CU Boulder officially terminates 35-year-old INVST program

INVST, a 35-year-old leadership program at CU Boulder focused on climate justice and racial equity, has been officially terminated.

Over its three and a half decades, INVST became one of CU Boulder’s longest-running programs dedicated to public service and social justice. It trained students through partnerships with Boulder nonprofits and government agencies, helping shape the career paths of alumni.

The university canceled the program in March as part of its dissolution of CU Engage, a broader community engagement center launched a decade ago. Officials cited budget constraints in the School of Education and said they would support moving the program to another department. 

But INVST’s former director, Sabrina Sideris, said College of Arts and Sciences leadership blocked several relocation efforts despite faculty support. She submitted six proposals to house the program elsewhere, starting in December 2024. The most promising was with the Department of Geography, which backed the plan, according to department chair Jennifer Fluri.

“The faculty all were pretty unanimous: ‘Sounds like a no brainer. Let’s make this happen,'” Fluri said. 

Yet leaders within the College of Arts and Sciences declined to move forward. Sideris said the same thing happened with the Program for Writing and Rhetoric. 

“It became clear over time — as Sabrina went to different places, got a warm reception and then at the next level it was an absolute no — that the upper administration wanted this program to be removed from CU,” Fluri said. 

The Program for Writing and Rhetoric did not respond to requests for confirmation. The College of Arts and Sciences referred us to CU leadership.

CU spokesperson Nicole Mueksch said in a statement: “The College of Arts and Sciences does not have the funding necessary to support the long-term success of the INVST program,” and had to prioritize limited resources.

INVST offered a 16-credit leadership curriculum pairing students with organizations focused on climate, equity and grassroots organizing. Partners included Boulder Food Rescue, Bridge House, EFAA, Boulder Housing Coalition, the City of Boulder and the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.

Lodi Siefer of the Climate Justice Hive, which launched with support from INVST interns, told Boulder Reporting Lab in March that she was “so devastated” by the news.

Sideris questioned the university’s financial justification. She pointed to recent $160,000 in raises for four associate deans in the School of Education — nearly the amount of INVST’s annual budget of about $200,000. 

She believes the program was marked for elimination even before political pressures mounted on universities.

Those pressures have intensified in recent months as the Trump administration has targeted funding for climate research, public health and diversity, equity and inclusion programs, among other areas. CU Boulder has already lost millions in federal grants and has restructured or renamed several DEI-related efforts.

“When you think about money and budgets, it’s a matter of will,” Sideris said. “When you decide what your priorities are, then you put money behind them.”

Mueksch said the raises were made to comply with Colorado’s Equal Work for Equal Pay Act and were unrelated to the sustainability of CU Engage.

The university has also adopted a new performance-based budget model that ties department funding to student enrollment, making it harder to sustain smaller, interdisciplinary programs like lNVST. 

“We have so many people who are our peers and our collaborators and our allies, who really see the value and impact of INVST,” Sideris said. “But university leadership at this moment in time is just not willing to let us continue to exist.”

A final summer program, then closure

INVST summer students with Daniél Escalante of Casa Taos, an organization that has partnered with the program for years. Courtesy of Sabrina Sideris

INVST will offer one final summer course in partnership with the Department of Geography: a two-week, three-credit program in the Southwest, where students will work with local leaders on regenerative agriculture and sustainable housing. The course will explore climate justice, energy and land stewardship, according to Sideris.

Current students will complete the program, but will no longer be able to earn a leadership studies minor through INVST. Some expressed disappointment. 

Rachel Cohen, an incoming junior year majoring in integrated design engineering, told Boulder Reporting Lab she feels anxious about losing INVST. 

“As an undergraduate studying engineering, I often feel that I am learning in a vacuum,” she wrote in an email. “The very tangible consequences of my future work as an engineer are seldom discussed. … Real positive change takes a lot of skills that we never learn in engineering classes.”

Fluri said the Department of Geography hopes to continue offering a climate justice summer course in future years, but that plan has not been officially approved. Mueksch confirmed that the department will offer “summer field experience classes to support community engagement,” starting this year.

Two-year pause preceded closure

INVST’s shutdown follows a two-year pause. The first year, initiated by INVST leadership, came after two student cohorts dropped out. During the break, the team completed a self-study and revised the curriculum to be more culturally responsive, focused and manageable for students.

The second year was extended by the interim dean of the School of Education, Fernando Rosario-Ortiz, who said he needed more time to review the evaluation.

“He assured all of those people that he saw the value of INVST and that we would be reinstated after the pause,” Sideris said in March. But looking back, she said it feels premeditated.

“I was laid off on Thursday, March 20, and the INVST program was dissolved. But it now feels like the decision had been made long before that.”