CU 420 CRACKDOWN CU-Boulder’s $124,561.34 in police and facilities costs included: $75,569.37 for CU police/security/dispatcher overtime and labor costs for officers from outside agencies $12,579.61 for Argus security staff assisting with police/parking operations $5,789.29 for fire department/ambulance coverage $9,515.55 on miscellaneous expenses, including food and water for all personnel; ads in Boulder, Denver and Fort Collins student newspapers and additional equipment rental $6,550.85 for CU Parking and Transportation Services personnel overtime $7,270.67 for Parking Services equipment/rentals, such as cones, barricades and signs. The campus and area closure signs are re-usable for other events, such as President Obama’s visit last month. $7,286 for overtime labor costs in facilities management (groundskeeping, locksmiths and other employees). This includes $699 for the fish emulsion and equipment to apply it to the Norlin Quad. CU Student Government concert expenditures include: $84,611 for talent $35,882.66 for production $19,526.63 for security $8,049.65 for facility fee $3,441.88 for staff $1,170 for parking $1,056.93 for miscellaneous expenses $497.43 for transportation Source: University of Colorado

The University of Colorado’s administration and student government spent a combined $278,797.52 last month in their unprecedented efforts to curtail the Boulder campus’s unofficial 4/20 marijuana smoke-out, officials announced Friday.

The event, held every April 20, had drawn 10,000 to 12,000 gatherers in past years, and administrators this year took the highly controversial step of closing down the entire campus to outside visitors, and then barring everyone, including students, from Norlin Quad.

CU officials say those efforts, including spending $699 to apply fish-smelling fertilizer on Norlin, largely worked. On 4/20, a far more modest smoke-out — which included about 300 people — was staged on a smaller field on campus.

The administration spent $124,561.34 and the CU Student Government, which staged a concert featuring Wyclef Jean during 4/20, spent $154,236.18.

“I view the university’s commitment of $124,000 as an investment in the health, safety and conduct of basic academic business on the CU-Boulder campus,” Chancellor Phil DiStefano said in a statement. “Our efforts were funded by insurance premium rebates that result from CU-Boulder’s reductions in liability and hazard claims, so no tuition dollars were applied to this expense.”

Over the past five year’s, CU’s annual insurance refund is, on average, about $550,000, according to Boulder campus spokesman Bronson Hilliard. This year’s refund was $250,000, he said.

Other investments that CU makes with that money include the school’s emergency text-messaging system, flood mitigation and the purchase of police equipment.

In past years, CU has spent roughly $50,000 to $60,000 to manage 4/20, which has contributed to “reefer madness” and party school ratings from Princeton Review and Playboy magazine.

“This number is not surprising,” Hilliard said of the figure released Friday. “The idea behind it is that we had to spend more this year to end the event — for all practical purposes — and that saves us money in the long haul. Especially given the fact that the crowd was growing every year.”

CU officials say they’re unsure how long it will take them to entirely shut down the 4/20 celebration, but they plan to continue investing in its end. A Boulder district judge — on the eve of 4/20 — denied an emergency request to block CU from closing its campus to visitors.

“We consider this a successful operation and appreciate working with the administration, student government and other groups to make sure this was a safe day,” said Ryan Huff, spokesman for the CU Police Department. “Eventually, over a number of years, hopefully this event will completely go away.”

Some CU students, though, are split on whether the university spent its money wisely.

Graduate student Janna Piacenza said it would have been an embarrassment to the university to have a large-scale pot smoke-out precede President Barack Obama’s visit to Boulder less than a week later.

“That said, I think it cost a ridiculous amount of money and that money could have been better used for a variety of investments,” she said.

CU junior Andrea Wilson said she’s not concerned that 4/20 has a negative effect on her degree because the event mostly had drawn outside crowds.

“I don’t think their efforts were super-effective,” she said. “There were still people smoking on the lawn outside of Duane Physics.”

CU graduate student Becca McNeal said that during her undergraduate years, she ditched classes to avoid the 4/20 crowd.

“4/20 is a useless holiday to partake in,” she said. “I am deeply regretful that CU had to pay so much money to end it.”

The biggest portion of the administration’s cost was the $75,569.37 spent on police enforcement, which included overtime and labor costs for officers from outside agencies. Additionally, CU paid private Argus security staff $12,579.61.

The CU Student Government portion was spent to fund a concert by hip-hop artist Jean. Those funds, controlled by student leaders, came from student fee reserves, so there will be no impact on CU student fee structures next fall as a result of the expenses.

The free concert, though, drew relatively few students. While CU officials say 1,200 students entered the 11,000-seat Coors Events Center with their student ID cards, media reports estimated the crowd appeared to be no larger than 300 to 400 people at any given time.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas at 303-473-1132 or anasb@dailycamera.com.