her term as regent in 2029, but they can be revised or removed before that if the board decides to do so.

“We acted as quickly as possible when Wanda expressed her concern (about the images), and I believe it’s completely inappropriate to advocate for the defunding of a legitimate, state-funded research program and to question the credibility of that research without any evidence or scientific backing,” Montera said.

Investigation report

In the spring, CU’s university counsel hired two law firms to conduct the independent investigation into James, intentionally seeking out one progressive-leaning firm and one conservative-leaning firm. The law firms worked together to interview 15 witnesses including James, gathered and reviewed documents including e-mails, text messages, social media posts and news articles, analyzed applicable regent policies and conducted legal research.

The total cost of the investigation as of June is $462,900, which includes James’ investigation and a separate investigation into Rennison, which cleared her of allegations that she had been paid full-time for part-time work at CU Denver. The investigation is being paid for by the CU system’s office of risk management.

The resulting investigation report provided a timeline of events and evidence that resulted from their investigation.

On Nov. 12, 2024, the report noted that the state’s Joint Budget Committee discussed cutting the “The Tea on THC” campaign by $1 million because of a need to balance budgets due to declining marijuana revenue projections. This occurs about a month before James is made aware of the campaign.

On Dec. 19, the Colorado School of Public Health announces the launch of its “Tea on THC” public awareness campaign. James becomes aware of the campaign and the images on Jan. 25, according to the report. On Jan. 26, James speaks with a representative from the Governor’s Office about the images and funding, where she’s told that the state is already considering cutting funding from the campaign for reasons unrelated to the images.

“While James is on the phone with the representative from the Governor’s office, she texts screenshots of the images to the Governor and asks if he has seen them,” according to the report. “The Governor replies that they are ‘awful.’ Per James, this is the only direct contact she has with the Governor about the Tea on THC campaign.”

James also contacts Saliman and Elliman on Jan. 26 and raises her concerns about the images. Later that day, a representative from the Colorado School of Public Health contacts Initium Health, the partner organization that helped develop the campaign, via text to remove the images and issue two apologies, one on behalf of the School of Public Health and one on behalf of Initium. The same day, Initium confirms it has removed the Instagram post with the images, and Initium removes the images from the campaign’s website either on this day or the next day, according to the report.

On Jan. 28, the School of Public Health posts an apology on its website and links to a statement from Initium also apologizing for the images, according to the report. Hours later, James takes to Instagram, calling the campaign “scientifically dishonest” and saying the data the campaign relies on has been “debunked by numerous doctors and numerous studies.” She adds that the state “should immediately revoke all funding associated with this reckless campaign.”

That same day, James sends an email to a group of people she calls “CU Black Leadership,” where she writes that she is “working with the governor’s office to pull funding from Anschutz” and “looking at having that money moved to the Cannabis Business Office, which provides grants and training for Social Equity Cannabis Businesses.”

Later, in her interview with the law firms, lawyers asked James about her statements in that email.

“In her interview, James stated that she was not working with the Governor’s office to pull funding from the University, despite saying she was doing that in this email,” the report read, adding that James elaborated to say that the Governor’s Office already pulled the money.

On Jan. 29, James is quoted in an article in the Green Market Report, a publication that reports on news in the cannabis industry, as saying she spoke with the governor and members of his team to look at pulling funding from the School of Public Health. In her interview with the law firms, James says she was misquoted by Green Market Report and says she only spoke to members of the governor’s team. She is paraphrased in a Westword article on Jan. 30 that she wants to see the entire campaign pulled, and the remaining funds directed to grants for marijuana business owners who qualify for social equity licenses. Those licenses are available to promote equitable cannabis business ownership. When asked by the university’s law firms if this was accurate, James responded, “I don’t know, maybe yes,” adding she always says in media interviews that money should go to social equity businesses, according to the report.

On Jan. 31, the Governor’s Office requests fully eliminating all $2 million in funding for the “Tea on THC” campaign.

On Feb. 27, James writes in an email to a group labeled “Black Trustees” that the campaign was “reinforcing harmful stereotypes rather than promoting legitimate, research-based education. That is why the $2 million in funding was pulled from Anschutz.”

On March 17, the Governor’s Office submits budget “comebacks,” again requesting to cut the $2 million that funds the Tea on THC campaign. On March 20, the Joint Budget Committee ultimately rejects proposed cuts to the School of Public Health, providing the full $2 million in funding.

Censure and sanctions

James told the Daily Camera on Wednesday that she still believes the “Tea on THC” campaign “is not science” and that “the funding should’ve been pulled.” She said she has a First Amendment right to say that and have an opinion on the matter.

“But did I lobby for that to happen? Absolutely not,” James said.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser weighed in on the matter on July 13 when he posted on social media platform X that “to protect the right of free expression and the fair treatment of CU Regent James, the Board of Regents would do well to reconsider its action against her.” He said he was concerned about the sanctioning, adding that the First Amendment protects the right to free expression.

When asked if Weiser continues to stand by his July 13 statements, Attorney General’s Office Director of Communications Lawrence Pacheco said to refer to Weiser’s statement on X.

Hood said the censure doesn’t violate James’ free speech, a finding that was supported by the university’s legal counsel and the two law firms.

“While people are allowed to speak freely, we as a board are entitled to enforce our objective standards and expectations to all regents, including our fiduciary duties,” Hood said. “The right to free speech doesn’t shield someone from violating those standards, and it’s important that we enforce those standards consistently, regardless of the regent and without fear or favor.”

Other people and organizations have also backed James, including the Colorado Black Democrats and the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance. In addition to backing James, the Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance called for the immediate resignation of Saliman. James said that demand has nothing to do with her and that she is not calling for Saliman’s resignation. The decision to censure can only be made by the Board of Regents. The board is a power above Saliman and oversees his employment.

Hood and Regent Ilana Spiegel said some of the online activity by James and her supporters has crossed a line. James has levied personal attacks against the two of them on Facebook, for example, posting on July 6 that they “chose to be antiBlack and stand with MAGA Republicans.” She also made comments prompting people to imagine if the images in the “Tea on THC” campaign were antisemitic, and tagged Spiegel, who is Jewish.

James also posted on Facebook that “we need to make sure that NO ONE continues to support Ilana Dubin Spiegel on her re-election campaign and anyone who is supporting her should be called out. …”

In response to those posts, Spiegel told the Daily Camera that “online harassment and intimidation, it’s never OK. I work really hard every day to remain focused on my family, my work I have to do every day and the work of being a regent.”

Spiegel said she wants people to know she and her colleagues remain committed to their work and responsibilities as regents.

“I remain committed to what I take very seriously, and that’s my work for students and families, the work we need to do to protect life-saving research and medical care, and continue to try to build a University of Colorado that reflects the diversity of the state,” she said.

Hood said that declining to censure James in this situation would signal to other regents that attacking and trying to defund CU’s research, whether it’s about cannabis or climate change, is acceptable.

“That is not a precedent that I am willing to set,” Hood said. “I take that very seriously.”

The regents have also enacted a series of sanctions against James as a result of the censure. They acted to remove James from all regent committee assignments, including regent committee leadership positions, and preclude any future assignments. She will not be allowed to attend university events as a regent, but she will still be able to attend regent meetings and be an active voting member of the board. For example, she can still attend CU Buffs football games but will no longer receive free tickets.

The sanctions against James are in effect until the end of her term as regent in 2029, but they can be revised or removed before that if the board decides to do so. Rennison said the board wants to find a solution and has held “countless” meetings and talks as a group and individually with James, both before the censure investigation and after it, but said James has been unwilling to compromise.

James has not admitted any wrongdoing and called for the board to apologize and remove the sanctions and censure. Rennison said the board is not willing to do so unless James takes some level of accountability, even if it’s an admission that she could’ve made better decisions.

“We have continued to attempt to find a place of peace, and it’s my opinion that that’s not what she’s interested in,” Rennison said. “That’s been frustrating.”

James refuted that and said it is “a complete lie” that the board has come to her to try to resolve the issue.

“It’s time to get back to work for the students,” James said. “It appears we have lost focus on why we were elected.”

In 2022, the Board of Regents censured Regent Glen Gallegos after the board found that he had repeatedly engaged in hostile and abusive verbal behavior toward women.

To view the investigation report and related documents, visit tinyurl.com/CURegentInvestigation.

The board found that James had violated her duties as a regent, and board members voted to enact a series of sanctions against her. James will be removed from all regent committee assignments, including regent committee leadership positions, and prevented from any future assignments. She will not be allowed to attend university events as a regent, but she will still attend all regent meetings and be an active voting member of the board.

“Today is not about a censure,” James said during the Wednesday regents meeting. “It is about censorship and retaliation. … I was not hired by this board, and I will not be silenced by its traditions or afraid of this vote. I am being targeted for raising my voice against a campaign that demeaned, dehumanized and harmed the Black community.”

The CU regents launched an independent review into James in March after James, a marijuana dispensary owner, was accused of trying to eliminate funding for the campaign. James raised concerns about what she said were racially insensitive images used in an educational campaign called “The Tea on THC,” produced by the Colorado School of Public Health at CU’s Anschutz Medical Campus.

Regent Ilana Spiegel said she supports James in her concerns about the racist images, which were removed.

“What I cannot support are subsequent efforts to misrepresent facts, politicize science and misuse the platform of this office in ways that undermine trust and distract from our mission,” Spiegel said during Wednesday’s meeting.

The board determined in June that the independent review identified potential policy violations and voted to pursue another investigation under Regent Policy 2.M, which is reprimand or censure of a board member.

According to that investigation report, there was evidence that James had criticized the “Tea on THC” campaign publicly and had privately reached out to faculty members and government officials, including the governor’s office. The report alleges that she requested that state officials pull funding from the Colorado School of Public Health and that officials divert funding from the campaign to grants for marijuana business owners.

“Regent James either influenced the decision to defund important science without … the input of the rest of the board, or she misrepresented the extent of her involvement to both the university and the public,” Spiegel said.

After reviewing the report, the Board of Regents found on Wednesday that James violated her regent duties of care and loyalty. Duty of care requires regents to act in the best interest of the university. Duty of loyalty requirees regents to “faithfully pursue the interests and mission of the university, rather than the regent’s own interests or the interests of another person or organization.”

“Truth-telling is not lobbying, and defending your community is never a conflict of interest,” James told the board.

Regent Elliott Hood said James publicly and continuously smeared the program and attempted to discredit the research of scientists and pull their funding.

“And even if you believed, as a cannabis advocate, that the program’s research findings were inaccurate, you cannot put your interests or the interests of your trade above that of the university that you serve and lead,” Hood told James.

In April, investigators had asked to interview governor’s office staff members, but the request was denied. In June, the governor’s office did not respond to investigators’ requests for answers to written questions.

Early Wednesday morning, governor’s office attorneys sent a statement to the CU System.

“The Governor does not have any recollection of speaking to Regent Wanda James during the time the administration was developing the 2025-2026 budget submission,” the statement read. “He was, however, made aware of the deeply insensitive images created by the CU School of Public Health’s ‘Tea on THC Campaign,’ funded by HB 21-1317. ​… The Governor has long been skeptical of the funding for this program; in fact, during debate about the original bill he advocated that funding for marketing not go to the CU School of Public Health.”

James said she “clearly did not speak to the governor’s office.”

Regent Frank McNulty noted: “To me, it is a bit of a distraction that (the governor’s) statement came in at the 11th hour just before our consideration of the reports that are in front of us.” .

Regent Nolbert Chavez voted against censure. As required by regent policy, James abstained from voting.

“Did all of the white regents just tell the Black community that we no longer have a voice, that we are no longer allowed to be at the events where the people who elected me are at?” James told the Daily Camera after the meeting. “Because I’ve broken no laws, I’ve done nothing criminal. The only thing that I have done is speak loudly about racism.”

The sanctions against James are in effect until the end of her term as regent in 2029, but can be revised or removed before that if the board decides to do so, according to the resolution.

In 2022, the Board of Regents censured Regent Glen Gallegos after the board found that he had repeatedly engaged in hostile and abusive verbal behavior toward women. James is the second regent to ever be censured.

As of June 17, the cost for both reviews regarding James and Regent Callie Rennison, who was cleared of accusations she was paid full-time for part-time work, was $317,625.50. This does not reflect a final total. The cost is paid for by the CU system office risk management, which is CU’s insurance expense.

After July 1, the county will no longer place children directly into its certified foster homes. Instead, the county will only contract with third-party foster agencies to newly place children.

The Boulder County 360 Foster Care Program matches certified foster parents with children in the county who need foster homes. Mollie Warren, the director of the Family and Children Services Division for Boulder County Human Services, sent an email to Boulder County foster families on Wednesday announcing the decision to shut down the program.

“We will not move any children currently placed in Boulder County foster homes and will continue to support families with children placed with them, however, we will not continue to do work to recruit, certify or place children in new foster homes,” Warren wrote in the email.

Foster parent Oliver Ward said the decision was completely unexpected.

“That is, to me, shocking that this is happening so suddenly,” Ward said.

After July 1, Boulder County will exclusively contract with certified placement agencies — which are private or nonprofit foster care organizations — to place Boulder County children in foster homes. Six staff members who helped run the county’s program will be laid off as a result of the decision.

“Boulder County Human Services is making every effort to ensure transparency, provide early and respectful notice, and support each affected employee throughout the process,” Warren wrote in an email to the Daily Camera. “Impacted staff have been informed well in advance of the program’s sunset date and are being offered dedicated support to explore alternative roles within the department or elsewhere in the county. Our intention is to retain this talented and experienced group of professionals and to ensure that they feel supported as we move through this transition together.”

Despite the upcoming change, Warren said she expects the county to continue supporting families as needed through 2026.

“While the staffing structure will change, Boulder County will continue to fully uphold all responsibilities related to the licensure, support, and oversight of the twelve foster homes that currently have children placed in them,” Warren wrote in an email to the Daily Camera. “These homes will remain active and supported until the children in their care achieve permanency — whether through reunification, adoption, or another planned transition. The 360 Foster Care Program will be considered fully closed only once no children remain placed in these homes.”

Warren said since 2021, the county has seen a 47% overall reduction in the number of children in out-of-home care. Out-of-home care is when a child lives outside their biological parents’ home due to safety concerns.

Placements in Boulder County foster homes have declined by 70%, and kinship care, when children live with family or close friends, has increased by 14%, said Warren, who didn’t specify a timeframe. She said the fixed-cost model used to operate a county-run foster care program has become increasingly expensive per child, and moving to a fee-for-service model through certified placement agencies is projected to reduce county costs by about $700,000 annually.

“There is good news reflected in this decision: out-of-home child placements in Boulder County have been reduced for several years now,” Boulder County Commissioner Claire Levy wrote in an email to the Daily Camera. “This means we are doing great work in keeping families together, keeping children safe, and supporting parents through the challenges they face. As a result, supporting foster care in-house is no longer a cost-effective approach.

“We believe strongly this is the right decision for the continued well-being of families and children across Boulder County as well as for us financially.”

‘Potential negative effects’

There are about 85 children in out-of-home placement in Boulder County, which includes kinship care, Boulder County foster homes, child placement agency homes and other placement types. Of those, Boulder County has 15 children placed in 12 Boulder County foster homes and 13 children placed through child placement agencies. The vast majority of the 85 kids are in kinship care with family or friends.

Over time, the number of kids in Boulder County homes has decreased, and the number of kids placed by certified placement agencies has increased, Warren said during a virtual town hall on Friday. When asked by a foster parent why this was a trend, Warren said there have been no changes in policy or action in how the county places children. If a child can’t be fostered by family or close friends, the county reaches out to Boulder County foster parents if the child is a match based on age and other preferences. If there’s no match, the child is placed through an outside agency.

One foster parent said it seemed like the county hasn’t been reaching out to the Boulder County foster parents for placements. Multiple people in the virtual town hall said they’d been waiting for a call.

Ward said his household has been waiting for their next foster child for more than a year, and foster parent Audrey Arroyo said she has been waiting for about eight months.

In the program, Ward said, reunification with the child’s parents is always the goal and almost always is the outcome. The foster parents provide love, care and safety for the kids until the time is right, whenever possible, to re-unite with their biological family. Foster parents are required to complete many hours of training, a background check and home check to become certified with the county.

Ward added that often, foster parents are actually relatives or close friends of the child. The goal is to keep kids in their communities and with their families whenever possible.

If the county contracts only with outside agencies, Arroyo is worried that children will be placed in foster homes outside of Boulder County and about the negative impact that would have.

“My primary concern is for the potential negative effects on the vulnerable children and families that are facing an out-of-home placement now with the shift to CPAs (certified placement agencies),” Arroyo said. “A big part of the goal of reunification in foster care is trying to keep that child in their community, whether that’s their school or being able to have family time with parents or other relatives. With CPAs, there are families … that range all the way from here to Pueblo. They’re all over the state. And so my concern is it would make it harder for these children to remain in their communities, and it could have negative impacts on the goal of reunification and act as a barrier when these children are placed further away from the counties that they were originally living in.”

Contracting with outside foster care agencies is not new to Boulder County. Boulder County has contracts with 19 certified placement agencies right now and has contracted with outside agencies for decades, Warren said during the town hall on Friday. She said the county is aware that this could lead to an increase in kids placed outside of Boulder County and is finding ways to mitigate that.

There were about 30 people on the virtual town hall, and foster parents filled out a Google sheet with dozens of questions about the decision and what happens next. Many used the time in the town hall to voice their concerns.

Ward told the Daily Camera he has several concerns about certified placement agencies. For one, he said many queer foster families opt to work with Boulder County because it has a reputation for being highly inclusive. Now, Ward said, this decision opens the door for faith-based foster agencies to come in, which he fears could lead to discrimination against LGBTQ+ families.

He added that he’s concerned about the privatization and institutionalization of foster care happening in Boulder County, where many kids end up in group homes and don’t get the same level of care and attention.

“It adds up to more harm to kids,” Ward said. “That’s really all there is to it. It’s so sad.”

He said it’s like privatizing the prison system, adding that “it’s shocking” that Warren has used language of inclusion as justification for this kind of action.

Privatization of foster care has been a growing trend in the last few decades. Texas has overhauled its foster care system and divided the state up into regions assigned to third-party contractors.

A 2017 report from the U.S. Senate Finance Committee examined the privatization of foster care, using one of the largest for-profit providers of foster care services in the United States as a case study.

“State child welfare agencies report they have procedures in place to monitor child welfare providers’ performance and outcomes,” the report read. “But this investigation conducted by the bipartisan staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee shows that these policies are not always followed; exceptions are made, waivers are granted, profits are prioritized over children’s well-being, and sometimes those charged with keeping children safe look the other way.”

The committee found that “agencies charged with and paid to keep foster children safe too often failed to provide even the most basic protections, or to take steps to prevent the occurrence of tragedies.”

In Florida, a USA Today investigation reported in 2020 that the Department of Children and Families and the 17 private agencies that manage the child welfare system across the state sent nearly 170 children to live in foster homes where there was some evidence that abuse occurred.

‘This decision is strategic and financial in nature’

Warren said Boulder County works with “some great CPAs,” in response to a question during the town hall about the quality of staff at the agencies. She said the county trusts and feels very positively about all the agencies they work with.

Moving forward, Boulder County foster families have the option to transfer their foster certification to one of the third-party agencies or obtain certification with another county.

Arroyo said becoming a licensed foster parent is an intense process. Transferring the certification with an agency will take time, and potentially cost money, which is demanding, especially for people who have already gone through it. She said she’s feeling discouraged and not sure what the right move for her and her family will be.

“Each CPA, they probably have their own beliefs and ways of doing things, and it may be completely different,” Arroyo said. “So it just seems like a big administrative hurdle and emotional hurdle, especially with having such little notice. It’s difficult to know what to do.”

Warren said the decision to close the foster program was based on clear data, shifts in policy and practice, and the financial realities facing the county’s system.

“This decision is strategic and financial in nature — it is not a reflection on the performance of the 360 Foster Team, the dedication of Boulder County foster families, or the leadership of the program,” Warren wrote to the Daily Camera. “It represents an intentional shift in service delivery to align with a transformed child welfare landscape, improved practice outcomes, and our responsibility to be effective stewards of public resources.”

Video clips of the incident, which were posted on social media, show that what began as a protest quickly escalated into physical altercations. One clip shows two men physically dragging a protester out of the classroom, and another shows a man yanking and pulling a protester’s head around by grabbing their keffiyeh, which is a traditional Arab headdress.

Despite the Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine group saying that this incident was a violent assault on students, the CU Boulder Police Department submitted an arrest warrant on April 10 for the one pro-Palestine student protester they could identify, according to a police report obtained through a public records request. But the Boulder County District Attorney’s office denied the arrest warrant.

“After careful consideration of the information contained in the warrant, the surveillance videos shown to me, and the conversation we had … about this case, myself and my office have determined that we will not approve the warrant,” Chief Trial Deputy District Attorney Kelsey Waldorf wrote in an email to CUPD on April 11. “Ultimately, we think these cases are going to be highly difficult to prove to a jury because the conduct doesn’t fit neatly into the criminal statutes governing this kind of conduct.”

Casondra Heiss, the student for whom CUPD submitted the arrest warrant, declined to comment. The two other people who reportedly entered the classroom with her remain unknown.

If the warrant had been approved, CU Boulder would have “utilized (it) as a template for arrest warrants” for three additional students who did not enter the classroom, and for David Preedy, an outside mentor who physically assaulted multiple protesters, according to the police report. Two of the three additional students who did not enter the classroom, Max Inman and Mari Rosenfeld, have filed a lawsuit against the University of Colorado, alleging free speech and due process violations after being banned from campus following a pro-Palestine protest.

The proposed charge for Heiss and the additional three students was conspiracy to commit interference with staff, faculty or students of educational institutions, a Class 2 misdemeanor, according to Mueksch.

CU Boulder said in a statement that the university has excluded Preedy from campus property. Preedy was an outside mentor who was visiting the class on the day of the disruption. During the incident, Preedy “grabbed” and “shoved” one of the women protesters out of the room and then “chased … down” the other protesters to forcibly remove their face and head coverings, according to the police report.

Per university policy, campus exclusions may be executed to ensure the safety and well-being of the campus community. CU Boulder spokesperson Nicole Mueksch said criminal charges are not required to execute a campus exclusion.

“Preedy mentioned that he was also fearful that they were going to harm the people in the classroom so he jumped up and forced them out of the classroom,” according to the police report. “… Preedy explained to me that he was afraid they may try and harm other people and that’s why he chased them down and tried to pull their masks off.”

Mueksch said the proposed charge for Preedy was harassment, a Class 1 misdemeanor. Preedy could not be reached for comment.

CU Boulder released a statement on Monday saying the university had consulted with the Boulder County District Attorney’s office after reviewing the evidence in the investigation of the incident.

“After a careful evaluation, and under the consideration that the standard for filing criminal charges requires that there be a reasonable likelihood of conviction, the agencies determined that criminal charges would not be filed,” according to a CU Boulder statement.

CU Boulder said it cannot disclose actions involving students due to federal law, noting, however, that all students are subject to the CU Boulder Student Code of Conduct. Any student found responsible for violating the Student Code of Conduct will be subject to appropriate sanctions, the statement read.

“The safety of all students, faculty, staff and visitors at CU Boulder remains a top priority, and the university is committed to protecting public safety on campus while also supporting free speech that does not violate laws or university policies,” according to the statement. “CUPD appreciates the Boulder County District Attorney’s support in evaluating this case.”

The professor of the class was Andrew Meyer, according to the police report. Despite allegations by the Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine group that the professor had “violently assaulted” the protesting students, Meyer was listed as a witness on the police report, not a suspect. The university said there was no evidence that the instructor of the class broke any laws in the April 2 incident.

At the time of the disruption, Meyer was teaching “a class on matters involving defense security for the government,” according to the police report.

Meyer reported to the police that he “immediately was terrified” because the people who entered the classroom were wearing all black and were covered by face masks, so he felt that they “may have had weapons and malicious intent” to harm him and his students. Meyer could not be reached for a comment.

Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine, which is not affiliated with CU Boulder, called on the university to issue a public condemnation of the assault and grant the students amnesty from any student conduct charges.

“In (Monday’s) statement, CU Boulder does not condemn the violence …,” the group wrote in an email to the Daily Camera on Tuesday. “In previous official remarks, the university equated physical violence to a policy violation for students disrupting a class. … Any CU student employee will know that a part of our training is learning to de-escalate situations with students, even if we disagree with them. This professor, like any other CU employee, had an obligation to at the very least de-escalate the situation. … This university, where classroom disruptions are routine as part of the induction process for fraternities, has only taken a clear stance against disruption when students are speaking out against their university taking an active part in genocide.”

Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine was placed in bad standing by the university in October following reported policy violations. The group remains active but unaffiliated with CU Boulder.

Returning to the Pearl Street Mall for its 30th year, the Boulder Jewish Festival, organized by the Boulder Jewish Community Center, brought in what the Boulder JCC is calling its largest-ever turnout, with an estimated 15,000 people attending throughout the day.

“It feels really important right now to come together to focus on love and healing and community,” Boulder resident and festival attendee Ari Brattin said. “There’s been so much hatred and darkness since Oct. 7, and especially after what happened here on June 1, just overcoming the fear to all come together in support, it makes me really proud to be Jewish and to be Jewish in Boulder, specifically.”

On June 1, a Molotov cocktail attack outside the Boulder County Courthouse on Pearl Street injured more than a dozen people who were participating in a weekly walk organized by Boulder’s chapter of the Run for Their Lives group, a national organization that calls for the release of hostages held by the Hamas terrorist group. Officials are calling it an antisemitic terror attack.

Boulder officials said at least four victims were sent to the Boulder Community Health hospital the day of the attack, and all had been transferred or discharged by that evening. The UCHealth burn unit was treating three patients as of Monday morning, according to a spokesperson. Police said no victims have died. No further information on the condition of the victims was readily available.

Boulder County’s district attorney on Thursday charged the suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian immigrant who officials say was living in the U.S. illegally, with 118 criminal counts, including attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault. He also faces a federal hate crime charge.

On Sunday, there were extra safety and security measures at the Jewish festival. While people enjoyed music, food and festivities, dozens of police officers roamed the area and watched over crowds. Sniper rifles were set up on each side of the block, including on the roof of the courthouse.

The Boulder Jewish Festival was planned long before the attack in Boulder, and rather than cancel or postpone, organizers proceeded with a reimagined event to promote community healing and unity while honoring all impacted by the attack. It was a statement that the Jewish community would not back down in the face of hate.

“We are united in horror and pain over the attack that happened right here a week ago with people from our beloved community seriously injured and traumatized from what happened last week,” Boulder Rabbi Marc Soloway said to the crowd on Sunday.

Soloway acknowledged the pain of the attack, but also talked about gratitude, healing and hope.

“We’re sad, we’re grieving, we’re angry and we’re afraid,” he said. “But yet, we are deeply comforted … by our resilience and the strength and love of this community.”

The festival began at 11 a.m. Sunday, as Jewish community members gathered on a stage outside of the courthouse on Pearl Street for the blowing of the shofar, a type of musical horn often made from a ram’s horn. The community then joined in a hora dance, a group circle dance commonly held at Jewish weddings and celebrations. Neighbors, family and friends joined hands, formed circles and moved together, smiling and laughing, in a joyous celebration of one another. The crowd was also led through songs and prayers.

At noon, the crowd moved down a block to participate in and watch the weekly Run for Their Lives walk. Thousands of people joined in the walk that was targeted a week prior, holding signs and flags and advocating for the release of the hostages in Gaza.

As the crowd waited for everyone to return to the stage, part of the community spontaneously broke out singing Hatikvah, also known as “The Song of Hope,” which is the national anthem of Israel.

“We all just broke out in unison together,” Denver resident Maximillian Wolff said. “Nobody said to start it, and that was really beautiful. There’s so much darkness, and as Jewish people, and in the Tenakh (Hebrew Bible), we’re called to be the light to the world. So it’s nice to see us being a light for each other.

“Also, I hope this doesn’t get lost in the conversation that we really are just wanting peace.”

Run for Their Lives leaders from the Denver and Boulder chapters spoke to the crowd, along with Moshe Lavi, whose brother-in-law, Omri Miran, is a hostage in Gaza. The leaders called for the hostages to be released and read the name of each person still in Gaza.

Many faith leaders and activists also spoke to the crowd of people throughout the event. Jonathan Lev, the executive director of the Boulder Jewish Community Center, took time to honor the victims, witnesses, first responders, downtown Boulder businesses and community members who have shown strength and kindness.

“We are standing here in resilience, we are standing here in unity, we are standing here in joy,” Lev said. “Because that’s what today is about, celebrating who we are. Our culture, our music, our food, our spirit, and even as we continue to walk in solidarity for the hostages still in Gaza, we also walk for our right to gather safely and proudly as a Jewish community.”

Throughout the festival, there were vendors offering traditional Jewish cuisine, Jewish communal organizations hosting booths and community activities, there was an art and artisan market and live music and performances.

“This feels like the purest expression of Jewish joy,” Brattin said. “And to be able to enjoy food and art and music and not have it just be about politics and sadness, it’s really beautiful.”

Wolff said that, as a Jewish person, it was important for him to come to Boulder and be in unity with others at the festival.

“It feels good to look around and see so many people all standing in solidarity together and just calling for peace,” Wolff said.

Boulder resident David Ensign said he came to the Jewish festival to be with his community.

“I noticed everybody just clicking in different ways,” Ensign said. “When you look people in the eye, everyone kind of has a little bit more meaning behind the looks, because everyone’s sharing having been through something that is traumatic for the community,” Ensign said. “It isn’t something that is new to Boulder, we’ve had (tragedies), and I’ve always felt that I can usually rely on Boulder to be caring and take care of each other. That’s what I’m really wanting to do — is play my part as much as possible to try to help the community come together and get through this.”

Soliman, who is being held on $10 million bail, remains in custody. His preliminary hearing has been set for July 15.

“If Congress were to approve the request as is, a 40% reduction would likely mean large-scale cuts to programs and labs here in Boulder,” said David Hosansky, the media relations manager for NCAR. “It is too soon to say which specific research programs and positions would be affected, and we would work with NSF on setting priorities.”

The National Science Foundation published the budget request for the next fiscal year on May 30, proposing a 39.7% cut to NCAR. The existing NCAR budget is about $127.7 million, according to the proposal, and NSF is requesting $77 million for the next budget cycle. The budget request is for the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

“At the FY 2026 Budget level, NCAR will curtail but continue to support research to refine weather and earth system models and to better understand the evolution of wildland fires,” according to the NSF budget proposal. “Also, continued operation of the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputer Center will support the integration, analysis, and modeling of large data sets.”

NCAR is a National Science Foundation-sponsored and funded research facility and a global leader in Earth system science. Its research is considered vital for protecting lives and property, supporting the economy and strengthening national security amid threats from severe weather, wildfires, droughts and solar storms.

“Of course, these are proposed cuts,” Boulder Chamber President and CEO John Tayer said, “… so we will fight as strong as we can in making the case that such reductions in investment in the type of research that NCAR performs is bad for our understanding of the impact of weather patterns on matters that are important to aeronautics and agriculture and other business activities, and that they would undermine investment in our future economic vitality.”

Tayer said there are significant economic consequences to that kind of a proposed cut, as well as personal consequences should layoffs occur.

“We will work in concert with our local, state and regional economic vitality partners and other similar entities from states across the nation to send this message,” Tayer said.

The White House also released a detailed version of the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Discretionary Budget Request to Congress, which provides insight into the federal administration’s funding priorities for the next year. It requests $1.52 billion for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which would be a 25% budget reduction; and $832 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a 28% decrease.

Dan Powers, the executive director of CO-LABS, said the proposed cuts could dismantle major components of the nation’s scientific capabilities. CO-LABS is a nonprofit group in Boulder that champions the value of taxpayer-funded research and brings scientists and labs together.

“From deeply unsettling to outright surreal is how I would categorize the kind of budget cuts to our research that are on the table right now,” he said.

He said cuts in the double digits at Boulder’s National Center for Atmospheric Research, added to proposed cuts at Boulder’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Cooperative Institute for Research In Environmental Sciences, would threaten the country’s ability to predict and respond to severe weather. Those forecasts, he added, are critical to public safety, agriculture production and transportation.

“That, on its face, should cause any given elected official to say time out, hold on, what are we talking about here?” he said. “This work has a daily influence on our ability to thrive — how we eat, how we travel, how we respond to bad weather.”

With about 2,000 employees at those Boulder federal labs, he said, a double-digit reduction in employees would create economic impacts for the city and state.

“That is deeply of concern,” he said.

Boulder is home to NIST, NOAA and NCAR federal labs, which also serve as partners to the University of Colorado.

“The President’s request reflects his priorities but does not have the force of law,” the CU Federal Relations Team wrote in a statement on Thursday. “It is the first step in the federal appropriations process. Over the course of the next five months, Congress will write appropriations bills, convene public hearings and cast votes on the 12 annual funding bills. Federal funding bills are subject to the Senate’s 60-vote threshold and require bipartisan support to ultimately become law. CU is actively participating in this process, championing university priorities with the Colorado congressional delegation, urging members to sign support letters, meeting with appropriations committee staff, working with coalitions of other universities and associations, and more.”

Officials from NIST and NOAA could not be reached for comment.

“I’m extremely upset and frustrated that our community is continuously under attack,” Rep. Ron Weinberg, a Loveland Republican, said in an interview.

He joined a statement issued by a half-dozen lawmakers as authorities charged Mohamed Sabry Soliman with a federal hate crime. The FBI said he shouted “Free Palestine” during the attack on marchers in a weekly event calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza. Twelve people were injured after Soliman threw two lit Molotov cocktails and used a “makeshift flamethrower,” law enforcement officials said.

The lawmakers’ statement says the Jewish community is “strong and deeply rooted in our state’s history,” adding that some of the legislators have participated in past events organized by Run for Their Lives, which put together Sunday’s demonstration. It was also signed by five Democrats — Sens. Dafna Michaelson Jenet of Commerce City, Mike Weissman of Aurora and Matt Ball of Denver; and Reps. Emily Sirota and Steven Woodrow of Denver.

“As we mourn the victims of yesterday’s attack in Boulder, we ask our allies to speak out,” the lawmakers said. “Whether publicly or privately — and regardless of views on the conflict in the Middle East — we must confront hate forcefully, before it becomes normalized.

“The rising tide of antisemitic attacks doesn’t just threaten Jews. It threatens the very fabric of what makes America worth believing in. We should all be outraged to live in a country where this is happening — and determined to change it.”

The lawmakers referenced two other attacks: the fatal shooting of two staffers from the Israeli Embassy outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C., last month, and a fire set at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion in April, apparently targeting Gov. Josh Shapiro.

“What (the targets) all had in common was that they were Jewish,” the lawmakers’ statement says of those incidents and the Boulder attack. “We have a name for this: antisemitism.”

Weinberg, in the interview, said he’s grieving for the people who were attacked in Boulder and will do what he can for the Jewish community across the state.

He also expressed frustration that the man suspected to be responsible was an Egyptian citizen living in Colorado illegally after overstaying his tourist visa. Weinberg is opposed to Colorado legislation aimed at protecting undocumented immigrants and urged people to pay attention in their elections.

Weinberg expressed worry that Sunday’s act would introduce fear back into Jewish communities across Colorado.

“We need to be outspoken about how wrong this stuff is,” Weinberg said.

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“Our focus right now is on the families, the victims, the people who witnessed this atrocity, and making sure that we are in community supporting them and supporting each other,” said Jonathan Lev, the executive director of the Boulder Jewish Community Center.

Lev said the Boulder Jewish Community Center is working with other Jewish leaders in Boulder to provide support to each of the families. Support and resources are being provided on an individual basis, Lev said. The organization is also working with law enforcement and is fully focused on the safety and security of the Jewish community at this time.

“The challenge we face right now is how rhetoric can escalate to the point that violence becomes OK,” Lev said. “That is not an OK way to operate as a society, as a people. And what we’ve seen locally and what we’ve seen on a national and international level regarding Jewish hate and antisemitism … that fosters an environment that makes it unsafe to be Jewish. It creates an environment where violence becomes part of the norm.”

‘There are no words’

Twelve people suffered burns and other injuries on Sunday after a man attacked them on Pearl Street in Boulder with what officials called a “makeshift flamethrower” and an incendiary device.

The attack happened at 1:26 p.m. Sunday outside of the Boulder County Courthouse during a weekly walk organized by the city’s chapter of Run for Their Lives, which calls for the release of hostages held by the terrorist group Hamas.

Lev said the Boulder Jewish Community Center is working on a gathering for the community.

“We know how important it is to come together to support one another and connect with one another to make sure that the message these people had is able to be transmitted to everyone,” he said.

That message, Lev said, is that the Run for Their Lives walk is a peaceful, non-political walk to highlight the fact that there are still hostages in Gaza.

“These are the most peaceful, loving, humanitarian people you can possibly imagine who have dedicated their lives to this kind of work,” Lev said.

Police have arrested a 45-year-old man, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, on suspicion of eight felonies, including attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault. Soliman, who federal officials said was living in Colorado illegally, has been charged with a federal hate crime, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation arrest affidavit.

None of the victims had died as of Monday morning, according to police.

“There are no words to describe this that would be an appropriate encapsulation of the devastation, the horror, the fear, the outrage that we’re all feeling right now in response to this attack,” said Shara Smith, the CEO of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado.

The Interfaith Alliance of Colorado is a public policy and advocacy organization that joins together and represents more than 400 congregations and two dozen faith traditions statewide. Smith said she’s hearing from the Jewish members of their community about feelings of devastation, hurt, fear and outrage.

“There’s also a sense of wondering in terms of whether or not people will understand the impact this has on the Jewish community. It’s really important to us as an interfaith organization that we take this as an attack on all of us and not just one community, because ultimately we are one family,” Smith said. ” … What I’m hearing from our Jewish brothers and sisters in this moment is a desire to be seen as human beings, and we want them to know that we see them.

“We see you, we love you and we know this is horrible. We are not going to sit quietly while our Jewish brothers and sisters are attacked and we won’t sit quietly when anyone at our family table is attacked. We will always speak up.”

‘Shocked and upset’

The Boulder Jewish Community Center has its 30th Boulder Jewish Festival scheduled for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday on Pearl Street. If held as planned, the festival would take place in the same place as the attack, exactly a week later.

Lev said the Jewish Community Center will share with the community what will happen regarding the event. No decisions have yet been made.

“We’re looking at it and seeing what might be possible and what might be right at this challenging time for our community,” Lev said.

Lev said the Boulder Jewish Festival is one of the longest continually existing Jewish festivals in the country.

“The Boulder Jewish Festival is a really important day for the Boulder community,” Lev said.

Boulder has one of the largest Jewish communities in the country per capita, Lev said. There are more than 19,000 Jewish households with more than 35,000 people in them in Boulder County, Lev said, citing a study from 2018.

He said the Jewish community in Boulder is vibrant, with many synagogues and community gatherings and activities.

“It has become a beacon for what Jewish life can look like throughout the country,” he said.

University of Colorado Boulder student Gil Eskayo and Boulder residents Caleb Loewengart and Maya Winkler visited the site of the attack on Monday wearing Jewish clothes, jewelry and imagery.

“Yesterday I was very shocked and upset and frustrated (as) more news was coming out,” Winkler said. “Today, I’m more of, ‘Ok, how can I turn this darkness into light?’”

To Eskayo, who recently returned from a trip to Israel, the attack was representative of a larger wave of anti-Semitic attacks.

“To speak for a lot of the people in Israel, we don’t want the fighting. We’re asking our government to stop. We want the hostages to come home, bodies to come back to their families. We want it to end, and we don’t want people to kill us anymore,” Eskayo said. “Wars are fought between nations, not people … I have no problem with anyone who’s Muslim or Arab, I love them.

“I went and hung out with one of my Muslim friends right after this event yesterday and we just connected with each other because we’re both people. We’re not fighting each other.”

Loewengart and Winkler haven’t felt too unsafe as Jewish people in Boulder. There are days when Winkler hides her Star of David necklace, and there are others when she proudly shows it off, she said. Sunday was the first time that Loewengart, a Centaurus High School graduate and lifelong area resident, felt unsafe to be Jewish in the community.

“I do think that people who live in Boulder are loving, caring people and (I) really, really do think that, as a community, coming out of this we’ll only be stronger,” said Loewengart, who thinks that there isn’t enough of a conversation on the remaining hostages and how antisemitism can hit close to home. “I think this was an incident where a lot of non-Jewish people really realized how much of a present threat it is, and why Jewish people have been so vigilant over the past two years.”

‘It’s time for everybody to speak up’

Stefanie Clarke, the co-executive director of Stop Antisemitism Colorado, said the attack is part of a larger trend. She referenced the incident where a gunman killed two Israeli embassy employees in Washington. Locally, people protesting the Israel-Hamas conflict have continuously disrupted Boulder City Council meetings. At CU Boulder, police investigated anti-Semitic graffiti sprayed on several campus buildings, and the Jewish community on campus felt unsafe after a statement of support for Palestine was made by the Ethnic Studies Department.

“We have been trying to sound the alarm for months and months, since Oct 7, (2023), and it’s time to put an end to this dangerous rhetoric, and it’s time for the Boulder community to come together with the Jewish people,” Clarke said. “It’s time for everybody to speak up and condemn this unequivocally.”

She added that this kind of event could happen anywhere, and it will continue to happen unless people do something about it.

“The thought of Jews being lit on fire in the middle of Pearl Street is one of the most shockingly outrageous things that I can imagine,” Clarke said.

Smith, the CEO of Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, said it’s never OK for anyone to “use our streets and community” as a place to target people and carry out their vengeance for a political agenda.

“In every sense of the word this is horrific and this is devastating, but we are also determined to step forward in this moment and remind everyone of our shared humanity and remind folks not to give in to voices of division that are screaming loudly now and in the days to come,” Smith said.

Moving forward, Smith said, it will be critical to see each other’s humanity, deepen understanding of one another and engage in dialogue.

“Compassion requires courage. Dialogue requires courage. Violence does not,” Smith said. “ … We are not going to allow anyone’s hatred to divide us, and that is the most important thing to keep in mind in this moment.”

Lev said he’s especially grateful to the first responders for their compassion when helping the victims of the attack. He added that there has been an outpouring of support from Boulder community members, organizations and elected officials locally and statewide.

He hopes all organizations and people locally will not just condemn the attack but take action, like by calling out hate speech on an individual level in day-to-day life.

“In that solidarity, we want people to condemn antisemitism to stop and help us stop the rhetoric that happens here in our community, so we can live in a way that this Jewish community and all Jewish communities around the world can be vibrant and thriving versus being threatened,” Lev said.

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U.S. Rep Joe Neguse met with employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology on Monday afternoon. After the meeting, Neguse reported to the crowd of protesters that DOGE personnel were not on site, despite rumors.

He also said no further layoffs had been executed at the Boulder laboratories as of Monday.

“Our understanding based on those conversations is that contrary to what we had heard, DOGE personnel were not on site today and have not yet arrived at this campus,” said Neguse, a Lafayette Democrat.

“But I also informed the group of folks here, the citizens who share my concerns, that the personnel from DOGE could very well come in the weeks ahead. And so it’s important for us to continue to speak out and speak up because we know that when DOGE has visited other agencies, the dismantling of those agencies has soon followed … we cannot allow that to happen here in Boulder, Colorado.”

Rumors of a visit by DOGE to the federal labs inspired people to protest the department and the federal job cuts that have occurred under the Trump administration.

Waving signs at passing midday traffic on South Broadway, protesters voiced their concerns about the fate of employees whose status is jeopardized by ongoing Department of Government Efficiency efforts to drastically streamline — and significantly cut funding to — a wide range of federal offices.

Hundreds of NOAA employees were fired from their jobs nationwide on Feb. 27 as part of federal workforce cuts made by the Trump administration. A Boulder employee fired that day said she was one of 10 people in her lab who lost their positions, and estimated there were likely similar numbers let go in each of NOAA’s four main labs.

Reporting earlier this month by the Washington Post and others showed that a new proposal from the Trump administration would cut NOAA’s $6.1 billion budget by 27% overall, while effectively eliminating a research branch of that agency that is charged with improving weather and climate forecasts, natural disaster warnings, as well as the understanding of the natural environment.

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The scene then cuts to the sheriff stopping the car on the road, opening the door and stepping onto the dirt road in his leather boots. He reaches for his holster and pulls out a revolver, points at the camera and shoots.

All of these sounds in the scene are important and carefully curated: the sound of the old truck, the dirt road, the leather boots and the revolver.

“All of these things have context, and that sound is what we’re focused on,” University of Colorado Boulder alum and sound design startup CEO and founder Isaiah Chavous said. “We’re focused on footsteps, door creaks, environmental noise, room tone and transitions.”

Chavous and his cofounders have raised $1.8 million to fund their sound design startup company called Noctal. Noctal is a platform that uses artificial intelligence, or AI, to automate the sound design process for content creators and filmmakers.

The investment firm Caruso Ventures invested the majority of the $1.8 million, joining other investors including Media Empire Ventures, X’s, formerly known as Twitter, head of original content Mitchell Smith and Major League Baseball player Tony Kemp.

“I think these guys could emerge as the leader in applying AI to sound effects,” said Dan Caruso, Caruso Ventures managing director. “And if they do that, they will have a huge impact. There’s going to be a lot of job creation.”

Noctal works by identifying the action sequences and events that take place in a video and then accurately placing relevant sound files where they need to go based on the on-screen events.

James Paul, Noctal’s chief operating officer and co-founder, said the traditional process of developing sounds in movies is extremely time-intensive. Paul has more than 10 years of media experience working in physical production in Hollywood on films, including the 2016 Ghostbusters movie, and is an active member of the Producers Guild of America.

Paul said the process requires a person sitting in a chair watching hours of footage and marking where sounds need to go on a timeline. For example, marking when the sheriff’s truck begins to drive away and when his boots hit the dirt. Then, it requires going into folders, bins or the field to record the sounds.

“Using our platform, it automates a lot of that by extracting each of those different events,” Paul said. “The best way we see to use AI is like a creative augmentation. You’re still going to switch things out here and there, but it speeds up that process of having to watch all that footage.”

Before founding Noctal, Chavous was a student at CU Boulder. He was student body president, helped co-found the Center for African and African American Studies, co-founded the first-ever police oversight board on campus and received an award from the Colorado Senate for his work with eliminating prison labor contracts with the university.

Six days after he graduated in 2021, he moved to California. Chavous led business development and partnerships at an augmented reality game company, working with industry icons such as Lewis Hamilton, Snoop Dogg, Michael Bay, Elton John and Grimes.

He said his time at CU Boulder helped him grow and develop important skills, including team management and budget management.

“That in and of itself led to being able to create plans you can actually execute under timelines that would be considered impossible, which is the entire objective of building a startup, which is (that) you’re under time constraints that most people would say is impossible with limited resources,” he said. “… and also having conviction over a vision.”

Caruso said that when everything in sound design is done by hand, typically, there are one to three main sounds in a scene. But if AI helps, it can help identify background sounds as well, so there are five or six sounds in a scene instead.

“You wouldn’t do that because it would be twice as much work,” Caruso said. “But if AI does it, knows the volume of each, it can make a more enhanced video as well.”

Chavous said he hopes to positively impact people’s lives through Noctal’s capabilities.

“What we’re doing is redefining a workflow, we’re redefining what it means to create,”  Chavous said. “And being a part of that process to embolden the user or the creative is at the center of our DNA of our why.”

For more information, visit noctal.xyz/en.

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