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MorningMagazine_2025-03-13 Gabrielle Mendoza
Mother of Slain CU Student: Signs of Struggle
The mother of University of Colorado Boulder student Megan Trussell believes her daughter was not alone when she died.
Vanessa Diaz wrote Tuesday that because her daughter was discovered with only one shoe, and because her purse was found ripped, she believes “there was a struggle or, at the very least, another person with her when she died.”
Trussell’s body was found in “hard-to-reach” terrain on Feb. 15, near the 40-mile marker of Boulder Canyon Drive.
Diaz took to Facebook to say that her daughter was found wearing only one 3-inch platform tennis shoe. She and her friends searched the area where her daughter was found for the other shoe and could not find it.
Diaz also expressed concern about the purse being ripped, since she sewed it herself and knew that the seam was reinforced “very thoroughly.” An anonymous source confirmed with The Daily Camera that Trussell’s purse was found last week, at least two miles from where her body was discovered.
Meanwhile, the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office continues to say that foul play is not suspected in Trussell’s death.
Trussell’s final autopsy report has not yet been completed.
CU Pauses Diversity Hiring
The University of Colorado Boulder has temporarily paused a hiring program designed to introduce more diverse faculty to campus.
A CU Boulder spokesperson told The Daily Camera that the university has paused the Critical Needs Hiring Program for a third-party legal review, to make sure it’s still compliant with state, federal, and regent law. The pause was not prompted by any anti-diversity efforts or mandates by the Trump administration, according to that spokesperson.
The program brings in faculty members to departments across campus who demonstrate perspectives and expertise that are underrepresented in that academic unit. CU Boulder says the applicants are chosen based on their demonstrated actions, not their identities or beliefs.
Among other criteria, the Critical Needs Hiring Program is set to provide $1 million in salary and benefits over the next three years, across 32 centrally funded faculty positions.
BVSD Cell Phone Policy
The Boulder Valley School District says their recently-implemented cell phone ban has led to positive results.
At a district-wide meeting earlier this week, high school principals shared that students are engaging more with one another and in class discussions, and have been using free time to study. Principals at Broomfield and Centaurus high schools said they added games like ping pong, air hockey, and foosball to give students more options during lunch and off periods now that their phones aren’t an option.
Principals at the meeting added that they’re working on areas of implementation, which includes building quieter spaces for students, and setting additional rules that will teach better habits instead of using punitive consequences.
The ban, which went into effect in January, requires students to silence and stow away cell phones, smart watches, and headphones for the entirety of the school day. The policy still allows the use of personal laptops instead of the district-issued Chromebooks, but advises students to only use their laptops for specific academic tasks.
Students who have a documented need for a phone, such as students who need access to medication reminders or those with education-related tech needs, are exempt from the policy.
Centaurus students have reported mixed results about the ban, according to The Daily Camera. Some described it as “stupid” and “pointless,” saying there are still teachers who don’t enforce the no-phone rules during class. Others say they’ve seen both benefits and drawbacks.
Centaurus High Principal Carlyn Carroll said that out of the school’s 1,545 students, administrators and teachers are collecting fewer than 20 phones a day.
Boulder City Council – Xcel Study Session
Boulder City Council is scheduled to meet with executives from Xcel Energy tonight, to discuss the city’s voter-approved franchise agreement with the utility company.
That 2020 agreement set targets for emissions reductions and grid resiliency against extreme weather and wildfires.
The meeting will give council members the opportunity to question the utility company about its efforts to cut carbon emissions, protect energy infrastructure from wildfires, and clean up its coal ash storage site on the eastern edge of the city.
Though Xcel has committed to stop burning coal by 2030, a recent presentation cited by Boulder Reporting Lab revealed the utility plans to use natural gas well beyond that date. That prompted questions about how that will hinder Boulder’s goal of becoming net-zero by 2035.
Tonight’s meeting comes nearly a year after Xcel cut power across much of Boulder with little notice during a windstorm, leaving over 55,000 customers without power for a weekend.
