A History Spanning More Than 50 Years
Located on the downtown Auraria Campus and stretching into Denver’s central business district, the University of Colorado Denver educates 15,000 students in the heart of an emerging global city. Part of the University of Colorado system, CU Denver was officially founded in 1973. Throughout our history we have supported students from all walks of life, and we are committed to being a university that works for all.
Our Origins
CU Denver is located on the traditional territories and ancestral homelands of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute nations. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory and pay our respects to the diverse Indigenous Peoples still connected to this land. We give thanks to all Tribal Nations and the ancestors of this place and have developed a formal Land Acknowledgement as one way to honor this past.
Our recent history acknowledges the Auraria neighborhood—composed largely of Hispanic community members—that was dismantled in the 1970s to construct the Auraria Higher Education Campus (AHEC) of which CU Denver is a part. CU Denver is committed to honoring the displaced Aurarians in multiple ways, including through the expanded Displaced Auarian Scholarship Program and a commitment to revitalize historic Ninth Street Park.
Honoring Our Past
CU Denver continues to acknowledge its past and that of Colorado’s — from its ancestral lands and Hispanic heritage to its modern-day operation as a premier minority-serving public research institution making education work for all.
