Amy Parsons [00:00:04] Hi, I’m Amy Parsons, president of Colorado State University and host of The Next 150 Podcast. We have so many remarkable people in our community, and this is where we’re going to hear their stories. We’re going to get their perspectives on CSU’s next 150 years and gather their very best advice for today’s CSU students. Let’s get started, Rams. Hi, Rams. Amy Parsons here with another episode of The Next 150. We are taping this today from CSU’s beautiful Spur campus in downtown Denver because we have a very special guest with us today, the Attorney General of the state of Colorado, Phil Weiser.

 

Phil Weiser [00:00:39] Amy, it’s great to be with you.

 

Amy Parsons [00:00:41] Thanks for being here. We’re happy to have you on the podcast this morning. Welcome to our Spur campus in Denver. As we get started, I typically start with an icebreaker question for you. So, to do that, will you just pick a little number out of our bowl here?

 

Phil Weiser [00:00:54] Here you go. Number three.

 

Amy Parsons [00:00:56] That’s the one I wanted because it has to do with football. So, you recently attended our Homecoming game up in Fort Collins. Thank you for coming to that. You must have been good luck; you did the coin toss, we had a sellout crowd, and we had a great Rams win. You and I did some radio together; it was really fun. What was maybe your favorite part of the day for Homecoming?

 

Phil Weiser [00:01:16] The Rams winning, of course.

 

Amy Parsons [00:01:17] Yes. Thank you.

 

Phil Weiser [00:01:18] And doing radio with you. I don’t know if I mentioned it. I did college play-by-play radio. I was at Swarthmore College, and I did the football play-by-play as well as basketball play-by-play. So, invite me back for a basketball game. I would be thrilled to do a repeat.

 

Amy Parsons [00:01:36] I don’t know how I didn’t know that. We might have to press you into service in the future, running a little play-by-play for the Rams. Basketball season is upon us, so I’ll definitely take you up on that. We might have to put you on the radio there, too.

 

Phil Weiser [00:01:46] I’d love to.

 

Amy Parsons [00:01:47] If you’re volunteering. Yes. All right, you heard it here first. You’re going to be the voice of the Rams there pretty soon for basketball. So, thanks for coming up to that and visiting us in Fort Collins. And I have long been an admirer of your legal career as an attorney myself and really been impressed with what you’ve done over the years. And I’ll just, for our listening audience, say a few things about your career, but not go in too much depth. But you clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court justices, both Byron White and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, served in both the Obama and Clinton administrations. You’re a leader in higher education, preparing the next generation of legal scholars and litigators, and in your current role serving as Attorney General for the state of Colorado. Can you start by talking about exactly what the Attorney General does? What is your role?

 

Phil Weiser [00:02:36] Our job is to be the people’s lawyer. By that, I mean the people of Colorado have a lot that they’re worried about. Who’s going to protect Colorado’s water? Who’s going to protect our civil rights? Who’s going to protect consumers who are being taken advantage of? How do we make sure our criminal justice system works well and more? Our role represents the state of Colorado when we’re talking about water issues with other states. We represent the state all the way up to the Supreme Court. We’re talking consumer protection like this Kroger, Albertsons merger. A lot of people are worried about this merger. We just finished a trial to stop a grocery store merger that a lot of people are concerned about. People are concerned as renters being taken advantage of by junk fees. We’ve gone to court. We’ve held people accountable who are taking advantage of Coloradans. We have a lot of important work to do. I often say our democracy is a team sport. We need people on the field. People can go to our website, coag.gov, learn more.

If you’ve been mistreated as a consumer or as a citizen, let us know about it.

 

Amy Parsons [00:03:37] Well, you mentioned a couple of things on there that are very close to my heart and the heart of Colorado State University, both water and democracy. So let’s go down that path just a little bit. Talk to us a little bit more about water. Right here at the Spur campus, as you know, we’re focused on water. We’re focused on creating the next generation of leaders in water, bringing urban students, rural students together to understand water issues along with agriculture and One Health. Talk to us a little bit more about the state of that issue in Colorado right now and maybe how you see the role of the state’s large universities in that.

 

Phil Weiser [00:04:10] A few things. And I love what you’ve done here at CSU Spur, being present, engaged, and a leader on critical issues right now to resources. With our changing climate, water is perhaps the most precious natural resource. It’s at a premium, and in the worst-case scenario, we in Colorado are fighting one another around how we manage this resource. You’ve heard about buy and dry, which is when certain counties end up having their water rights shipped elsewhere, leaving those agricultural communities barren. That’s not a hypothetical. That’s what happened in Crowley County. There are proposals on the table today to take water from the San Luis Valley, ship it to the Front Range, undermining what is a vital agricultural community. That is not how we manage water in Colorado. What we need to do is work together in a collaborative, innovative fashion and ask questions about how we manage our water. The San Luis Valley, they’re making important adjustments. Rye is now more and more a promising crop because it uses less water. It’s harder to do other crops that use lots of water, alfalfa, for example. And so that’s a conversation that CSU is at the forefront of. How do we smartly manage water so that we continue to have vital agricultural economies that use less water? That means how do we think about water reuse? How do we think about better, smarter storage? How do we think about preventing evaporation? How do we better measure water, manage water? AI is going to create a lot of opportunities, artificial intelligence. We need you at CSU; we need you helping map the future of water so that we do it here in the right way in Colorado.

 

Amy Parsons [00:05:45] You know, when you talk about technology, it’s astonishing—the pace at which technology is progressing, especially in this space with drone technology, AI technology that allows us to get different views on what’s happening in Colorado around the state. That’s one of the ways that we’re trying to get students from all different backgrounds inspired to work on these issues—the new pace of technology and what they’re able to do and the tools they’re able to use to focus on that. So, let’s talk a little bit about democracy, which keeps coming up as well. You and I have had a few conversations about this around CSU. You know, we’ve been focused on democracy at CSU for some time. It’s one of our highest priorities. You know, we, of course, are producing the next generation of leaders for Colorado and the country out of our university. Talk to us a little bit about how you would talk to CSU students who might be interested in getting into politics and perhaps running for office.

 

Phil Weiser [00:06:37] Let me start with the conversation I had a few years ago at CSU. There was a debate about the red flag law in Colorado, which provides a mechanism for someone who’s a significant risk to themselves or others to have their firearms removed. And I had the chance to talk to a CSU student who said to me, “Why do you hate the Second Amendment?” And I said, “Can I ask you a question?” I said, “Why are you more worried about a responsible owner of a firearm having a firearm removed than a young woman who’s getting ready to take her life—not removing a firearm and allowing that person to end her life?” He said to me, “I need to think about it.” And after thinking, he went and talked to one of your faculty and got more and more engaged in reflecting on the issue.

 

So, what I believe politics needs to be is dialogue, which means the most important skill that I would say to someone interested in politics is how to listen and how to listen to everybody and how to treat everybody with respect. If you are not someone who is a people person, this is not going to be an easy calling because politics is about people. It’s about listening to people. It’s about working with people. If you can develop those skills, you have the potential to be an incredible servant leader. And we need those servant leaders.

 

That’s something I know you’re working on. I’ve learned a lot from people up at CSU. You’ve got an incredible project where Martín works on deliberation and problem-solving in that spirit. So, I would say do those courses where you get to work on the ground with communities—where you really listen and you work to solve problems.

 

Amy Parsons [00:08:17] Yeah, we’re working to embed those types of dialogues in everything that we do from the minute our brand-new students arrive on campus. Having that sort of practice session of how to disagree with each other a little bit better and not be angry about issues—we like disagreement. That’s what makes us better, right? I think that’s a bit of a myth—that we think that everybody should agree. We absolutely don’t. The university—we’re the melting pot of ideas. Everybody should bring their different ideas and perspectives. It’s what you said—that outcome really is people saying, “I need to think about that.”

 

So that’s such a great example that you just used because that’s somebody listening with open ears and saying, “I might still disagree, but I’m going to go back and think about it.”

 

And, you know, you’re someone who has been a public servant—a great public servant—for the state of Colorado. How did you make the leap to want to actually run for office and campaign? We need people who want to put themselves out there and run for office and campaign. And in this sort of polarized, sometimes ugly environment in politics, I worry that good people aren’t running for office.

 

Phil Weiser [00:09:20] That last point is the point that my wife said to me—we need good people to run for office. You should run. Earlier, actually, when we were dating, I had said to her, “I deeply believe in public service.” I’ve always believed as a, I guess, theoretical matter that you can’t just wait to be appointed. I’ve been appointed under President Clinton, President Obama, or the Governor here in Colorado. I hadn’t run for office until later in life.

 

And when the 2016 election went a different way than I had been pulling for, my thoughts of working in a federal government position were gone. And so that theoretical idea—that if you want to serve, you have to run—became quite practical and real. And I, with my wife’s support, with my family’s support and other support, said, “Let me give this a try.”

And you’re right, it is a more polarized environment. But part of what I’ve discovered is if you really show up and you have person-to-person conversations—like the one I had with the CSU student I mentioned—the polarization can melt away. And instead, what you can have are authentic relationships.

 

Most people want the same things. They want to live in safe communities. They want to get a good education for their kids and their grandkids. Most people want to have a place they can afford to live and a job that pays them enough to live on. And so we as Coloradans need to work together to make sure that we’re thinking about all of us—solving problems that affect all of us. And the way we do it really matters.

 

Polarization and demonization are a threat to democratic governance—small “d” democratic governance. A republic means people are self-governing. That only works when people know how to work together.

 

Amy Parsons [00:10:53] I mean, we’re here in the state of Colorado, which we both love. I imagine that you work with your counterparts all across the country. How is Colorado different from other states in that regard—in just being able to talk to each other, to be maybe a little bit more purple than some other places?

 

Phil Weiser [00:11:09] Part of what makes it special for me is that I came into office in 2018. I’m a Democrat; my predecessor—a Republican. And I was very sensitive to what her priorities were and continued working on them. So much so that when I ran for reelection, my Republican predecessor endorsed me.

 

The spirit of Colorado is one of mutual respect, of bipartisan collaboration. Every bill that we’ve worked on and championed has been a bipartisan bill. The spirit is—how can we listen? How can we learn from one another?

 

I am fortunate to be in that environment. There are other states where they’re totally red or blue, and they don’t have that culture. I’m doubly fortunate because, in the state AG world, because we work within the rule of law, it’s a very bipartisan world. On opioids, on youth mental health, on antitrust—I am working regularly with a Republican state AG.

 

So, my work—both in Colorado and as a State Attorney General—truly is bipartisan, and it’s about collaboration.

 

Amy Parsons [00:12:11] Well, you just mentioned the issue that’s really important to us, which is youth mental health and mental health in general in our population. It’s something that we think about a lot. We talk about it a lot—what are the best practices that we can implement so our students and our faculty and staff can achieve their full success?

 

That’s an uphill battle. It’s a difficult issue. I know you’ve been a champion for that. Let’s talk about that for a minute. How have you approached that issue? What’s important to you personally? What’s important for Colorado to know about that?

 

Phil Weiser [00:12:42] I want to start by saying I’m a champion on this issue because I have shown up and listened to people across Colorado. Laurie Shot, for example, I visited with just the other week in Sterling. She lost her daughter, Ana, who had been spending a lot of time on social media, seeing a lot of dangerous content, and ended her life. This is not a hypothetical. I’ve met with a lot of families who’ve lost loved ones because of mental health issues. Access to firearms, access to fentanyl, of course, can be what is the cause of death. And I made it my mission to address this crisis.

 

When I was growing up, the number one cause of young people dying, probably for you too, was car accidents. Now it’s a distant third. Now it’s getting access to drugs like fentanyl, or it’s firearms, although more often than not, it’s suicide that people are dying by. This is a crisis. I’ve worked hard to understand what’s causing it. And if you do go beneath the stories, there’s often a connection crisis that underlies either the addiction or the mental health crisis. I’ve heard this phrase: the opposite of addiction is not sobriety; it’s connection.

 

I just was looking at the latest data from a group called Rise Above Colorado. For someone who feels a sense of belonging and is involved in a club activity at high school, they are half as likely to end up vaping as someone who’s more isolated. We have money that we got from suing Juul, who pushed this whole vaping crisis in Colorado. We are now going to give out $20 million to support school community partnerships to drive more connection, to drive more belonging, and to create environments where young people have adults who they can trust and they can talk to about how they’re feeling.

We have a lot of work to do in this state. The impacts on people like Ana, who I mentioned, are devastating. There’s a lot we need to do, and we’re leaning in.

 

Amy Parsons [00:14:45] Well, thank you for your work on that. That’s an area that our board of governors and CSU is leaning in heavily as well, for all the reasons that you just mentioned—that it takes everybody in Colorado pulling in that direction. K-12, our state leaders, higher ed, to make a dent in this crisis. So, let’s continue that conversation as we go forward and what all we can do to make a difference. There are few things more important than that.

 

I know that you’ve recently received an award from the Boys and Girls Club as a Champion of Youth Award. Congratulations on that. Boys and Girls Club is an organization that’s close to my heart and a partner to CSU. And I assume part of that work was also your focus on mental health and partnering with Boys and Girls Club on that. So, you know, that’s a really meaningful recognition. And, you know, we’ll always be open to having discussions about how to link all that K-12 all the way through graduation and into our faculty and our staff ranks as well to make a difference. So, I really appreciate the positive impact that you’re making there.

 

Phil Weiser [00:15:46] Well, thanks for your work. Part of what we need is a lot more young people going into professions where they’re supporting people’s resilience, their mental health. We still have a stigma in society. People are afraid to talk about people dying by suicide. People are afraid to talk about anxiety and depression. That stigma prevents conversation and contributes to the loneliness epidemic and the isolation. We need more connection, more people willing to ask, “How are you?” and really engage with one another. And you making that such a priority, it’s a big deal.

 

Amy Parsons [00:16:19] Thank you. Well, we’ve hit on some of your major initiatives. We’ve talked about water and talked about mental health. Are there other areas that you want to make sure that we understand that you, in your role, are really focusing on for Colorado?

 

Phil Weiser [00:16:32] We talked for a minute about law enforcement, which plays a key role here, too. Because if you think about mental health and the challenges we have, you’re getting a sense that it’s harder than ever to be a police officer—harder than ever to serve in law enforcement. We’re now taking on the important work of training law enforcement with all the tools so that we’re increasing emotional awareness, so that we’re increasing emotional intelligence, empathy, and making it less likely that situations get escalated. That’s something that your partners up in northern Colorado have been really leading on. We’re really a big fan of the Fort Collins Police Academy. They’ve been doing great work, working with them.

 

That’s something where you might continue to think about: how do we encourage law enforcement as a track? Because we’ve seen a lot of people retiring. This is true in nursing; it’s true in teaching; it’s true in law enforcement. We need to recruit more young people into these areas and train them to serve others. And so that’s something I would say is also on my mind—how do we build the best law enforcement here in Colorado we can?

 

Amy Parsons [00:17:30] Yeah. Well, thanks for your note about northern Colorado. You know, Fort Collins Police Department, CSU Police Department—they do a tremendous job. And they really know how to work with our college-age population as well and train up our CSOs, our young people, our college students who are training to be in law enforcement and are practicing that within the campus community. So, we see that as a high priority for us as well. We need that to be a strong industry and workforce for all of our sakes. So, thanks for your note on that, and thanks for your good work in law enforcement.

As we start to wrap up here on our podcast, I always end with talking about advice for our students. CSU’s number one priority always is student success. And so, for our students to hear from leaders like you about what advice you have for them—whether or not they’re interested in running for office or politics or anything like that—especially our young students who are just starting out, maybe first-year students starting their college journey. What advice would you have for them, knowing you’ve worked with a lot of really high-performing, successful students in your career and your time? What would you advise our newest, youngest students just starting on their journey?

 

Phil Weiser [00:18:41] I’ll start with one observation that I saw. By 2030—it’s not that long from now—8% of current jobs will be displaced by artificial intelligence. Which means for any young person, you’re not going to have the luxury of a single job or a single career for your whole life. My advice for you is to embrace lifelong learning—that you’re going to need to continue learning.

 

I also encourage you to have an entrepreneurial attitude about your career, looking for opportunities and developing opportunities. That’s something that if you can get a positive mindset about, it’s going to make things more exciting.

 

And finally, when you think about the skills that are going to be most valuable, a lot of these interpersonal skills we’ve been talking about—empathy, problem-solving, teamwork, listening—those are skills that are going to serve you very well. I believe young people now are going to have extraordinary opportunities. It’s an incredible time to contribute. Rather than sometimes view things more with a, “Things are so hard. These are really tough.” And they are. And people are growing up with more difficulty than ever before. If you can frame your future through the lens of opportunity—we’re going to have a chance to learn, to grow, and to use new technologies for good. That’s, I think, an exciting way to approach things.

 

Amy Parsons [00:19:55] Well, I wholeheartedly endorse that, and that’s a great note to end on. So, Rams, take that advice. That’s very good advice. It’s a great time to harness those opportunities and to be a Coloradan and to be a Ram.

 

Phil Weiser [00:20:08] Go Rams.

 

Amy Parsons [00:20:08] Rams. Thank you. Attorney Weiser, thank you so much for being here today. Go Rams. Take care.