CU Denver took to Facebook Saturday afternoon to assure high school students if they are suspended by their school district for peaceful protests, it will not adversely affect their admissions process.
It is not immediately clear if anything in Colorado spurred this public announcement, but on Wednesday a Texas school district superintendent threatened three-day suspensions for any student who missed school to protest.
"Please be advised the Needville ISD will not allow a student demonstration during school hours for any type of protest or awareness!!" wrote Superintendent Curtis Rhodes on Facebook, according to our sister-station KHOU in Houston.
He goes on to write that it doesn't matter how many students protest - be it hundreds - the district will suspend each student. A planned walkout ended up having no students participate after the threat.
The planned walkouts are part of larger protests going on nationwide by high school students demanding action on gun laws after a shooter walked into a Florida school and killed 17 people last week.
That threat, and another from a separate Texas school district, has colleges around the nation assuring students they won't face additional scrutiny from them for protesting gun laws.
CU Denver released a brief statement on their Facebook page assuring students they wouldn't be in trouble with the school if their high school chose to suspend them for protesting.
CU Denver joins the ranks of other schools like Yale, MIT, the University of Virginia, UCLA and others. MIT has compiled a list of such schools on a Google doc.
"We do require students to report if they are suspended from high school," CU Denver wrote. "However, if a student who is applying to our institution is suspended for practicing responsible citizenship by engaging in peaceful, meaningful protest on an issue of importance to them, it will not negatively impact their admission decision to CU Denver."
They've since pinned the post to the top of their Facebook page.
Several people have commented words of pride for the school, others are unhappy to read this news. One person called the school "Communist" for the message.
