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Campus News
'Nonprofit Initiatives at CC' Provides Lessons in Leadership
Maddi Schink ’23 attends a meeting held by the Career Center's Nonprofit Initiatives program in Tutt Library. Schink and other students participating in the program discuss their progress and next steps. Photo by Patil Khakhamian ’22.
Nonprofit Initiatives at Colorado College was launched in the fall of 2019, with eight CC students taking a seat on the board of directors at three separate area nonprofits. The nonprofit sector is one of the fastest-growing in the country, with approximately 12.3 million jobs in the workforce. “We believe it’s important for students to understand the purpose, impact, and opportunities this sector provides,” says Assistant Professor of Economics and Business Kat Miller-Stevens. Miller-Stevens and Director of CC’s Public Interest Fellowship Program and Nonprofit Initiatives Cari Hanrahan oversee the program. The two share a mutual passion for engaging students in experiential learning opportunities in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors.
“The NPI serves as the primary bridge between the CC student experience and the Colorado Springs nonprofit community, with our local nonprofits and philanthropic institutions greatly benefitting from the depth and breadth of viewpoints, experiences, skills, and knowledge that CC students have to offer,” says Heather Carroll ’89, a member of CC’s Board of Trustees and president and executive director of the Joseph Henry Edmondson Foundation, which is funding the Nonprofit Initiatives at Colorado College program.
The three nonprofits and the CC students on their board of directors are:
Creek Week Steering Committee:
Maitland Robinson ’21 Jennifer Lam ’22 Maddie Perigaut ’23 James Hanafee ’22 Katie Wang ’22
Downtown YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region Advisory Board:
Maddi Schink ’23
Mountain Song Community School Board: Jamyoung Dorji ’19, MAT ’20
Laurel Sullivan ’20
CC Named a 2019-20 Top Producer of Fulbrights
CC has been named a Fulbright top-producing institution for the 2019-20 grant year and has gone on to have 11 Fulbright semifinalists for the 2020-21 grant year, with more than half of CC’s 19 Fulbright applicants, or 58%, advancing to semifinalist status. CC’s 2020- 21 Fulbright semifinalists are:
• Emma Carlson ’20, University of Sheffield study award in medical sciences, United
Kingdom • Kenneth Crossley ’19, research award in materials science, Spain • Spencer Daigle ’20, English teaching assistant award, Russia • Allison Gish ’20, English teaching assistant award, Czech Republic • Natalie Gubbay ’20, research award in economics, Argentina • Bita Kavoosi ’20, research award in international relations, China • Daniel Lopez ’19, research award in ethnomusicology, Indonesia • Charlotte Majercik ’20, English teaching assistant award, Nepal • Sarah Pokelwaldt ’20, research award in biology, Panama • Willa Serling ’20, research award in public health, Indonesia • Naomi Tsai ’19, study award in marine biology, New Zealand
Being named a Fulbright top-producer is based on the four Colorado College grantees awarded in Spring 2019 and who were in the field during the 2019-20 academic year. They are:
• Beka Adair ’16, research award in economic development, Kyrgyz Republic • Claire Derry ’19, English teaching assistant,
Moldova • Camilla Fuller ’19, English teaching assistant, Thailand • Amanda Martin ’19, research award in biology, South Africa
DISCOVER MORE ONLINE
To read about our students’ Fulbrights and other awards, go to: coloradocollege.
edu/newsevents/newsroom/awards
Finalists Pitch Ideas, Earn Seed Money at Big Idea Event
Prakhar Gautam ’20 of Infinite Chemistry presents with his team during the final pitch presentations of the Big Idea 2020 at Celeste Theatre. Photo by Jennifer Coombes
Four 2020 Big Idea finalists presented their venture ideas in late February at CC’s Big Idea competition, now in its eighth year. Receiving $7,500 in seed funding to continue to develop their ideas were:
Noah Weeks ’20, Benedict Wright ’20, and Kobi Bhattacharyya ’20 for Journalista, a community marketplace connecting journalists directly with readers in order to promote the ideals of robust local reporting and ethical journalism.
Lauren Weiss ’21, Melissa LaFehr ’20, Sara Hanahan ’21, and Maddi Schink ’23 for Geek Girl, which works to close the gender gap in technology by identifying young girls who have taken an interest in computer science and providing them with mentorship opportunities to maintain their enthusiasm for technology.
Tony Mastromarino ’23, Saigopal Rangaraj ’23, and James Dollard ’22 for MemorMe, an app based upon the premise that objects are often homes for our memories and feelings. This app uses psychological association to ensure that memories outlive their physical shells by providing them with a new digital home.
Prakhar Gautam ’20, Paul Price ’20, Cameron MacDonald ’20, Tian Lee ’20, and Pietro Giacomin ’20 for Infinite Chemistry, software that allows users to import molecules from any online chemical database and manipulate them in virtual reality, providing an opportunity to get data on the molecules’ symmetry and observe molecules interacting and reacting in real time.
CC’s Big Idea competition, part of Creativity & Innovation at Colorado College, invites groups of students to develop new, innovative ideas and pitch their proposals in front of local investors for seed funding in a traditional business-pitch format. This year saw a new format, with student teams competing before a panel of judges in the semifinal round for four spots in the final event.
Students Elected to Leadership Positions
Five CC students were elected to leadership positions for the 2020-21 academic year. Four were elected to the Colorado College Student Government Association and one was elected a student trustee. Elected are: Sakina Bhatti ’22, CCSGA student body president; Sophie Cardin ’22, CCSGA vice president of outreach; Lilly Davis ’22, CCSGA vice president of finance; Anusha Khanal ’21, CCSGA vice president of inclusion; and Elliott Williams ’21, student trustee. Additionally, Saluja Siwakoti ’21 will continue as vice president of student life and Ian Roberson ’21 as vice president of internal affairs, as their terms run through the end of the 2020 Fall Semester.
Wait a Sec: What Did That Sign Say?
Driving to or from Colorado College through Ohio? Don’t be surprised if you see a section of roadway signs that say “Governor Richard F. Celeste Highway.” Former CC President Richard Celeste, the college’s 12th president who served from 2002-11, had a portion of I-90 west of Cleveland, Ohio, dedicated to him in November 2019 in tribute to his “long and distinguished career as a public servant.” Celeste served as a state representative, lieutenant governor, and then governor of Ohio from the 1970s to 1991. He also served as U.S. ambassador to India (1997-2001) and director of the Peace Corps (1979-81).
Design Thinking in Healthcare
Author Ibram X. Kendi Speaks on Campus
PHOTO BY ANDY COLWELL
Ibram X. Kendi, historian and New York Times-bestselling author of multiple books, including “How to Be an Antiracist,” visited campus in February. He met for a conversation with a group of students (pictured) gathered by Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Arabic Ammar Naji and Professor of Comparative Literature Bill Davis; many of the students were enrolled in Naji and Davis’ Block 5 class, Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity. Kendi also attended a faculty and staff reception before giving a public talk titled “How to Be an Antiracist Institution.” “To be antiracist is simultaneously to recognize sameness of people genetically while acknowledging and respecting their ethnic/cultural differences without bringing judgment from our own ethnic/cultural framework,” he told the full-house audience in the Kathryn Mohrman Theatre. “It is critical to hold yourself accountable and to create mechanisms and structures through which others can hold you accountable as well.”
PHOTO BY JENNIFER COOMBES
Dr. Bon Ku, a practicing emergency medicine physician and director of the Health Design Lab at Thomas Jefferson University, created the first design thinking program at a medical school. Ku held a lecture and question-and-answer session in early March, followed by a convergence class the next day. The class included students from Amanda Bowman’s Advanced Inorganic Chemistry class, Kristin Moore’s Molecular Biology class, and Rachel Paupeck’s Art Studio class. Ku’s program tackles healthcare inequalities as a form of social justice and teaches future physicians to apply human-centered design to healthcare challenges. The lecture and convergence class workshop were sponsored by Creativity & Innovation at CC.
Future of the West Debated at Symposium
PHOTO BY JENNIFER COOMBES
State of the Rockies Project Faculty Director Corina McKendry, far left, moderates an expert panel on the future of public lands during the 2020 Future of the West Symposium, held in late February. Panelists include Maite Arce, president of the Hispanic Access Foundation; Len Necefer, founder of Natives Outdoors; Collin O’Mara, president of the National Wildlife Foundation; and Jennifer Rokala, executive at the Center for Western Priorities. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock delivered the opening keynote address, and New Mexico Sen. Tom Udall gave the closing keynote address, titled “A ‘Quiet Crisis’ No More: Conservation and Climate Change in the West.” Results of the 10th annual bipartisan Conservation in the West Poll also were released.
FACULTY UPDATES
Six Faculty Members Awarded Tenure; Four Granted Emeriti Status
Following the board’s annual February meeting, six Colorado College faculty members were approved by the Board of Trustees for tenure and promotion to associate professor, effective July 1. CC President Jill Tiefenthaler, Provost Alan Townsend, and Dean of the Faculty Claire Oberon Garcia visited each promoted faculty member, congratulating them and bestowing a gift. Faculty promoted and granted tenure are:
• Rebecca Barnes, Environmental Studies • Amanda Bowman, Chemistry and Biochemistry • Elizabeth Coggins, Political Science • Kevin Holmes, Psychology • Pamela Reaves, Religion • Christiane Steckenbiller, German, Russian, and East Asian Languages
Additionally, the trustees awarded emeriti status to four professors who are retiring at the end of the academic year. Between them, they have 131 years of teaching at CC:
• Victoria Levine, Professor Emerita of Music; started in 1988 • David Hendrickson ’76, Professor Emeritus of Political Science; started in 1983 • Jeff Noblett, Professor Emeritus of Geology; started in 1980 • Dave Mason ’78, Professor Emeritus of English; started in 1998
Rebecca Barnes Receives Major NSF Grant for Carbon Watershed Research
Dean of the Faculty Claire Oberon Garcia, President Jill Tiefenthaler, Christiane Steckenbiller, of the German, Russian, and East Asian Languages Department, and Provost Alan Townsend. Photo by Andy Colwell
PHOTO BY JENNIFER COOMBES
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Rebecca Barnes has received an $849,234 CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation for a project titled “The Legacy of Wildfire on Carbon Watershed Biogeochemistry.” The highly prestigious award, from NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development Program, is CC’s first CAREER grant. Her project aims to understand how severe fire alters the movement and fate of carbon from land to water over multiple timescales and forest types. The five-year award, which begins in May, will provide a multitude of research opportunities for students both within and outside the classroom.
Manya Whitaker, Jake Eichengreen Receive Mayor’s Young Leader Awards
Associate Professor of Education Manya Whitaker and Jake Eichengreen, executive director of the Quad Innovation Partnership, were recognized by Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers in December with Mayor’s Young Leader Awards. Whitaker’s emphasis on educational equity and social justice in her courses and her leadership on nonprofit boards were cited in her win in the Education category. Eichengreen, who has doubled the size of the four-school collaborative Quad Innovation Partnership, won in the Community and Economic Impact category. Tony Rosendo ’02, CC trustee and president and CEO at the Lane Foundation, and Zac Chapman ’13 of Colorado Springs Food Rescue, were finalists for the Community and Economic Impact category.
FACULTY UPDATES
Lynne Gratz Named Lead Principal Investigator on $1.6 Million NSF Grant
PHOTO BY SCOTT MAJORS
Idris Goodwin Named Director of the Fine Arts Center
Idris Goodwin, an accomplished playwright, poet, director, educator, and organizer, has been named the next director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, effective May 1, 2020. He will lead strategic direction and manage operations for the FAC, serving both Colorado College and the Colorado Springs community.
Goodwin, who most recently worked as producing artistic director of Stage One Family Theater in Louisville, Kentucky, has strong connections to the Colorado Springs and Denver arts communities. He taught for six years in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Colorado College. During that time, he wrote plays and poetry, directed, and performed at the Fine Arts Center; CC; University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and its Gallery of Contemporary Art; Colorado Springs Philharmonic; on 91.5 KRCC’s “Critical Karaoke”; and in Denver at Denver Center Theatre, Curious Theatre Company, and MCA Denver.
“During my time as a professor at Colorado College, I engaged with the Fine Arts Center in many ways, from co-planning a hip-hop festival, to teaching classes, to receiving an award, to wandering its galleries lost in inspiration,” Goodwin says. “The Fine Arts Center is a bridge between the campus and community, with great potential to be the defining multidisciplinary arts space of the 21st-century West.”
PHOTO BY JENNIFER COOMBES
Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Lynne Gratz is the lead principal investigator on a $1.6 million, multi-institution National Science Foundation grant. The research project, a collaboration between Colorado College, Utah State University, University of Colorado Boulder, and University of Utah, will focus on the chemistry of atmospheric mercury, a hazardous air pollutant of both local and global importance. The project will develop improved methods for measuring oxidized mercury and then utilize the measurement system at the Storm Peak Laboratory in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. CC’s portion of the grant, $254,471, will support two student researchers each in the summer of 2021 and 2022, as well as Gratz’s participation in the fieldwork and data analysis over the next three years.
From Building on the Block to Exploring the Planet
CC Wishes President Jill Tiefenthaler P'21, P'24 Bon Voyage
By Valerie Hanna ’18
President Jill Tiefenthaler meets with a student during her open office hours in February 2017. Photo by Jennifer Coombes
The end of President Jill Tiefenthaler’s nine-year tenure at Colorado College has taken an unexpected turn.
On Jan. 14, Tiefenthaler announced her Aug. 1 departure to serve as the chief executive officer of the National Geographic Society, assuring sustained momentum in current initiatives, and reflecting on her time serving as president, which she described as “the greatest honor and joy of my long career in higher education.” In recent months, teamwork and engagement have taken on a new meaning for Tiefenthaler and the CC community.
As concerns around the Coronavirus heightened, Tiefenthaler and her leadership team made the difficult decisions to switch to distance learning for Blocks 7 and 8 and summer classes to minimize the spread of the virus. But the president is just as committed to the CC community as ever before as she finishes her final few months with the college. Tiefenthaler’s leadership has resulted in record fundraising achievements, increased community involvement, sustained expansion of campus resources, and access initiatives designed to serve dynamic, highpromise learners.
Tiefenthaler’s expertise on the economics of higher education has taken her across the country and the globe to speak on the topic. She has implemented transformative changes in financial aid and admission to increase access at CC, including the Colorado Pledge, Stroud Scholars, and the new test-optional admission policy. These impressive initiatives are backed by countless hours of community discussion and collaboration. “Jill is one of the great listeners I’ve met. She gathers all viewpoints and uses them to inform her decisions, and made the effort with alumni of all ages. I feel so grateful for her dedication and connection,” says Chris Schluter ’65.
YEAR ONE AND BEYOND Tiefenthaler dedicated her first year at the college to soliciting input, which she called her “Year of Listening.” This ultimately yielded “Building on the Block,” CC’s strategic plan. Reflecting on the many changes Tiefenthaler brought to life during her tenure, Director and Associate Professor of Feminist & Gender Studies Heidi Lewis says, “I shook up the campus in so many ways alongside Jill Tiefenthaler and most often with her support. And we’ve disagreed, laughed together, and lots in between. She’s been an incredible mentor, and I’m glad I got to bear witness and help move the needle.”
Tiefenthaler also experienced the Block Plan firsthand as a professor, co-teaching each year with her husband, College Research Professor Kevin Rask. Students who took their upper-level Economics of Higher Education course attended field trips to University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak Community College, the Colorado Department of Higher Education, and the State Capitol to learn from experts in the field and better understand public, private, and community college stakes in higher education.
“As a professor, she encouraged us to ask difficult questions and facilitated an exciting and fast-paced classroom environment,”
Ted Sulger ’84, P’19
reflects student trustee Lily Weissgold ’20, who took Tiefenthaler and Rask’s course her junior year. That year, Weissgold also attended the COP-24 climate conference with Professor Mark Smith’s Economics of International Climate Policy course, along with Tiefenthaler, Provost Alan Townsend, Director of Sustainability Ian Johnson, and trustees Marc St. John ’80, P’17 and Kishen Mangat ’96 in Katowice, Poland. “Part of what makes Jill so phenomenal is her connection to students both in and outside of the classroom,” says Weissgold. “She cares about so many issues, but most importantly, she cares about people, about learning as a community.”
Student engagement has always taken priority for Tiefenthaler. She hosted regular open office hours and a President’s Council that met each block to discuss key issues for students on campus, in addition to attending countless athletics competitions, plays, music, and arts performances, and many other student events. She could even be found at Tutt Library handing out study snacks during fourth week. “CC students are inspiring. They’re imaginative, hardworking, and funny. It’s been a true privilege to get to know them,” says Tiefenthaler.
FROM RURAL IOWA TO THE NATION’S CAPITOL One of four children in her family, Tiefenthaler grew up on a popcorn farm in rural Iowa. She learned the importance of partnership and hard work early on, doing her chores on the farm and showing her two younger siblings the ropes. Tiefenthaler discovered her passion for economics while attending Saint Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana. After earning her M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Duke University, Tiefenthaler joined the faculty of Colgate University in 1991, where she served as professor, department chair, associate dean of the faculty, and senior adviser to the president. She then served as provost and professor of economics at Wake Forest University, and joined CC in 2011.
For Weissgold, Tiefenthaler’s move to the National Geographic Society is fitting. “At National Geographic, Jill will continue to push the envelope further on sustainability and equity issues, while connecting communities.”
The National Geographic Society’s mission is to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. National Geographic identifies and supports dynamic explorers — scientists, innovators, educators, storytellers, youth — and educates and engages a global audience through classroom resources, museum exhibits, events, and social, film, and printed media. As CEO, Tiefenthaler will create a strategic plan, head fundraising, and lead the Society’s team to execute the plan, as she has done at Colorado College. Tiefenthaler plans to approach this process as she did at CC; by listening and learning first.
Townsend will serve as CC’s interim president during the college’s search for the next president, and Dean of the Faculty Claire Oberon Garcia P’07 will assume the role of interim provost during that time.
“It’s been a challenging semester, but this community has come together to learn and grow time and time again,” says Tiefenthaler. “I’m confident that the next president will bring new ideas and perspectives to ensure a promising future for CC.”
For the Colorado College community, Tiefenthaler’s move is undeniably bittersweet.
“Jill captured the energy, the here and now urgency that prevails in the Block Plan at Colorado College the minute she arrived on campus. Her efforts have ensured the college [will have] an enviable and bright future going forward,” says Ted Sulger ’84, P’19.
“More than anything, I’ll miss her warm smile and friendship,” says Gordon Aoyagi ’67.
But it’s only goodbye for now; both of Tiefenthaler’s and Rask’s children, Owen and Olivia, are CC Tigers, so their ties to the college will remain strong.
“We’re so excited to come back as CC parents,” says Tiefenthaler. “This is an incredible community, and one that we’re grateful to be a part of throughout our lives.”
Major Initiatives 2011-2020
Through President Jill Tiefenthaler’s leadership, the college has achieved significant advances and further strengthened its ties with the community. Major accomplishments and initiatives include:
■ Becoming a carbon-neutral institution of higher education — only the eighth in North America and the first in the Rocky Mountain region, to achieve this goal.
■ The envisioning and construction of the Ed Robson Arena, part of the City for Champions partnership. The arena will be a multipurpose, state-of-the-art, sustainable sporting event venue that will benefit both the college and the City of Colorado Springs.
■ Construction of the East Campus Housing Community, with housing for 154 students and buildings named for notable CC alumni.
■ Increasing access to a college education through three initiatives: The Colorado Pledge, a pilot program designed to ensure Colorado College is as affordable for Colorado students from low- and middle-income families as the state’s flagship public university; a test-optional admission policy, in which applicants can choose whether or not to submit standardized test scores, such as the SAT or ACT; and the Stroud Scholars Program, a three-year program aimed at providing a pathway to college for high-promise students from communities historically excluded from higher education.
■ Persistently and effectively advancing the college’s ongoing effort to become an antiracist institution.
■ Construction of the expanded and renovated Charles L. Tutt Library, the largest academic library to be a carbon-neutral, net-zero energy facility and the recipient of numerous awards.
■ The announcement in 2016 of an alliance with the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, with the organization becoming the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College the following year. The alliance provides innovative, educational, and multidisciplinary arts experiences for the campus and Colorado Springs communities.
■ Construction of the Adam F. Press Fitness Center and renovation of El Pomar Sports Center, used by campus and community members.
■ The launch and continued participation in the Quad Inno vation Partnership, a joint initiative among four institutions of higher education in Colorado Springs, which serves the immediate needs of area businesses and organizations while offering professional development opportunities to students and recent graduates.
■ Unparalleled fundraising success through the Building on Originality campaign and successfully driving increases in resources for faculty and students, increasing the diversity of the faculty and student body, and selectivity in admission.
■ The creation of Creativity & Innovation at Colorado College, which oversees The Big Idea competition in which students receive seed money to develop venture projects.
■ The renovation of many campus buildings, including South Hall, Cutler Hall, and the William I. Spencer Center.
