Editorial: Sale of Naropa campus a sad situation for iconic school

What will be the future of Naropa University, the iconic, Buddhism-inspired liberal-arts school after the sale of its main Boulder campus?

As BizWest managing editor Lucas High reported recently, Naropa is under contract to sell its campus at Arapahoe Avenue and 21st Street to Core Spaces, a Chicago-based developer of student housing. Core Spaces also redeveloped the former Liquor Mart property at Canyon Boulevard and 15th Street in Boulder.

Naropa already sold two other properties to Core Spaces, the Alaya Preschool site on 19th Street and a Guadeloupe Street residence rented by President Chuck Lief — for $3.4 million, High reported.

The school is expected to retain its Nalanda campus at 6287 Arapahoe Ave.

In announcing the planned sale of the 2130 Arapahoe Ave. campus on the school’s website, Lief said the school can leverage the value of the main campus “to ensure the long-term financial health and sustainability of Naropa.” 

He said proceeds of the sale “will be reinvested in critical areas such as: hiring and retaining faculty for graduate counseling, which is key to attaining CACREP accreditation; new graduate, undergraduate, and professional development programs; technological innovations to support faculty and students; student scholarships to increase our diversity; and campus infrastructure improvements – to name just a few.”

Naropa will engage with community members to determine how best to leverage the funds.

“We truly believe this is a decisive opportunity for Naropa University — one that we approach with both care and excitement, and that will allow us to envision the next 50 years.”

Naropa enrolled about 1,100 undergraduate and graduate students for the current school year, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, many of those students have enrolled for online courses.

Naropa has struggled financially in recent years, with financial woes heightened by the pandemic. So it’s understandable that the university would seek to capitalize on its greatest physical asset — prime land in the heart of the city.

But selling the campus — which many students and alumni consider the heart of the university — is a drastic step. The Nalanda campus is located in a more-industrial part of the city and lacks the beauty and history of the main site.

Naropa celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024, and the school does stand to reap an economic boon from the sale. But it remains to be seen whether disposing of its iconic campus will help the university, or lead to its decline.

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