BOULDER — A dispute over the future of the Conference on World Affairs may have cost the University of Colorado a $1 million donation, prompting criticism of the CWA’s new leader.
The annual five-day conference, held on CU’s Boulder campus for 66 years, brings together experts, advocates, academics, artists and others from around the world for free panel discussions, performances and other events.
The conference, which draws tens of thousands of audience members of all ages, had been on track to launch a $5 million endowment campaign last fall with political science professor John Griffin as its new director.
Now Griffin is accused of derailing those endowment talks and alienating some donors, staff members and community members.
Those involved with the CWA say Griffin has hinted at big changes to come but has been secretive about his future plans.
They worry that the university may someday charge admission to the free event and focus less on bringing the world to Boulder by inviting locals to speak on panels.
“The conference the Boulder community knows and loves is on the verge of collapse,” said Bryan New, a former CWA staffer who quit in December.
A group of 39 conference supporters signed a letter sent to chancellor Phil DiStefano to express their concerns about the conference’s leadership.
“It seems the combination of unfamiliarity with the conference and the understandable concerns over campus-wide funding challenges have caused … administrators to mistakenly consider the CWA as something that must be narrowly defined, repaired, regulated and remade into just another institutionalized, sterile conference,” according to the letter.
For Griffin’s part, he said the conference is on track to have a record-breaking fundraising year.
He acknowledged that this is a transition year and said he’s optimistic about the future of the CWA. His goals this year have been to expand the CWA’s circle of input, find new revenue sources and expand faculty and student involvement.
The CWA was founded in 1948 as a free, public event that promised to bring the world to Boulder. That meant no admission fee for audience members and no participants from Colorado.
The annual gathering has included participants such as Roger Ebert, Patch Adams and Eleanor Roosevelt. Participants pay their own way, speak for free and often stay in Boulder residents’ guest bedrooms. The CWA’s paid staff is small, so hundreds of volunteers help organize the event.
Last year, campus funding made up 62 percent of the conference’s $486,000 budget, with the rest coming from gifts.
In the face of rising tuition and declining state support, CU has been rethinking spending that isn’t focused strictly on students.
Two years ago, CWA and university officials began talking about an endowment to ensure the future of the conference.
Boulder civic activist, philanthropist and CWA chairwoman Jane Butcher offered to spearhead the fundraising effort.
She planned to donate $1 million to the cause, and she wanted to tie her gift to the conference’s founding principles — such as its free admission and its commitment to only out-of-state panelists.
When she got pushback from Griffin last fall, Butcher walked away.
But Griffin denies being at odds over the founding principles.
