Petition Calls For CU To End Partnership With Department Of Corrections

(CBS4) - The University of Colorado is reconsidering its partnership with the Colorado Department of Corrections. It comes after students and faculty raised concerns about the university purchasing furniture made using inmate labor.

Several state entities and universities buy furniture through the Colorado Correctional Industries Program. The Department of Corrections says it is intended to prepare inmates for the workforce once they leave prison.

CU Boulder students who are part of the Black Student Alliance developed a petition calling for the end of the partnership along with the university's partnership with the Boulder Police Department.

Students want the school to reallocate that money to other programs like housing and mental health services.

CU Boulder issued a statement about the petition to CBS4 which reads in part:

The university has started to review statutory requirements related to its partnership with the Colorado Department of Corrections and plans to re-examine campus procurement practices in the near term.