I am a proud alumnus of University of Colorado Boulder, and like thousands of other alumni, I was explicitly told that I would keep my @colorado.edu email address for life.

This was not a vague expectation or informal tradition. CU Boulder’s own Office of Information Technology publicly documented the Email for Life program, stating that eligible graduates would automatically retain their university email address with no opt in required, no cost, and no disruption in service. Many of us relied on this promise in good faith.

Over the past decade or more, my CU email address has become far more than a convenience. It is part of my professional identity, a marker of credibility, and a permanent point of contact that I have used for careers, publications, businesses, financial institutions, and personal correspondence. Like many alumni, I organized my digital life around the understanding that this address was permanent.

CU Boulder has now announced that alumni email access and even forwarding will be fully terminated by August 31, 2026, effectively revoking the Email for Life commitment retroactively. This decision places alumni in an unnecessary and precarious position.

Why This Matters

Rescinding this promise is not just an inconvenience. It creates real and lasting harm.

1. Alumni face the loss of a long standing professional identifier
2. Critical accounts and records tied to @colorado.edu addresses must be migrated at personal risk
3. Professional credibility and continuity are disrupted
4. Alumni are forced to absorb the administrative, security, and reputational burden of a decision they did not cause

Many alumni have used their CU email addresses continuously for 10 to 20 years or more. Pulling that identity away now is not a neutral technical change. It is a breach of trust.

CU Boulder has cited cost, security, and compliance concerns as justification. While these challenges may be real, they do not erase the original promise, nor do they justify retroactively changing the terms after alumni relied on them for years.

This is not about requesting a new benefit.

It is about honoring one that was already guaranteed.

A Reasonable and Fair Path Forward

We are not asking CU Boulder to provide unlimited storage or premium services forever. We are asking for a solution that respects alumni reliance and institutional integrity.

If CU Boulder believes it cannot continue full email accounts indefinitely, then it should at minimum provide permanent email forwarding so that alumni can retain their @colorado.edu address as a stable point of contact.

Permanent forwarding would:

• Preserve alumni identity and continuity
• Minimize cost and security exposure
• Align with what CU already promised to earlier graduating classes
• Match solutions offered by many peer institutions

Other reasonable options include grandfathering alumni who graduated while the Email for Life policy was in effect or offering a clearly defined alumni email tier. What is not reasonable is eliminating all access and forwarding entirely.

Our Request

We respectfully call on CU Boulder to:

1. Acknowledge the original Email for Life policy and its language
2. Stop characterizing the benefit as temporary or discretionary
3. Honor the commitment made to alumni or provide permanent email forwarding
4. Engage transparently with alumni to reach a fair solution
5. Uphold institutional trust by keeping promises made at graduation 

Why Sign This Petition

This issue affects a significant number of alumni, many of whom have already expressed frustration, concern, and disappointment. Signing this petition sends a clear message that alumni expect CU Boulder to act with integrity and accountability.

This is about trust.

This is about honoring commitments.

This is about maintaining a lifelong relationship between CU Boulder and its alumni.

By signing, you are asking CU Boulder to do the right thing and ensure that the bond between the university and its graduates remains intact.