Dear readers,
As we approach almost one year of operating entirely on this domain, cuindependent.org, I write to you to inform you of a troubling issue that has come to the attention of the CU Independent staff.
As some of our readers know, the CU Independent was formerly hosted on a different domain, but due to a variety of technical and security challenges moved over to our present site in October of 2024.
I, Greta Kerkhoff, took office as the editor-in-chief of this publication in May 2025. Shortly thereafter, I was notified that our old dormant website was active again; however, this activity was not coming from any of our staff members or writers.
It appears that by the action of an unknown individual or entity, someone is posting on our old website, calling themselves the CU Independent.
The website’s homepage has been altered, but still uses our name and still contains old CUI articles deeper into the site.
In the “about” section, it claims to be a “student-run news page from Boulder, Colorado.” This is false. The website is no longer run or in any way associated with the CU Independent or the University of Colorado Boulder.
What’s equally as troubling is the “news” content being posted to the site, which appears to be generated by artificial intelligence, and is attributed to writers whose pictures also appear to be AI-generated.
While the CU Independent continues to explore our legal options, we want to stress to our readers to stay away from this website, which is hosted at cuindependent.com.
We can in no way guarantee the security of this site or the accuracy of its information and advise users not to visit the page. Our only website is here, cuindependent.org.
It is unclear at this point in time why the perpetrators of this site are doing what they are.
For this reason, I want to stress that the CU Independent will never reach out to individuals soliciting donations or asking for money.
If someone claiming to be the CU Independent has reached out to you, please contact us urgently at cuindependent@colorado.edu.
As we deal with this truly unfortunate situation, we will continue to bring you real student journalism as it breaks.
We are a strong publication with a long history and dedicated staff. We invite our readers to continue along on this journey with us, as we continue our mission to report on CU Boulder and its surrounding community in a timely and accurate manner.
Regards,
Greta Kerkhoff, editor-in-chief
Contact CU Independent editor-in-chief Greta Kerkhoff at greta.kerkhoff@colorado.edu
