CU Social Justice Summit

Operationalizing Liberation for a Diverse Democracy

With the goal of igniting critical engagement and responsibility for cultivating and sustaining a diverse democracy, the University of Colorado held an all-virtual social justice summit on Jan. 31, 2023. The theme "Operationalizing Liberation for a Diverse Democracy" was a call to disrupt behaviors and oppressive actions, structures and systems preventing the CU community's liberation – or freedom from oppression – with the goal of building a more just world as engaged citizens.

Open to students, staff, faculty and community members, the summit encouraged spaces of joy, healing, transformation and learning to enact radical possibilities and asked participants to center a love for humanity and collective work toward the disruption of all forms of oppression.

Nearly 1,900 participants from CU's four campuses and administrative offices in Aurora, Boulder, Colorado Springs and Denver joined webinars, sessions and community meetups and participated in an after-event survey, providing invaluable feedback, ideas and best practices for the next summit in 2025. As host of the 2023 summit, CU Boulder is grateful to the university leaders, keynote speaker, session presenters and engaged participants who supported the biennial, systemwide event.