DENVER — University of Colorado Regents voted 7-1 Wednesday to censure Democratic Regent Wanda James and strip her of official duties after she publicly criticized a state-funded anti-cannabis campaign for containing racist imagery and advocated for its defunding.
James, who owns a cannabis dispensary, attended the special virtual meeting from Brother Jeff's Cultural Center with supporters present. The censure removes her from all committee assignments and prohibits her from officially representing the university, though she retains her elected position through 2029.
“What kind of bullshit is this, y’all,” James said in response to her sanctions.
The controversy stems from James' criticism earlier this year of a CU Anschutz anti-cannabis advertising campaign that she said contained racist imagery. The university agreed with her concerns and removed the images, but an investigation found James also made several requests for state funding to be cut from the campaign.
According to university counsel Kerry Tipper, "In February, the board became aware of concerns that Regent James was advocating for funding to be cut from the Colorado School of Public Health."
"I am being targeted for raising my voice against a campaign that demeaned, dehumanized and harmed the black community," James said during the meeting.
Democratic Regent Elliott Hood, who supported the censure, said James "continued to publicly attack the program and to discredit the integrity of its research" even after the images were removed.
“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 said.
James disputed the narrative that she influenced the funding decision.
"The governor proposed cutting the funds for the Tea on THC campaign three months before I'd even seen the campaign," she said. "The narrative that I used my influence to defund the program, is once again, flat out false, the decision had already been made."
“This means that you either were working with that office to pull the funding, you misrepresented the actions you were taking, or you were trying to take credit for something that you knew was already happening,” Hood said. “Whichever conclusion is true, none of them reflect a Regent acting with due care, in the interest of or with loyalty to CU.”
Polis’ office did not respond to the university’s investigation until just before the special meeting on Wednesday.
In a statement, the governor’s office told the Regents that he “does not have any recollection of speaking to Regent Wanda James during the time the administration was developing the 2025-2026 budget submission.”
Why did the governor's office choose to wait until today to confirm that Polis and James did not speak about the Tea on THC campaign, instead of participating in the investigation earlier?
“We did not feel compelled to engage in what seems to be a fishing expedition, and it's disappointing to see Regent Wanda James being scolded for shining a light on the obvious and insensitive nature of how these funds were being used," a spokesperson for the governor said.
Polis said he had already proposed reducing the campaign's funding in his November budget submission due to concerns about waste and prior insensitive campaigns.
James called the censure racially motivated.
“This isn't about anything except for I wielded a little bit too much power to make them comfortable,” James said.
"So, I guess I'm not allowed to go to the football games. I'll talk to Coach Prime about that," she said. “You're going to tell black students that you're not going to allow me to go to a graduation or a football game because I stood up for racism a little bit too hard. Oh, my God.”
Only Regent Nolbert Chavez voted against the censure, while James abstained. The sanctions could be revised or removed before her term expires in 2029.
This marks only the second time CU Regents have censured a colleague. In 2022, Republican regent Glen Gallegos was censured for behavior deemed disparaging and threatening. He even voted along with all other regents in his own 9-0 censure.