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At Colorado Law, our commitment is to respect the dignity and humanity of all members of our community. We strive to create a welcoming, respectful, and supportive environment for all our members so each member can contribute to their fullest potential. We provide ongoing education and professional development that address antiracism, implicit bias, microaggressions, and other critical adverse social and behavioral issues.

Our C.A.R.E. Pledge is modeled after the successful Public Service Pledge, and requires individuals to complete 50 hours over their three years of law school on educational activities about social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion. We aim for 100% voluntary participation in the Pledge. Participation in the Pledge helps shape CU Law’s culture of inclusivity, racial justice, and social justice.

Many events and activities at CU Law count for Pledge hours, and these activities are highlighted in our calendar of events. Students are also encouraged to seek out opportunities in the broader legal community which they may submit for approval. The approved activities are broad and extensive, and can be tailored to students’ personal interest. Activities may include, but are not limited to: working through a reading list, perhaps in conjunction with faculty led book groups; attending legal conferences or speaker events; volunteering at various events; or other opportunities highlighted on the C.A.R.E page.

By learning together, we make CU Law a better place.

By signing the Colorado Law , students commit to at least 50 hours of educational activities about social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, during their time at the Law School.  

Pledge Guidelines

• When to Sign: We encourage students to sign the Pledge during 1L Orientation, but students can sign the Pledge anytime during law school. This is100% voluntary participation. 
• Qualifying Work: To count toward the Pledge, work must be:
  • Completed by a current, enrolled Colorado Law student
  • Uncompensated and uncredited
  • Supervised and law-related
  • This list is not exhaustive. If you have questions about whether your hours qualify towards the C.A.R.E. Pledge, please email: Assistant Dean Fernando Guzman
• Examples of Qualifying work include:
  • Volunteer hours for Colorado Law projects, including: working through a readling list in conjunction with faculty led book groups, attending legal conferences, speaker events, or volunterring at various events.
  • Volunteer hours for nonprofit organizations, public interest law firms, local government agencies, public defenders, legal services offices, private firms with pro bono projects.
• Deadline to Log Hours: Students report their own hours. Graduating 3L students must submit hours by April 1 (11:59 p.m. MST) . 3L December graduates must submit their hours by November 15(11:59 p.m. MST). 

Instructions for Logging Your C.A.R.E. Pledge Hours

You are responsible for logging your own C.A.R.E. Pledge hours. We encourage students to log C.A.R.E. hours as they are earned throughout their law school career. To log your hours, plese fill out this .

As in all activities, students undertaking the C.A.R.E. Pledge are subject to the Honor Code.

Frequently Asked Questions for Current Students

Will students be disqualified from counting their C.A.R.E. hours if they did not first sign the Pledge? 

Students are strongly encouraged to sign the Pledge at Orientation. However, students can do so at any point during their law school career and have the hours count towards the C.A.R.E. Pledge as long as the hours are logged by the deadline.   

If students are required to do trainings before beginning their volunteer work, do the training hours count towards the C.A.R.E. Pledge hours? 

Yes, as long as the trainings are to prepare students for the law-related pro bono work. 

Does work that students do as volunteer legal interns and externs over the summer count towards their C.A.R.E. Pledge hours?

Absolutely! The summer is a great time to do volunteer legal work. As long as students are not being compensated or receiving academic credit, fellowships, scholarships, stipends, or vouchers for their summer work, the hours may be counted. However, if you completed hours above and beyond the hours for which you received academic credit or other compensation, then you may count the additional hours. For example, if a student works for the public defenders office as an extern and receives 3 academic credits (working a total of 150 hours), but actually works 200 total hours, this student may count 50 hours towards their C.A.R.E. Pledge hours.

Can clinic hours be used towards Public Service Pledge hours?

No. Since students are already receiving academic credit for their work, and there is no way to quantify the exact number of clinical hours done, we do not allow students to count any of their clinic hours towards the C.A.R.E. Pledge program.