DNC Disrupts Denver Student Life

Much as it has done to the news cycle, the Democratic National Convention has hijacked normalcy from college life in Denver. The Auraria Higher Education Center, a combined campus for Community College of Denver, Metropolitan State College of Denver, and the University of Colorado-Denver, canceled classes from last Saturday until this Friday, and it even planned ahead enough that it started classes a week earlier than normal, way back on August 11. Around 40,000 students, faculty, and staff members have been affected.

Even outside Denver, school life has been disrupted. Colorado Technical University, just south of the city, didn't cancel all classes but is expecting delays for commuter students. Its criminal justice department, however, has canceled a number of classes because so many of its instructors are also police officers who have been called for convention-related security.

For students who couldn't hightail it out of convention central, life has been eye-opening but mostly frustrating. University of Colorado-Denver students have been living behind gates ("Two weeks into college, everyone left, and we're just kind of stuck," said one student), while others pulled out their walking shoes. "I can't even get my car in here," a freshman said. "Last night I had to park 8 miles away and walk. It sucked."