University of Colorado Denver

CoPIRG Students is a statewide, student-directed, student funded organization that has been around for 35 years, providing students with the tools they need to make a difference on some of society’s most pressing problems.  As students you often learn about issues in class but don’t learn the skills actually tackle those issues and make a measurable difference while you are in school from poverty to environmental threats to maintaining a strong democracy. CoPIRG offers students the opportunity to learn the basic skills to make a difference – skills like planning events, running voter registration drives, public speaking, recruitment, team building, coalition building and planning/time management skills. In addition, CoPIRG works with students to implement those skills by making a real difference in the community and fulfill the service mission of the University as well as working to pass public policy that benefit the public interest.

CoPIRG’s UC-Denver chapter was established on campus in 2003 when students voted to start it.  Since then CoPIRG has helped pass the Green Fee, has been an integral part of all campus Sustainability Fairs, started Auraria Students Against Poverty, organized voter registration and voter mobilization drives, promoted alternatives to expensive textbooks, produced educational guides about choosing health care and avoiding credit card traps, educated decision makers about the impact on students of rising cost of higher education, launched Energy Service Corps to help students and the community save money on their energy bills, offered alternative Springs Breaks and built support for public transportation access between the campus and the broader community.

We look forward to continuing our work on sustainability (from energy to food), poverty, affordable education and textbooks, public transportation,heatlth care, publci health, voter registration and consumer protection issues.