Bulletin | Winter 2021/22
Honoring Kelley Dolphus Stroud ’31 One of CC’s First Black Alumni, Premier Athlete, Entrepreneur, and the Enduring Legacy of the Stroud Family
www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
1
Bulletin
| Winter 2021/22
F E AT U R E S
14 The Enduring Block Plan 20 Priddy Experience Sticks Close to Home 32 Get to Know Claire Oberon Garcia
ON THE COVER: Kelley Dolphus Stroud ’31, a prolific scholar, elite athlete, Olympic competitor, and member of CC’s Athletic Hall of Fame, is honored in the Kelley Dolphus Stroud ’31 Club Level on the fourth floor of CC’s Ed Robson Arena. The Stroud family legacy is celebrated on commemorative columns, one on the east side and the other on the west side of the club level, and can be viewed during arena events and regular business hours.
D E PA R T M E N T S Letters to the Editor...........................................2 The President’s Message...............................3 Campus News............................................................4 Our Path to Antiracism.............................. 10 Because of CC......................................................... 12 Insider View............................................................. 13 On The Scene.......................................................... 22 Athletics........................................................................ 24 Alumni Activities.............................................. 25 Class Notes................................................................ 26 Milestones.................................................................. 28 Bookshelf..................................................................... 31
First Look 2
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
Dancers rehearse for the Dance Workshop “Have Mercy: The Comeback” in Kathryn Mohrman Theatre in early December. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III.
www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
1
LE
Bulletin
Letters to the Editor
| Winter 2021/22 Ed. Note: This letter has been edited for length. Read it in its entirety at https://2cc.co/winter2022letters.
General Series 610, Bulletin Series 516 A publication for alumni, parents, and friends. REACH OUT TO THE BULLETIN We’d like to hear from you! The Colorado College Bulletin is distributed to alumni, parents, and friends, and seeks to portray the people, experiences, and topics that best reflect a CC education. We welcome your comments, feedback, items of interest, class notes, letters to the editor, story suggestions, etc. Send to: bulletin@coloradocollege.edu, or Bulletin/Communications, Colorado College, 14 E. Cache La Poudre St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3294 CC Connections: Have you unexpectedly encountered a fellow Tiger somewhere in the world? Let us know! Class notes, obituaries, weddings and celebrations, births and adoptions: Information submitted should be for the current or previous year only. Please send digital photos (JPGs at 300 dpi and minimum of 3.5 x 5 inches) or prints at a similar size. Information should include the location, date, and circumstance, and people in the photo should be identified from left to right. For information: (719) 389-6603 Vice President for Communications Jane Turnis
Photographer & Photo Editor Lonnie Timmons III
Assistant Vice President for Communications Stephanie Wurtz
Copy Editing Jen Kulier Helen Richardson Rhonda Van Pelt
Assistant Vice President for Communications/Creative Director & Design Felix A. Sanchez ’93 Editor Leslie Weddell Production & Editing Brenda Gillen
Contributing Writers Kirsten Akens ’96 Jessi Burns ’06 Claire Oberon Garcia Katie Grant ’92 Jeremy Jones Caryn Maconi Doug McPherson Joe Paisley Jane Turnis Leslie Weddell
THE COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN (122-860) is published four times per calendar year by Colorado College, 14 E. Cache La Poudre St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3294. PERIODICALS postage paid at Colorado Springs 80901-9998 and at additional offices. The Bulletin also is available online at coloradocollege.edu/ bulletin. To stop receiving a printed copy, email bulletin@ coloradocollege.edu and let us know. POSTMASTER: Please send ADDRESS CHANGES to Colorado College Bulletin, Alumni Records, 14 E. Cache La Poudre St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3294.
2
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
I’m reading through the Colorado College Summer Bulletin and am gobsmacked to realize I am within days of hitting 50 years since I left Oregon to embrace Colorado College and its groundbreaking/unusual/weird Block Plan, then only in its second year. Today I am overwhelmed by memories. I am struck for the millionth time that I didn’t learn anything at CC. Make that I didn’t learn any THING. Rather, I learned to think. I watch “Jeopardy” regularly and I’m depressed at how few questions I can answer — oops, I mean how many answers I can question. Where do these people put all this information? My brain is full of process. There is little room for factoids. “What if…” still drives me. I am struck by President L. Song Richardson’s first article in the Bulletin, where she refers to Professor Emeritus Glenn Brooks explaining that “the Block Plan wasn’t something that was fully conceived when it began — they just jumped in, tried things out, and improvised.” I am convinced that the Block Plan’s immersion theory of education actually better prepared me for real life than a traditional college curriculum would have. Life is immersion. Another article in the Bulletin features Assistant Professor Natanya Pulley as she used collages to create her way through the worst of the pandemic. She looks for “anything that gives me a chance to fail and start over or try new things.” She embraces what she calls “low-stakes processes” where being able to work with “whims and half-baked ideas is a gift we can always give to ourselves and one another.” This is also the message of the Block Plan. Jump in, try things out, improvise, embrace whims and half-baked ideas. Who knows what our ovens will produce?
I attended CC in the late 1960s. I’m “senior” and on my way out. But I have a 6-year-old granddaughter. When I read between the lines of the new president’s message, and some of the accompanying articles in the most recent issue, I have to wonder whether the college has lost a view of its primary mission. I have always thought that the primary mission is to teach the students skills of critical thinking that will enrich the rest of their lives and the lives of those with whom they work in their careers. What I read suggests an emphasis on what I would describe as social engineering — inculcating an objective that has nothing to do with critical thinking, but rather focuses
Winter 2021/22
A painting by Donna (Dwigans/Liewer) Cohen in 1975
I visited the college a few years ago and was enthralled to visit Packard Hall. It was constructed the year after I graduated; unlike today’s senior art majors, my own art studio had been my dorm room in Montgomery Hall. What a change since I studied painting with Jim Trissel and Bernard Arnest and printmaking with Mary Chenoweth! I introduced myself to the student security guard and announced proudly, “Class of ’75.” She was polite but looked at me as if I was really old, and I suddenly realized I sort of am. I have had a dynamic and unpredictable lifetime, longer than some of my peers, built on the values that were explored and concretized at CC. I jumped in, I tried things out. I made mistakes, learned new things, and have tried to nudge our world to be a bit kinder than it was when I first became a grownup at CC. I read the Bulletin and shake my head in delight at how many women are college administrators, at CC’s carbon-neutral commitment, at the fresh new faces of the young people who will become themselves in this new Class of 2025. Has it really been 50 years? DONNA (DWIGANS/LIEWER) COHEN ’75
on outcomes that, in the current-day vernacular, embody “equity,” “diversity,” “equality,” and, in an overriding sense, not achievement, excellence, or intellectual accomplishment, but indoctrination in a preferred imagination of the state of the world. This seems like the antithesis of critical thinking. In fact, it preempts that very essence of education. If CC is to remain true to its spirit of innovation, it appears there is an opportunity to return to the roots of the educational mission, resist the pressure of a social agenda, and stand tall once again. RICK BERLET ’68
The President’s Message: How can we do what we do better?
PM
Dear Alumni, Parents, and Friends,
IN JUST OVER SIX MONTHS AT COLORADO COLLEGE,
I have learned that community is everything.
We felt joy in the air as students, faculty, and staff gathered on Tava Quad for Opening Convocation on the first day of classes. That day — the beginning of a new academic year — is no doubt meaningful every year. However, after months of lockdown and virtual interactions due to the pandemic, we came together on dewy grass, shaded our eyes under the magnificent Colorado sun, heard inspiring speeches, and started our year together. It was magical. Since then, I’ve seen that the rhythm and hum of CC centers on engaging with one another. It’s in a heated but collegial class debate and in laughter from students in hammocks on the quad. It’s in a captivated audience taking in the dynamic moves and energy of Dance Workshop performers and in cheering on our myriad sports teams. The connections made while studying in Tutt Library, over lunch in Rastall Café, supporting one another in faculty and staff meetings, or while making music in Packard Hall are our lifeblood. Of course, it helps that CC students are magnetic. They pull together, find their passions, and share them in a way that draws you in as well. I’ve had fabulous discussions with our CC Student Government Association, the student leaders in President’s Council, student-athletes, student Title IX leaders, our esports teams, and CC EMS, among many others. While this connecting seems to happen organically, this year we are also intentionally engaging to explore a big question: How can we do what we do better? Under the coordination of Professor and former Dean Susan Ashley, groups are meeting across campus to consider ways this already great institution can be even better. This effort, called Project 2024, will determine the “what” this year, the “how” next year, and, in 2024, we will do it. Fifty-one years ago, our faculty, staff, and students innovated in a similar manner, and the Block Plan was born. Then, the question was about how we could teach better. The Block Plan used time — and faculty dedication — to create an immersive, supportive, and expansive education, centered on our core, the liberal arts. Our classes have been riffing on that, stretching the possibilities and flexibility within that framework, ever since. I’m excited to ponder the possible “what” of Project 2024. Will it be about time, attention, and how we spend it? Access? Inclusion? Social justice? Mental health? The environment?
Colorado College President L. Song Richardson greets incoming students on Washburn Field during Fall 2021 New Student Orientation. Photo by Gray Warrior.
Some innovation we haven’t even dreamed of yet? With CC’s great, creative minds and a connected community, anything is possible. As themes and ideas bubble up, we will plan ways in which alumni, families, and friends can engage in and further this important work. While coming together now involves masks and distancing, this is a community that feels it is worth it. Requiring vaccinations, COVID tests, and masks allowed us to bring alumni and families to campus in October for a beautiful Homecoming and Family Weekend. Under those same protocols, Tigers fans cheer in the new Ed Robson Arena, choirs sing, and most important, classes gather for life-changing teaching, learning, and sharing. I am grateful to all who have worked so hard to make that possible. The CC community is strong, caring, and far-reaching. Alumni tell me they bump into other CC grads wearing their “Colorado College” apparel in airports, on hiking trails, in cities, and even on remote islands. Even if one graduate is from the Class of 2021 and another is from the Class of 1972, there’s an immediate rapport, and probably a good conversation to be had. That’s CC’s community. It is here, it is spread across this globe, and it is a force for good. I am thrilled to be part of it. Sincerely,
L. SONG RICHARDSON,
President
www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
3
Campus News
CN
LONNIE TIMMONS III
By Leslie Weddell
15 Graduates Celebrated at Winter Commencement
ZAK KROGER
CC celebrated 15 graduates at its Winter Commencement on Dec. 19 in Shove Memorial Chapel, with President L. Song Richardson welcoming the students and bestowing their degrees upon them. Assistant Professor of Sociology Florencia Rojo gave the Commencement address, titled “Cultivating Hope: Community Care in Challenging Times.”
Mike Edmonds Receives Lifetime Forensic Achievement Award Senior Vice President Mike Edmonds has been named the 2021 recipient of the Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha Lifetime Achievement Award. Although the American Forensic Association assists with the award, Edmonds, who has been involved in competitive speech for most of his life, was selected by previous award winners.
4
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
Ann Van Horn ’85, P’25 New SMF Assistant Director Ann Van Horn ’85 has been named the new assistant director for the Summer Music Festival. Van Horn earned a bachelor’s degree in French literature at CC and a master’s degree from Claremont Graduate University in educational studies in higher education, focusing on critical whiteness studies. Van Horn has served as the associate registrar (1996-2000) and assistant dean/director of Summer Session (2000-16) at Colorado College. The Summer Music Festival, now in its 36th year, runs June 5-25.
CN
Campus News
GRAY WARR9IOR
Get to Know the Class of 2025
New Names, Faces, and Visual Works Recipients of various CC communications, including emails, videos, social media messaging, and the Bulletin, may notice a range of new works. New to CC Communications are Jessi Burns ’06, Julia Fuller, and Lonnie Timmons III.
628
Colorado College welcomed 628 incoming members of the Class of 2025 and 26 transfer students in August 2021. Students participated in a range of orientation activities, including discussing the Common Read book, “No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black & Free in America” by Darnell Moore, and taking part in the service-oriented Priddy Trips (see story, pp. 20-21).
10,969 14%
The incoming class was selected from 10,969 applicants (the most in CC’s history) and had a 14% admit rate. For the eighth year in a row, more than a quarter of the incoming class self-identify as students of color (28%) and 7% are international students. In the last decade, the population of students of color and international students has increased by more than 60%, while 10% of this year’s incoming class are first in their families to attend college.
44 29 62
The class features 44 QuestBridge students, 29 gap-semester students, and 62 gap-year students. CC has been partnering with QuestBridge, a nonprofit organization that matches high-achieving, underserved students with opportunities in higher education, since 2013. The Northeast and West regions of the U.S. are equally represented, with 22.6 % of incoming students hailing from each of those areas; 19.3% of the incoming class comes from Colorado; 15.8% from the South; and 12.4% from the Midwest.
27/50/55 PERCENT
Additionally, 27% of the class participated in tutoring/mentoring in their communities, while more than 50% of students held a job during the past year, and 55% were involved in some type of serviceoriented project.
94%
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic changed the educational landscape for most members of the class: 94% learned either completely virtually/ remotely or using some version of hybrid learning their senior year of high school. In addition, many helped to make life better for others during the pandemic. Among the incoming class are students who: •
Founded an organization that donated 10,000 masks to lowerresourced communities
•
Started an online tutoring service for disadvantaged youth in “connectivity deserts”
•
Established a food bank that reached more than 4,000 households
•
Started a social media platform to connect isolated students during the lockdowns
•
Worked in a mask factory in their hometown
•
Taught themselves to code, then started a remote job as a software engineer developing software to track Coronavirus cases.
Learn more about the Class of 2025 online at https://2cc.co/welcome2025.
As the college’s content and social media manager, Burns, who joined the staff in July 2021, manages the college’s overall social media plan and strategy. A CC anthropology major with a focus on archaeology, she later earned an M.S. in communications from Pepperdine University, where she studied mass media, rhetoric, and social change. Fuller joined the Communications team as the video producer in August 2021. Originally from Oakland, California, she earned her B.A. in cognitive psychology from Barnard College and her MFA in film and media arts from Temple University. She lived for many years in Chicago, shooting, editing, and crewing on narrative and documentary films. Fuller’s short films have won awards and screened both nationally and internationally at festivals, conferences, and in curricula. Timmons, whose background is in metropolitan daily newspapers, joined the team as photographer and photo editor in September 2021, after working at a university in Nevada. Originally from Maryland, Timmons has lived and worked in the South, Midwest, Northwest, and West, and is the recipient of numerous photography awards. Timmons’ work has been published in a variety of magazines,
CC Earns Gold Rating for Sustainability Colorado College has earned a STARS Gold rating in recognition of its sustainability achievements from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The college tied for first place in water conservation, reuse, use reduction, and rainwater management (the third year CC was named a top performer in this category), and was seventh in air and climate, which measures greenhouse gas emissions assessment and mitigation and outdoor air quality. CC also received a gold rating in data accuracy and made the STARS Gold list. CC, the first institution in the Rocky Mountain region to become carbon neutral, was awarded its first Gold rating in 2015 by STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System that measures and encourages sustainability in all aspects of higher education. www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
5
Campus News
CN
Faculty News Kris Stanec New Faculty Fellow in Creativity & Innovation
In Fall 2021, Colorado College welcomed 13 new faculty members, including Cory Scott ’13, and a returning Riley Scholar-in-Residence. New faculty members at CC include: •
Jiun Bang, Political Science
•
Angela Castro, Spanish and Portuguese
•
Nickie Coomer, Education
•
Meredith Course, Molecular Biology
•
Marcela Fernández-Peters, Psychology
•
Charlotte Gabrielsen, Environmental Studies Program
•
Luis David Garcia Puente, Mathematics and Computer Science
•
Michelle Gevedon, Geology
•
Minho Kim, Mathematics and Computer Science
•
Eryn Murphy, Human Biology and Kinesiology
•
Cory Scott ’13, Mathematics and Computer Science
•
Brandon Shimoda, English
•
Guanyi Yang, Economics and Business
Additionally, CC has a returning Riley Scholar-inResidence: Ahmad Alswaid, Arabic, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies
ESME STANEC
CC Welcomes 13 New Faculty Members, One Returning Riley Scholar
Kris Stanec ’88, MAT ’89 has been named the 2021-22 Faculty Fellow in Creativity & Innovation. Most recently the director of education at the Colorado College Fine Arts Center’s museum, Stanec utilizes arts integration when teaching, citing the capacity for the arts to pull people into conversations, engage them in learning, and increase access to content. “I believe that part of the culture at CC encourages people to try new things,” she says. In her new position, Stanec works with faculty and students across disciplines. “I spend time with professors to converse about their course goals; then we work together to construct a creative component that aligns with their objectives,” she says.
Luis David Garcia Puente Named AMS Fellow Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Luis David Garcia Puente has been invited to join the 2022 class of Fellows of the American Mathematical Society. He is one of 45 mathematical scientists from around the world to have been named an AMS fellow for 2022, and one of only nine AMS fellows in Colorado.
LONNIE TIMMONS III
KATIE KLANN
LONNIE TIMMONS III
Read their full biographies at https://2cc.co/2021-newfaculty.
Emily Chan, Pedro de Araujo Named Deans Two new deans have been appointed by CC President L. Song Richardson: Professor of Psychology Emily Chan has been named dean of the faculty, and Associate Professor of Economics Pedro de Araujo has been named dean of the college. They assumed their new roles on Jan. 3. Chan (above, left), as dean of the faculty, is responsible for faculty and academic endeavors, supporting faculty and academic staff as teachers and scholars. She is director of the Bridge Scholars Program and served as associate dean of academic programs and strategic initiatives from 2014-18. De Araujo (above, right), as dean of the college, is responsible for the student academic experience, which includes curricular and co-curricular matters, and other college-related business. Most recently de Araujo served as vice provost of the college.
6
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
Lisa Marie Rollins’s $7,500 Grant Further Develops Groundbreaking Play Assistant Professor of Acting and Directing Lisa Marie Rollins (above, far right) received a $7,500 grant from the Zellerbach Family Foundation to support the continued development of her new play, “Love Is Another Country.” The play follows three women as they navigate living in a country — the United States — that claims to love Black women. Rollins conducted a four-day workshop in December to further the development of the script and explore the ancestral aspects of the play. The workshop was held in collaboration with the Colorado College Fine Arts Center, and was supported by the Zellerbach grant, as well as by CC’s Crown Faculty Center through its Manuscript Workshop initiative.
Campus News
LONNIE TIMMONS III
CN
LONNIE TIMMONS III
CC’s Common Read Author Darnell Moore Featured at First Mondays
Darnell Moore, author of CC’s 2020-21 Common Read “No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black & Free in America,” spoke at the Block 2 First Mondays event in the Kathryn Mohrman Theatre. He and Heidi Lewis, director and associate professor of feminist and gender studies, discussed a wide range of subjects, including Moore’s 2019 Lambda Literary Award-winning memoir, which explores his experiences growing up in poverty in New Jersey and his struggles with personal identity. Moore is director of inclusion for content and marketing at Netflix, a writer-in-residence at the Center on African American Religion, Sexual Politics, and Social Justice at Columbia University, and a 2019 Senior Fellow at the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California.
Wellness Hits the Road Heather Horton (center), senior director of student health and wellbeing, is making it her mission to meet students where they are by taking the Well Mobile out and about on the CC campus. The cart, designed by Horton and her husband, features a variety of drawers and cabinets that store stress management and other well-being supplies. “I needed a stress ball today,” said Gabi Hart ’23, after encountering Horton in Tutt Library. Bridget Walter ’24 and Talia Rotella ’24 picked up several informational sheets, as well as stickers, dark chocolate, stress balls, and lavender sachets when they stopped by on a Friday afternoon during Fall Semester. www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
7
8
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
Campus News
CN
CC Honors Stroud Family in Newly Named Space By Leslie Weddell
Photos by Lonnie Timmons III
T
he honoring of a family’s legacy — and its lineage of perseverance — is enshrined in the Kelley Dolphus Stroud ’31 Club Level on the fourth floor of CC’s Ed Robson Arena. The family’s story is one of tragedy and triumph, and the space, named for Stroud, a prolific scholar, elite athlete, and Olympic competitor, brings together CC’s history, its ongoing commitment to antiracism, the Olympics, Stroud’s native Colorado Springs, and the City for Champions initiative. The space on the club level, developed in partnership with Saunders Norwood Construction, was formally dedicated at a ceremony in December 2021. Approximately 40 people, many of them members of the Stroud family, made the journey to help commemorate the Stroud ancestry and its place in Colorado Springs’ history — and beyond. The family’s legacy is honored with photos and text on two identical commemorative columns, one on the east side and the other on the west side of the club level, which is open to members of the CC and broader community during arena events and regular business hours. Kelley Dolphus Stroud ’31, who was inducted into the Colorado College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006, was one of the most prolific scholars and elite athletes to ever emerge from the Pikes Peak region, despite years of assaults, persecutions, and opportunities denied him because of his race. He was admitted to Harvard University but did not attend because of finances; however, local businessman and entrepreneur Henry Sachs recognized his potential and provided funding for him to attend CC. Stroud graduated cum laude in 1931 with a degree in political science and was the first Black CC student ever elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was the only Black student at CC until his sister, Effie Stroud Frazier ’31, joined him the year after he started. Stroud, a gifted runner, won the Pikes Peak Marathon several times and in 1928 broke a record that had stood for a quarter-century. Despite qualifying for the 1928 U.S. Olympic trials, he was denied funding the other competitors received to travel to the finals, which were held at the stadium at Harvard University. Undeterred, he walked, ran, and hitchhiked the nearly 2,000 miles from Denver to Boston in the middle of July. He made it to Boston six hours before the qualifying race, having not eaten or slept the previous day. Exhausted and hungry, he collapsed before the finish line. CC President L. Song Richardson says she wants all CC students to remember the grit and
resilience exhibited by Kelley Dolphus Stroud and his family. “There are lessons to all of us and to our students, as we remain committed to increasing access to a CC education,” she said during the dedication of the space. Stroud’s achievements were many and remarkable, but so were those of his siblings, noted Richardson. All 11 Stroud children attended college, with Stroud and his 10 siblings achieving historic milestones in science, math, academia, the arts, business, and public service. “This day feels like a great honor; a validation of the people of my father’s generation. They overcame obstacles, discrimination, and prejudice to offer the full extent of their talents to the community and the world,” said Juanita Stroud Martin. “I’m still in a state of shock” about the commemoration of her father, she said. “Nothing stopped him; obstacles became stairsteps for him.” “We historically honor the dead, but it is a blessing that their legacy is intact for future generations,” said Cossetta Stroud, Dolphus Stroud’s great-niece, who flew in from Los Angeles for the ceremony. “I’ve been empowered by the accomplishments of my family in everything I do.” Many members of the family had gathered at the arena a few days before the dedication ceremony for a hockey game, in which Ashleigh Bourgeois, the granddaughter of Stroud’s youngest sister, Bobby, dropped the hockey puck. Her father, Carl Bourgeois (Kelley Dolphus Stroud’s nephew), invoked a theme that ran resoundingly through the dedication ceremony: that of ancestry. “I hope the ones who came before us are able to see what their example has created, even under sometimes extreme conditions,” he said. “The history and scholarship of the family are remarkable. They have been an inspiration for my life.” Colorado College’s Stroud Scholars program is named in honor of Kelley Dolphus Stroud and Effie Stroud Frazier. The program prepares students for selective college environments by working directly with high promise youth to provide academic preparation, mentorship, and guidance navigating admissions and financial aid processes to CC and beyond. Students successfully completing the three-year college preparatory program earn admission to Colorado College and receive a financial aid package that enables them to attend.
TOP: Juanita Stroud Martin, daughter of Kelley Dolphus Stroud, unveils the new sign on the club level at Ed Robson Arena on Dec. 14, 2021. The space is open to the public during arena events and regular business hours. CENTER: Frank Shines discusses an opera that is being developed about his grandfather’s life and other Black athletes called “Race.” LOWER: Percy Pellerin looks over the sign presented in honor of his uncle. The sign and club level is sponsored by Saunders Norwood Construction. OPPOSITE: Memorabilia from the Stroud family that was used to create the commemorative column that honors Kelley Dolphus and his family’s legacy. Members of the Stroud family from across the country attended the event. Here they pose next to the tribute to Stroud with leaders of Colorado College and Saunders Norwood Construction.
www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
9
FOREVER FOREIGN “
The series and their lectures will contribute to the broader conversation on anti-Asian racism by situating the problem within its global contexts and to the ongoing conversation to transform Colorado College into an antiracist institution.” – YOGESH CHANDRANI, assistant professor of religion and Asian studies
10
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
Our Path to Antiracism Make Antiracism a Central Value in CC’s Academic and Co-curricular Programs
AR
CC Launches Year-Long Series Addressing Anti-Asian Racism By Jen Kulier
A
violent incident of anti-Asian racism early last year has inspired the launch of a new series of lectures, discussions, film screenings, and reading groups at Colorado College: “Forever Foreign: Asian America, Global Asia, and the Problem of Anti-Asian Racism.” Following the mass killing of Asian-Americans in Atlanta on March 16, 2021, an act of violent anti-Asian racism that shook the nation, a group of CC faculty felt it would be helpful to host a series of events that highlight the histories, narratives, and voices from Asian societies and of Asian diaspora communities in the United States to increase knowledge and awareness of these communities. Yogesh Chandrani, assistant professor of religion and Asian studies, is the primary organizer of “Forever Foreign,” a year-long series. “The idea for this series came about from informal conversations among a group of faculty after the mass killings in Atlanta in March 2021,” he says. The faculty group included Emily Chan, John Williams, Purvi Mehta, Jason Weaver, Aline Lo, Christian Sorace, and Chandrani. “We began to talk about organizing events that would center the perspectives and voices of the Asian diaspora communities and deepen the ongoing conversations on antiracism,” Chandrani says. “While our immediate concern was to respond to the events in Atlanta and the escalation in anti-Asian racism, especially after the pandemic began, we also wanted to address the issue historically. In other words, we cannot think about anti-Asian racism at home without exploring its connections with geopolitics and the long history of U.S. military interventions in the Asian societies.” Chandrani says an important idea underpinning the series is that both Asia and Asian-American are contested and fraught categories that do not adequately capture the heterogeneity of Asian societies and of Asian diaspora communities in the United States. Asia is a vast region, home to 60% of the world’s population that includes numerous linguistic, ethnic, and religious communities. Similarly, the Asian diaspora in the United States includes numerous communities, each with their own histories of migration and displacement, their own languages, distinctive cultural practices and literary traditions, and unique ways of relating to their new homeland: the United States.
“We are organizing this series in order to unsettle popular understandings of Asia and Asian diaspora communities by foregrounding the multiple ways of being Asian and American,” he says. The year-long “Forever Foreign” series is bringing notable scholars, authors, and films to campus and to the attention of the community, and will culminate with keynote lectures by two Pulitzer prize-winning Asian-American writers and public intellectuals — Viet Thanh Nguyen and Ayad Akhtar — in the second week of Block 7. In their work, both Nguyen, author of “The Sympathizer” and “The Committed,” and Akhtar, author of “Homeland Elegies,” write evocatively about the legacies of America’s two longest wars and the intersections of violence, migration/displacement, memory, and racism. Nguyen’s work addresses the legacies of the war in Vietnam and Akhtar’s those of the war on terror. Their writings suggest that the lived experiences of Asian diaspora communities and the phenomenon of anti-Asian racism can be productively approached by situating them within the broader history of the U.S. as a global imperial power and the many wars that it has fought in Asia. Chandrani says for Asian diaspora communities, the Vietnam War and the ongoing war on terror have shaped their lived experiences as immigrants/exiles and these wars have also contributed to the current wave of anti-Asian racism. “This year marks the 20th anniversary of the war on terror, and thus, a public event that brings together two leading writers to share their work and thought on questions of war, migration, and memory would be particularly apt,” says Chandrani. “The series and their lectures will contribute to the broader conversation on anti-Asian racism by situating the problem within its global contexts and to the ongoing conversation to transform Colorado College into an antiracist institution.” The series is sponsored by the Asian Studies Program; Cultural Attractions Fund; National Endowment for the Humanities; MacLean Fund for the English Department; Department of History; Department of Political Science; Butler Center; Department of Race, Ethnicity, and Migration Studies; Center for Global Education and Field Study; and Feminist and Gender Studies.
Pulitzer-prize winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen (left) and Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Ayad Akhtar (right) are expected to provide lectures during the series.
2022 EVENTS IN THE SERIES Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, 3 p.m. Deepa Iyer, Human Rights lawyer and activist, author of “From Silos to Solidarities: Post 9/11 and Beyond” Thursday, Feb. 3, 2022, 5 p.m. Zareena Grewal, Associate Professor of Religion, American Studies and Ethnic Studies, Yale University, author of “Islam is a Foreign Country: Race, Religion and U.S. Empire” Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, 5:30 p.m. Film: “And Then They Came for Us” Discussion facilitated by John Williams and Jason Weaver Tuesday, April 5, 2022, 7 p.m. Ayad Akhtar, author of “Homeland Elegies” and “Disgraced” “An Evening with Ayad Akhtar” Thursday, April 7, 2022, 7 p.m. “Refugees, Language, and the Meaning of “America”” Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of “The Sympathizer” and “The Committed”
View the entire schedule, including options to register via Zoom and to join various reading groups, at 2cc.co/foreverforeign.
www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
11
Because of CC ... Alumni Reflections
BC
J/E/R/E/M/Y Z/U/C/K/E/R By Doug McPherson
2018
On YouTube, there’s a video of Jeremy Zucker ’18 sitting in a small, white room holding a guitar and looking into the camera. “Hello everybody. Now we’re coming in. 500, 600, 700, 800 people. Sick. What’s up? A thousand people … in the chat. Let’s go! 1,100. Hmmm. Okay, I’m gonna start. We got 1,200. My name is Jeremy Zucker. I’m a songwriter, producer, artist, singer.” For the next 35 minutes, he plays songs. Afterward, he says, “Thank you for your love and support. Hopefully I’ll get to meet all 318,000 of you.” Zucker looks surprised by that final number. His face and words betray his humility as he says, “I’m taking another screenshot of this.” Zucker could easily add the words wildly successful before the word artist. At the end of the video, he looks awestruck and grateful. He’ll begin a world tour in March 2022 and likely will meet some of those 318,000 folks. He returned to Colorado for a show in Denver in November 2021. “I always love coming back to Colorado,” he says. At Colorado College, you wouldn’t have pegged the pre-med major for a musician. But long before he began his molecular biology studies, Zucker, 25, was falling in love, albeit slowly, with his first love. “I got into music at about 6-years-old with lessons. I remember hating it.” After his first lesson, he recalls writing a little piano ditty and showing it to his teacher, who gently told him that he hadn’t written “a real song.” “Ever since then I’ve felt a strong urge to prove myself with music,” Zucker says. Mission accomplished. Zucker’s music, which he dubs “alt/ indie-pop,” has garnered millions of streams. Zucker admits he never considered music as a viable career path. “That’s why I decided to study molecular biology. I’ve always said that science is my interest and music is my passion. And no matter how many hours I was studying, I always found my way to my makeshift studio in the basement of Mathias.” He adds that he believes the Block Plan improved his work ethic. “I’ve always struggled with multitasking and time management; I generally work the best when I’m able to hyper-focus on individual tasks.” His advice for today’s students: “Trust your gut. At the end of the day, art is an expression of subjective human experience.”
12
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
Insider View A Student’s Perspective LONNIE TIMMONS III
IV
CC Student Body President Deksyos Damtew ’22
W
hen I stepped onto the CC campus in August to begin the 202122 academic year as a senior, I was transported back in time to my first visit as a prospective student in 2017. What I remember most about that day was how welcoming everyone was — from the students to the faculty, from the admission team to the staff at the dining hall and bookstore. I’m from Lakewood, Colorado. I’d initially thought I wanted to go to a larger school, but as I pictured myself being part of that close-knit community, I changed my mind. During the Coronavirus pandemic, that community feeling was put to the test. Suddenly, we couldn’t do the things that build community naturally — like having lively, in-person classroom discussions or gathering with friends over a meal. We missed those bonding experiences that typically happen during club and athletic events, study abroad, and block break adventures. But ultimately, I think our community was strengthened during this time. We learned to adapt and take care of each other. One great example is CC Mutual Aid, the student-run group that strives
to build a network of solidarity by meeting each other’s needs. This fund helps offset costs not covered by other support systems around campus, and it’s been incredibly impactful. Today, I have a new sense of gratitude for being back on campus. The CC community continues to look out for each other by getting vaccinated and wearing masks because it’s important to all of us that we can gather safely. I’m thrilled to be back in person with the Speech and Debate team, a setting that’s very challenging to replicate on Zoom. It’s rewarding to meet with prospective students face-to-face again as an Admissions Fellow. And, I’m enjoying being able to interact with my professors outside the formality of a class Zoom call. Those relationships with faculty are part of what’s so special about academics at CC, so I’m feeling particularly grateful for the Block Plan this year. Most of all, I’m reminded of the community spirit that drew me to CC in the first place — and I’m savoring every moment. www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
13
G N
HEATHER OELKLAUS
LONNIE TIMMONS III
I THE T DI P U S R C IP S I D LI NE S
Sociology Professor Kathy Giuffre talks with a student in September during her class Writing for Social Justice, which is a CC120 course in the Dynamics of Power interdisciplinary themed First-Year Experience. 14
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
The Dynamics of Power poster presentations at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College featured work from 80-100 students.
The Enduring Block Plan
The Dynamics of Power Introduces First-Year Students to a Truly Interdisciplinary Education By Jeremy Jones
A
need to understand what they are getting themselves into and the choices available to them,” Stoller says.
The five-class collaborative is one of the many new First-Year Program options available to students in their first block at CC. Each provides the new college students with a comparative, interdisciplinary introduction to liberal arts scholarship on the Block Plan. And, ultimately, the academic approach helps first-year CC students make more informed choices about how and with what focus they pursue their education, career, and impact on the world.
“Just talking about the dynamics of power is a lot different from what I experienced in high school. And it’s been super great to learn about different social issues,” says Mahima Chiles ’25 from Colorado Springs, Colorado. “I think it will be really cool learning about the different lenses of sociology.”
t first glance, the classes Construction of Social Problems and Art and the Museum may not appear to have much in common. But as part of the new CC100 thematic cluster, The Dynamics of Power, they share the same focus as they examine a single topic through different, but intersecting, lenses.
“Every student takes a course in a department or program, but each professor is charged with exposing the students to another field and how they look at that issue,” says Gail Murphy-Geiss, professor and chair of the Sociology Department. “In high school, students had to take all these classes, and they think the world is divided up into these disciplines. And it is, but a lot of the most interesting work happens in the cracks. That’s what liberal arts is all about.” Over the course of the block, students in Murphy-Geiss’s Construction of Social Problems visited presentations by professors in the Sociology, Anthropology, Southwest Studies, and Art departments to learn how each discipline examines and discusses power. At the end of the block, all 80-100 students from The Dynamics of Power cluster created poster presentations and gathered at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College to share and discuss them. The poster presentation format is unique to the Dynamics of Power cluster, but the interdisciplinary approach to General Education is shared by all first-year students. The First-Year Program launched in the 2020-21 academic year, and students select a first block CC100: Critical Inquiry Seminar. Other CC100 themes for 2021 Block 1 included Global Exchange, Technologies of the Body, and Transcultural and Intersectional Identities. “These courses are designed primarily to teach students about the nature of disciplines and how they relate to a liberal arts education,” says Aaron Stoller, assistant vice provost and director of academic programs. By disrupting preconceptions and provoking questions that reach across departmental structures, CC100 clusters are designed to expand students’ view of learning and introduce them to a variety of disciplines, or particular ways of asking and answering questions. “In order to be empowered to make informed curricular choices about what they want to major in, and to be able to do authentic things in the disciplines, students
The innovative approach is more expansive than what most first-year students have known previously and one they seem to find appealing as they embrace the CC experience in The Dynamics of Power cluster.
“I’m interested in computer science, and I’ve never been able to take an art history class in high school,” says Mira Giles-Pufahl ’25 from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “So I was really excited to see this class and see art, which I’m interested in, and also power dynamics and the ethics of art and museums.” In sociology and art classes early in Block 1, students readily shared their perspectives in small group discussions. They appeared eager to engage with each other and the material that was organized around issues shaping culture in real time. “[The Dynamics of Power cluster] gave an opportunity to talk about something that I haven’t actually experienced before and to look at it in a new perspective,” says Claire O’Donnell ’25 from Baltimore, Maryland. “We’ve talked about issues, but usually only from a historical perspective, not necessarily sociology. And I thought that it was really interesting, especially coming out of a [pandemic] year of not being able to talk to anybody or really talk about issues that are prevailing in our society.” The innovative content organization has been challenging but freeing for faculty as well. “My hope for the students is that they have a really compelling first-block experience — that they are challenged and excited and in the wilderness and bothered and all the great things that can happen when you first arrive at college,” says Rebecca Tucker, professor and director of the Art Department. “I think the value of this model is that it structures a cross-disciplinary way of thinking right from the beginning of their career at CC.” “I do hope all the students find their calling — not their discipline, but their calling, something that calls you, that you just can’t shake,” MurphyGeiss says. “And then they figure out what they need to put together at Colorado College to get there.” www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
15
COLORADO COLLEGE
HOMECOMING & FAMILY WEEKEND
From Oct. 8-10, 2021, the Tiger community came together on the CC campus for a combined Homecoming and Family Weekend. More than 2,400 alumni, parents, families, friends, and current students took part in the action-packed weekend that included class reunions, Homecoming Convocation and the Alumni Awards Ceremony, a CC Hockey pre-game tailgate event, a community picnic, educational sessions and learning opportunities, music and arts showcases, athletic events, affinity group meetups, and more. These are some of our favorite photos from the memorable weekend. Photos by Lonnie Timmons III and Gray Warrior. Save the date and plan to join us for Homecoming and Family Weekend, Oct. 7-9, 2022. See more photos at https://2cc.co/hcfw21.
Nancy Stewart Ramsdell ’60 poses for a photo with RoCCy during the farewell brunch at Ed Robson Arena. Stewart Ramsdell attended her 60th Reunion.
Continuing a tradition started in 2019 — the president of the Fifty Year Club, Dan Cooper ’66, gifts a bottle of champagne for champagne showers to CC Student Body President Deksyos Damtew ’22.
Clockwise from left: Jessica Legaard ’25, Troy Legaard, Rose Marie Legaard, Amy Legaard, and Beatrice Babbitt enjoy a farewell brunch at Ed Robson Arena.
Alumni from the Class of 1966 gather for a reception and dinner in the renovated Charles L. Tutt Library.
President L. Song Richardson congratulates alumni awardee Shawn T. Sears ’98 as he receives the 2020 Spirit of Adventure Award during Homecoming Convocation.
Kathy Rechnitzer Kelly ’71, left, celebrates with her sister Karen Rechnitzer Pope ’70, P’04, after Karen received the 2021 Lloyd E. Worner Award at Homecoming Convocation.
16
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
During the Community Picnic, Ana Gaby Pareja-Alfaro, former CC Cultural Program Coordinator, and Alexis Uribe ’22 showcase the CC Mobile Arts Open Mic program.
Students and alumni of color had the opportunity to network and catch up at the annual Alumni of Color Reception at Tutt Alumni House.
President L. Song Richardson hosts Alumni Association Council awardees for a celebratory reception at Stewart House.
Jessie Brown Macfarland ’87 and her daughter, Key Macfarland ‘22, during the hockey team introductions at the Hockey Pre-Game Tailgate on Tava Quad.
LEFT: Alumni from the classes of 1995 and 1996 reconnect at Phantom Canyon Brewing Company. RIGHT: Class of 2000 and Class of 2001 alumni enjoy a reunion reception at Gaylord Hall in Worner Campus Center. www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
17
ALLYSON LUPOVICH
18
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
Faces of Innovation By Kirsten Akens ’96
AS THE DIRECTOR OF ARTIST COLL AB-
oration for Meow Wolf, Han Santana-Sayles ’15 says she is “essentially, a curator.” But the company she works for and the spaces it designs are more difficult to define. Forbes has coined Meow Wolf an “immersive arts innovator”; The New York Times called it a “tourism juggernaut”; and the Santa Fe Reporter, the alternative newsweekly where Meow Wolf began in 2008 as an informal collective of DIY artists and opened an official entertainment venue in 2016, labeled it the “Santa Fe arts mega-corp.” “I describe it often as a narrative-driven, immersive art exhibit,” says Santana-Sayles, at the same time admitting those words don’t necessarily draw something immediately to mind. “But,” she adds, “it does kind of evade description because it is a lot of different things … a new type of industry, which is a model that hasn’t existed exactly like it before.” Think art exhibit meets museum meets storytelling experience — with a sci-fi or fantastical theme. Visitors can interact with almost every element in some way, such as opening a refrigerator and walking through it to an interdimensional travel agency or crawling through a fireplace and ending up in a large Mastodon cave. “Describing it kind of helps [people] grasp that there’s a narrative element to it,” Santana-Sayles says, but “it’s more fun for me to just show them what I’m talking about.”
“We look for work that’s kaleidoscopic — so, colorful, playful, layered, and multifaceted. Work that draws people in and expresses some kind of depth,” she says. “We look for work that’s maximal,” which she adds doesn’t mean that every square inch of surface is covered — though it can be — but that the work is detailed and thoughtful. Next is “mind-bending.” “One of the tenets of Meow Wolf is that we’re trying to challenge our guests to get outside their own boxes and parameters that they have for themselves and question the world in a different way,” Santana-Sayles says. “So things that are mind-bending are really interesting and important to us.” And finally, inclusive — in a variety of ways. For nearly four years, Santana-Sayles has been working primarily on the third-to-open Meow Wolf location, which debuted in summer 2021 in Denver. (The second-to-open site is in Las Vegas, with two more in the works for Washington, D.C., and Phoenix.) She’s proud of the Denver project because it involved predominately Colorado-based artists: Of the 130 artists, 120 are Coloradans. “It also was really important to me that [Denver] would be the most diverse exhibit and project that Meow Wolf has ever done,” she says. And it is.
She is well-suited to share narrative elements after having majored in comparative literature with a focus in feminist and gender studies at CC. That’s part of her job when engaging with collaborating artists — creatives who work in a guest capacity to develop their own unique rooms, dioramas, murals, sculpture projects, and the like.
“More than half of the exhibit is women-identifying folks. Around a third of the participants overall are people of color, and around a third are LGBTQ,” Santana-Sayles says. “I’m so proud of all the artists that we’ve been able to engage with and they’ve made incredibly brilliant work. It’s not just because it needs to be ‘diverse,’ it’s just that it makes the exhibit so much better.”
In addition to maintaining relationships with artists, her responsibilities include compiling recommendations of artists for the creative directors to review for a variety of projects, while keeping in mind the creative values Meow Wolf holds.
For more about Santana-Sayles and other CC Faces of Innovation, please visit https://2cc.co/faces.
www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
19
Our Connection to the West
Sticking Close to Home
Adapted Priddy Experience Allows Incoming Students to Connect to Colorado Springs By Jessi Burns ’06
Photos by Gray Warrior
AFTER MORE THAN A YE AR-AND -A- HALF OF CHANG ES
to class structure, teaching, and campus living, pivoting during the pandemic is not new for Colorado College. This past fall’s New Student Orientation and Priddy Experience were no different. NSO is designed to introduce first-year students to all aspects of campus life — inside and outside the classroom. This academic year, CC was especially excited to bring students back to campus for an in-person experience. The NSO schedule gives new students a taste of the rhythm of the Block Plan. Required sessions are held each morning — in 2021-22 a combination of in-person and Zoom sessions. The rest of the day is open for students to connect to campus resources and peers, relax in their rooms, or walk around campus. Evenings are full of social activities, which this year included everything from trivia in Benji’s to a silent disco at the Hybl Community Center.
TOP: Nearly 300 students participate in a clean-up along a seven-mile stretch of Fountain Creek. ABOVE: Two students compete against a virtual Olympic track and field athlete at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum in downtown Colorado Springs.
The final few days of NSO culminate in the Priddy Experience, coordinated through CC’s Outdoor Education program. In years past, students traveled to a variety of sites throughout Colorado and the Rocky Mountain Southwest. However, due to the continued impacts and uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, the Priddy Experience Trips this academic year took place within Colorado Springs. Priddy Experiences typically have focused on outdoor exploration, but because of the adapted structure, new students were able to connect
20
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
TOP LEFT: Students work together to recreate works of art in the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College using their own bodies. LOWER LEFT: Students tour the Fine Arts Center to gain a better understanding of the bridge between art and academics by using some of the center’s major art pieces in the permanent collection.
BELOW: Students hike through the Fountain Creek valley between Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs before arriving to their creek clean-up assignments. CC’s New Student Orientation programs aim to cultivate a sense of place and connection to Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region by deepening students’ knowledge of local communities, issues, and ecosystems.
directly with the Colorado Springs community. This was a benefit to many who had yet to explore their new home. Some still visited outdoor areas, such as Red Rock Canyon Open Space, and others had the chance to visit places unique to Colorado Springs, like the new U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College. “We have students coming from all over the country, all over the world, to Colorado Springs to be their home for the next four or five years, and we really want them to have ownership of the space that they call their backyard, and call their home,” says Rachael Abler, assistant director of Outdoor Education. Nearly 300 first-year students helped clean up a seven-mile stretch of Fountain Creek between Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs through a partnership with the two cities and the Adopt-A-Waterway Program. During the three-day Priddy Experience, students removed 4,800 pounds of litter from the creek. Students appreciated being able to give back to the community in which they now live. “I feel so lucky to be a part of this community, and I think it’s the least I can do to chip in,” says Darby Shaw ’25. “We’re so lucky to be welcomed into this city and welcomed into this state, so we should all be doing something like this.”
ABOVE: Students get to know each other and dance the night away during the NSO Silent Disco. During the event, students listened and danced to various tracks of music through bluetooth headphones.
www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
21
On The Scene Arts at Colorado College
OS
Arts Engagement at Colorado College The 2021 Installation Performance Class Showing featured the work of eight students in an advanced design/installation course, with the final installation projects on display in a variety of locations around campus during October 2021. The public installations/performances highlighted the academic engagement of The Arts at CC and the work created on campus during Arts Month. Students whose work was on display include Colby Poston ’22, Madison Dillon ’23, Holly Wenger ’23, Caeleigh O’Connor ’23, Al Lo ’23, Haley Wright ’22, Kiara Butts ’23, and Will Burglechner ’23. The course was taught by Lecturer in Dance Patrizia Herminjard ’96 and visiting artists Joshua Kohl and Crow Nishimura of Degenerate Art Ensemble, who are part of the creative team behind the upcoming presentation “Boy mother/faceless bloom,” a performance work that has been in development at CC during the past three years. These artists, as well as Eddy Kwon and Senga Nengudi, were the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center at Colorado College’s Mellon Artists in Residence during the Fall Semester. Photos by Lonnie Timmons III.
22
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
On The Scene Arts at Colorado College
OS
Hitting the Fertile Ground Running at the FAC By Katie Grant ’92
Two “dynamic rock stars,” as Idris Goodwin, director of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, refers to them, will bring new perspective and inspiration to the future-focused arts center. Pirronne Yousefzadeh is the new artistic director of the theatre, and Michael Christiano is the new director of the museum and visual arts. Together with Goodwin, who joined the FAC in 2020, and other key FAC leaders, Yousefzadeh and Christiano plan to grow the collaborative, inclusive, engaging, innovative environment of the multi-platform artistic space. Goodwin says of his new team, “I got very lucky.” More impressive than the credits these two professionals bring to the table are their plans for the center. Yousefzadeh says, “My hope is for the Fine Arts Center to become a hub for new work. A place where artists can take risks and create something new in an environment and in a community that is, I think, hungry for it.” Christiano adds, “I believe that museums should continually be rethinking their essential function, what they are, what they do, and who they do it for. It’s moments of transition, like the one the center is currently in, when those conversations can be amplified. That’s very exciting for me. It drives a lot of what I do, and I think the inherent potential for the depth and variety of interdisciplinary and collaborative programming is really intriguing.”
As it happens, Christiano wasn’t looking to leave the SMART Museum of Art at the University of Chicago, but his wife’s interest in pedagogical styles brought her to CC’s website, where she saw the opening. Goodwin says, “Michael has been doing this work for over a decade on the education and engagement side, the leadership side, the director side, and the curatorial side. Someone who is used to wearing a lot of different hats is really good for a multi-disciplinary organization like ours.” As for Yousefzadeh, “She understands a diverse range of theatre styles and traditions but elevates them,” says Goodwin. “Issues of equity, diversity, inclusion, and antiracism are core to her practice, which is really important for the Fine Arts Center we’re building for the future.” Fortunately for the Colorado Springs community, she was excited to pack up her many talents and head west from her position at the Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, New York, to start her new role in December 2021. As Yousefzadeh says about her directing style, “My job isn’t to always have the best idea in the room, it’s to identify the best idea in the room.” With such a triumvirate of leadership at the FAC, identifying what’s best for the artistic community of Colorado Springs is inevitable.
LEFT: Pirronne Yousefzadeh RIGHT: Michael Christiano
www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
23
Athletics
By Joe Paisley
The Colorado College community and the city of Colorado Springs celebrated a historic moment on Sept. 18, 2021. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for CC’s new Ed Robson Arena and Mike and Barbara Yalich Student Services Center, 250 guests toured the new facilities and heard from former CC hockey players and major donor Ed Robson ’54, P’79, G’11, and longtime CC advocate Barbara Neeley Yalich ’53. Colorado College President L. Song Richardson, City Mayor John Suthers, and Board of Trustees Chair Jeff Keller ’91, P’22, commended Robson and the Yalichs’ longstanding dedication to Colorado College and recognized a bolstered relationship with Colorado Springs during the afternoon event. The new 3,407-seat arena serves as the first-ever on-campus home for CC’s NCAA Division I men’s hockey program. The state-of-the-art complex is part of Colorado Springs’ City for Champions (C4C) initiative, which uses revenue made available by the state’s 2013 Regional Tourism Act as seed money to invest in new facilities to draw tourists to the region. “This connects Colorado Springs and Colorado College in a significant way,” Richardson said. Construction was made possible by Robson’s lead gift, C4C funding, and other donations.
24
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
LONNIE TIMMONS III
GRAY WARRIOR
JLG ARCHITECTS
CASEY B. GIBSON
GRAY WARRIOR
GRAY WARRIOR
Colorado College Opens Doors to Ed Robson Arena and Yalich Student Services Center
Robson was active in hockey and baseball while at CC. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps, during which he represented Team USA as part of the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team at the 1956 Olympic Winter Games. In addition to the new hockey arena, the adjacent Yalich Center includes the school’s health and wellbeing services, the college bookstore and mail center, as well as an art studio and restaurant space. Through a gift from Inasmuch Foundation, the center honors Yalich’s legacy. She is a renowned community leader in the Pikes Peak Region and a champion for Colorado College. Her late husband, Milo “Mike” Yalich ’50, was a lifelong CC supporter who captained the 1949-50 Tiger hockey team to the school’s first NCAA national title. The versatile arena, which includes a multipurpose event and meeting space with an outdoor plaza, will be available for large and small art and music events and student life activities. “This is a true multipurpose facility that will benefit the entire campus and the Colorado Springs communities as a whole,” CC Vice President and Director of Athletics Lesley Irvine said. Learn more: coloradocollege.edu/robsonarena
TOP LEFT: (from left) Barbara Yalich ’53, Ed Robson ’54, P’79, G’11, along with Chair of the Board of Trustees Jeff Keller ’91, P’22, President L. Song Richardson, and Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers cut the ribbon on opening day. LOWER LEFT AND MIDDLE: Ed Robson Arena and the Yalich Student Services Center. TOP UPPER RIGHT: CC hockey players Hugo Blixt ’22, Jack Millar ’24, and Connor Mayer ’23 welcome guests. MIDDLE RIGHT: The Tigers stand for the national anthem prior to hosting St. Lawrence University in the regularseason opener. LOWER RIGHT: Students ice skate during Open Student Skate at Ed Robson Arena.
Alumni Activities Connect with the CC Community
Alumni, Families, and Friends: Let’s Connect!
AA
Interested in becoming more involved with CC? Meeting other enthusiastic members of the Tiger community across the U.S.? Helping current CC students and recent grads find professional success? There are myriad opportunities to engage with CC in large and small ways, virtually and in person, on campus and in your hometown. Check out some of what we have to offer!
8
Table of Eight Host a small dinner — as simple as a salad and soup — in your home with multiple generations of CC alumni. You can provide the guest list, or we can send an invitation to alumni in your area based on how many individuals you’d like to attend. This is a casual opportunity to meet and share a meal with Tigers in your area. Welcome to Your City Connect with new grads and other alumni in your city by hosting a meetup at a local favorite bar or restaurant. This is your chance to meet and serve as a resource for young alumni as they get acquainted with their new home post-graduation — and to connect with other members of the CC community you may not have known were nearby. Party in a Box Have an idea for an event? Planning a special occasion or watch party with fellow CC alumni or other CC families in your area? Send us an email, and we’ll send you a box of CC goodies and decorations. In return, just let us know who was there and send us a group photo we can share!
Tiger Link Hop onto CC’s alumni network, Tiger Link, to connect with fellow alumni who share your background, personal and professional interests, or other affiliations. Find out about job opportunities, access career support and mentorship, and advise alumni interested in following the career path you’ve taken. This network is exclusive to CC alumni and current students. Visit cctigerlink.com to sign in or create an account. CC in the Spotlight Parents and families are invited to learn more about CC and get to know others in the CC parent and family community through virtual “CC in the Spotlight” events. We will begin each virtual gathering with a guest speaker who will share about their work and area of expertise at CC, introducing you to programs and resources available to your students. These informal presentations are designed specifically for current CC students’ parents, families, and supporters; they are interactive and will include time for Q&A, conversation, and connection.
Email alumni@coloradocollege.edu or give the Office of Alumni and Family Relations a call at (719) 389-6775 to learn more about Table of Eight, Welcome to Your City, or Party in a Box. CC in the Spotlight and other parent or family engagement questions can be directed to parents@coloradocollege.edu.
New Interim Director of Alumni and Family Relations is Brenda Soto Current Director of College Events Brenda Soto P’19 has been named interim director of alumni and family relations. Soto is splitting her time between the two positions. Her focus will be working with the Alumni Association Council and Family Communications. Because of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, most alumni and family events are either on hold or being conducted virtually for the time being, according to Soto, though the college is planning for an in-person Commencement. Soto says she is excited about this new role and about “leading the Events and Alumni and Family Relations offices to work together to create synergies and opportunities to offer programming on campus to the broader community.” Soto has worked at Colorado College for 35 years in a variety of positions, in Finance and Administration, Summer Programs, Student Life, and most recently in Advancement. “I have seen many changes, and I am excited to be working with the alumni who I have seen as students over the years,” she says.
www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
25
Class Notes
CN
In February 2021, members of the Alpha Phi Chapter of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority celebrated 50 years of sisterhood via a Zoom reunion. Pictured: Marje Roelfsema Kaspar ’73, Sara Orlino (Gamma Phi Beta Foundation director of development), Weslee Klein ’72, Margaret Myers ’72, Lise Van Arsdale Hansen ’73, Angie Dimit (Gamma Phi Beta Foundation chair), Amy Reichman ’75, Connie Cohrt ’75, Trina Jacobson ’73, Barb Floyd Rustad ’71, Lucy Bates Jolas ’74, Terry Hartel Woodrow ’73, Cindy MacLeish Eley ’72, Alison Northcutt Miller ’71, Lisa Garrett Smith ’73, Martha Freeman ’71, Linda Head Corrie ’71, Elena Hannan ’72, Marcia Vigil ’73, Deb Lanning Angell ’74, Ann Carlile Klotz ’71, and Jean Steffen Hamilton ’73. Not pictured: Jane Byerley ’73 and Lou Nordin Morton ’73.
1976
Lynn Morris has been inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame after being honored Sept. 30, 2021, at the annual International Bluegrass Music Association Awards Ceremony in Raleigh, North Carolina. Lynn, a banjo virtuoso, is the first person to twice win the coveted National Banjo Championship in Winfield, Kansas. She began performing in the United States, Canada, and Europe after earning an art degree from CC. She was the first woman elected to the IBMA board of directors, has been named IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year three times, and Traditional Female Vocalist for the Society for Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America seven times.
1977
JENNIFER COOMBES
family were ranchers. After earning his J.D., he became chief legal counsel for Roy Romer, then Colorado governor, in 1986. Four years later, Ken was appointed as director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. There, he wrote the Great Outdoors Colorado Amendment and created the Youth in Natural Resources program, both of which continue to support the health and future of Colorado’s environment.
ABOVE: During Family and Friends Weekend in 2006, Ken Salazar ’77 spoke to a packed house at Kathryn Mohrman Theatre on the CC campus to discuss immigration issues facing Americans.
Ken Salazar was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Mexico on Aug. 11, 2021, and assumed his duties Sept. 2. Ken earned a bachelor of arts in political science from CC and a juris doctor from the University of Michigan, and received an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from CC in 1993. Ken was born and raised in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, where four previous generations of his 26
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Meg Glover Henderson ’72 realized that people celebrating her daughter’s engagement in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, represented 2 1/2 generations of CC graduates. Front row, from left: Melissa Walker ’72, Liz Speir ’72, Bruce Henderson ’72, Caroline Creyke ’65, and Les Goss ’72. Back row, from left: Meg, Erika Williams ’93, and Scott Craig ’95.
1987
Ellen Stein was named marketing director at First SouthWest Bank, a mission-driven community development financial institutions bank serving southern Colorado, in March 2021. Ellen spent 25 years in nonprofit development, media, and communications. She oversees the marketing for the bank’s six branches, the Community Fund, and nonprofit sponsorships.
1988
Ken was the first Latino elected to Colorado statewide office when he was elected attorney general in 1998. He served until 2005, when he was elected a U.S. senator. He was the secretary of the interior from 2009 to 2013; one primary focus was to ensure that national parks and national monuments were inclusive of the country’s indigenous and minority communities. In between these accomplishments, Ken has been in private practice, most recently as a partner in the WilmerHale law firm, representing clients in energy, environment, natural resources, and Native American matters. Ken was on the CC Board of Trustees as a volunteer for nine years and has been an honorary member of the board for 17 years.
Winter 2021/22
Three classmates gathered in Maui, Hawaii, in the summer of 2021 after a long separation during the Coronavirus pandemic. From left: Katy McNitt Jensen, Maryrose Kohan, and Kimberly Race.
Class Notes
1994
1995
1999
Antonio Aiello was selected as a 2020 Sundance fellow in episodic TV, along with his collaborator, Mansoor Adayfi, for their television show, “From Guantánamo, with Love.” It was based on “Don’t Forget Us Here, Lost and Found at Guantánamo,” the book they co-wrote. Antonio is content director for PEN America, where he helps give voice to issues of social justice and writers in peril around the world. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appointed Eric Kuhn to the Colorado Court of Appeals, effective July 7, 2021. Eric earned his J.D. from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in 2006. He is a senior assistant attorney general for the state, and has served in the Health Care Unit (2010-2015 and 2017-present) and the Public Officials Unit (2015-2017). Previously, Eric was an associate attorney at the Law Offices of Bradley J. Frigon. Ian Miller was named chief scientist and innovation officer at the National Geographic Society in July 2021. Previously, he was director of the Earth and Space Sciences at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. He earned a bachelor of arts in geology from CC, a master’s in geology from Yale, and a doctorate in geology and geophysics, also from Yale. At the NGS, Ian will ensure that science continues to be foundational to the organization’s programs.
Andrew Worthington ’15 and Emily Phillips ’16 married in Dripping Springs, Texas, on April 17, 2021, with many CC friends in attendance. Front row, from left: Hunter Martinez ’15, Daniel Wright ’13, Brandon Ogilvie ’14, and Daniel Herz ’14. Back row, from left: Hannah Wright ’13, Max Grossenbacher ’16, Sam Zarling ’16, Emily, Elliott Levett ’14, Andrew, Helen, and Horst Richardson, Alec Sowers ’15, and Hunter Wolfel ’13.
2017
2006
2019 Jessi Burns and her husband, Matt Anderson, celebrated their first anniversary in September 2021 in Grand Lake, Colorado, after having to cancel their post-wedding celebration in 2020. Jessi and Matt marked the occasion with, from left: Nikki LaBue Betteker ’08, Alyssa Goldberg Swall ’06, Drew Brooks ’06, Jessi, Blaise Treeson ’07, Erin Kelling Arbour ’06, and Kimberly Shephard ’06.
2006
CN
2022
Jenny Dahlstrom Campos, her husband, Paul Campos, and very proud big brother, Sergio, welcomed Maya Paloma Campos on Aug. 23, 2020, in Boulder, Colorado.
2010 2022
Sarah Wolff and Treye Denton married in a small ceremony in Colorado in June 2021. From left: Brendan Ross, Emily Beans Ross, Treye and Sarah, and Jessica Kautz Swearingen, all Class of 2010.
Teddy Weeks released his debut album, “Satisfy Me,” in July 2021. He studied physics and music in college, then wrote songs for Top 10 singers including Shawn Mendes. Teddy spent three years working on the album, striving to create something that was “all substance with very little fat” — a goal he learned at CC. To listen, go to soundcloud.com and search for his name. Madi Johnston Doerre earned a master’s degree in sport management from Texas A&M University in May 2021. While attending CC, Madi played on the women’s tennis team, worked in the Fitness Center, and volunteered while supporting CC athletics. Madi continues with her love of sport, now working for the United States Olympic Committee’s Diversity and Inclusion Department in Colorado Springs. Megan Koch, a member of CC’s cross-country and track and field teams, has been appointed to the National Collegiate Athletics Association’s NCAA Constitution Committee. The committee’s mission is to identify the core principles that define college sports and propose a new governance model that will allow quicker changes without sacrificing broader values. Megan, the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference representative on the national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, is one of three student-athletes on the Constitution Committee and the only one from Division III. Casey Millhone has blazed a trail on the Mississippi River by paddling its length in 17 days, 19 hours, and 46 minutes in April-May 2021. Accompanied by her father, Kirk, and their teammates Rod Price and Bobby Johnson, Casey is the Guinness world record holder for being the youngest person to accomplish the feat. She and Kirk are also the only father/daughter team to hold the record. Casey prepared for the undertaking on her paddle machine, set up behind the benches in the Honnen Ice Arena. www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
27
Milestones: Nuptials, Births, & Obituaries
MS
Obituaries 1943
1950
inspiration to all who knew her. She is survived by her daughter, Janet; and her niece, Maile Gray ’77, and Maile’s husband, Spencer Wren ’73.
Helen Bradford Wasley passed away May 21, 2021. She grew up in Denver and attended CC for two years before her family moved to Utah. Helen belonged to multiple organizations, including Daughters of the American Revolution Arapahoe Chapter and Delta Gamma, for more than 50 years. John Bacon Leisure passed away peacefully Jan. 27, 2021. He was raised in Beverly Hills “when it was mostly orange groves.” After serving in the Navy, he attended CC. John will be fondly remembered for his unfailing humor, joy of life, passion for golf, and love of family. Among his survivors are sons Marr, Roy, and Glenn, all ’76.
Luann Lewis Whitmore died May 22, 2021, in Juno Beach, Florida. In college, Luann met Patten B. Harvey ’52 and they married in 1951. She later married Edwin Whitmore, and the couple traveled the world. She is survived by her children, Phil Harvey ’79 and Ann Harvey Carey ’81.
1954
Barbara Kent McGinnis passed away May 31, 2021, in Wilmington, Delaware. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education, and worked as a reading teacher and librarian. Her family was what brought her the most joy. Barbara was preceded in death by her husband, William Joseph McGinnis ’48, in 2008. William A. Murray Jr. died Jan. 18, 2021, in Aurora, Colorado. Bill was a WWII Navy veteran and retired as a media specialist from the Aurora Public Schools in 1992. Bill was awarded the Intellectual Freedom Award in 1988 from the American Association of School Librarians and Social Issues Resource Series Inc. He earned his master’s at CC in 1964. He is survived by his wife, June McHardy Murray ’52, and children, including Coqui Murray Conkey ’77 and Christi Murray ’80.
1952
1953
28
Glenda Breford Tinsley passed away June 8, 2021, in Great Falls, Montana. She graduated cum laude with a bachelor of arts in mathematics and taught math in Great Falls schools until retiring in 1992. She was married to Frank Tinsley ’52, who died in 2010. Shirley Keay Campbell passed away June 7, 2021, in Colorado Springs. She was born in Hawaii when it was still a U.S. territory. She was a Kappa Alpha Theta and remained involved with CC for many years. Shirl’s passion was traveling the world, and she was an
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
1955
Ron A. Timroth passed away May 9, 2021, at home near Snowmass, Colorado. After graduating from CC, he worked for Atomic Research mapping uranium deposits in Utah. He returned to CC, earned a master’s degree in 1958 and taught geology in summer school. Ron developed property in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley and was in the oil business in Kansas. In 2008, he started a mining venture in Alaska. In 2017, he accepted the Hardrock Mineral Small Operator Award, a nationwide environmental award. He is survived by his wife, Zana Pflugrath ’59 ’71, and daughter, Valana Timroth.
Dr. Donald Emerson Hale Jr. died Dec. 3, 2017, in Mansfield, Ohio. He was a Phi Gamma Delta at CC, and he served as an Air Force dentist from 1964 to 1966. In his later years, he played the bagpipes for the Royal Scots Highlanders and the trumpet for the Ribticklers Dixieland Jazz Band. John William “Jack” Knight passed away June 10, 2021, surrounded by loved ones. He was the first in his family to go to college, thanks to a football scholarship to CC. Jack’s favorite roles were as husband to Sheila, father to Julie, John, Tim, and Colleen, and grandfather of 11. Everyone who met Jack could not forget his terrific smile. Joyce Lind RePass passed away May 26, 2021. She graduated magna cum laude from CC and earned a master’s degree from Harvard. Joyce was active in local politics in her younger years and remained a strong advocate for social and racial justice throughout her life. She and her husband, David RePass, retired to Charlottesville, Virginia.
In Memoriam
David van Diest Skilling, better known as Van, died Sept. 15, 2021, after battling a severe illness. He was a beloved member of CC’s Board of Trustees for many years, was chairman of the board, and was honored as a life trustee. Van also was awarded an honorary doctorate and taught courses on business strategy in the Department of Economics and Business. With his family, he was a generous philanthropic supporter of the college, making an impact for our campus and students. Van dedicated himself tirelessly to the highest good of Colorado College in so many ways. He believed in the best of us, and in the institution.
Winter 2021/22
1956
Van is survived by his wife of 65 years, Barbara Jo Chaney Skilling ’58; children Kim Skilling ’79 and Mark Skilling ’82; and grandchildren including Chaney Skilling ’19. Memorial gifts may be made to: Colorado College, Attn: Advancement P.O. Box 1117, Colorado Springs, CO 80901 or at coloradocollege.edu (use Give Now Button and select other) Donations will sustain the Van Skilling Fund, which supports student research projects through the Economics and Business Department.
Milestones: Nuptials, Births, & Obituaries
1958
1960
Bettie Bellamy-Rosensen passed peacefully on May 2, 2021. Bettie was loving and supportive to many and leaves a legacy of helping hundreds overcome addictions to alcohol and drugs. Like the lighthouses she so loved, she was a beacon to those needing guidance for safe passage through the dark and unknown. Bettie’s survivors include her son, John Aaron Bellamy ’96. Carl Henry Boyer Jr. of Wilmette, Illinois, passed away peacefully April 25, 2021, from acute myeloid leukemia. He is survived by his wife, Mary Boyer, and three daughters, including Abby Boyer ’98. Carl was a pioneer in licensing intellectual properties and deployed his design skills in the watch and clock industry. The intellectual curiosity he honed at CC propelled him to return to the classroom at age 62 to pursue his master’s in liberal arts at the University of Chicago. June George passed away April 17, 2021, in Colorado Springs. In 1992, June retired after 37 years with Colorado Springs School District 11. She was an amazing woman with a zest for life who was dedicated to all the children she taught. Her loving and generous spirit will be greatly missed. She is survived by two children, five grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.
1965
1967
in Denver during the 1980s. He established a wine-lovers’ estate, The Vintner’s Club, in a medieval French chateau and operated it from the late 1990s to 2008.
1969
1970
Ann Bellamy Smith passed away Sept. 7, 2021. While at CC, she met her future husband, Robert Reddick “Bob” Smith ’72, and they married in 1973. During their nearly 50 devoted years together, they raised three children, including Sarah Smith Williams ’99. Ann was one of the most loving people the world has seen, and she delighted in brightening the day of those around her. Ann is also survived by her brother, Thomas Bellamy ’83.
1973
Harry Pond Allen passed away peacefully Sept. 7, 2021. At CC, he played hockey and was a Phi Delta Theta. Whatever the weather, you knew you could find Harry messing about with boats. His booming voice, bushy mustache, adventurous spirit, and endless knowledge of all things history will be missed.
Harold “LeRoy” Ling passed away in his Jackson, Minnesota, home on May 2, 2021. He earned his master’s degree in chemistry at CC and taught chemistry, physics, mathematics, and computer science in Minnesota. LeRoy will be forever remembered by all of the students he taught throughout the years. Nixon “Nick” Hare passed away May 17, 2021, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. While at CC, he played lacrosse and soccer. He served during the Vietnam War. In 1995, Nick founded MS Partners to invest primarily in specialty chemical companies. He is survived by his widow, Caroline. Cliff Young died May 28, 2021. He was drafted during the Vietnam War and served as an Air Force chaplain in Virginia. Cliff was known as the restaurateur who led the fine-dining revolution
Martha Cogswell Auld passed away May 2, 2021, after a long and courageous battle with breast and ovarian cancer. She was an active member and supporter of the To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation. A loving and cherished wife, mother, and grandmother, she is survived by siblings including Mariana Cogswell Weinhold ’62. Her grandmother, Florence Gellatly Means, attended CC in the early 1900s.
Francis “Nick” Nickle Jr. passed away in Colorado Springs on May 21, 2021. He earned a master of arts in teaching at CC. Nick loved philosophy, journalism, history, art, music, and poetry, and intrigued his high school students with his unique style during his 33-year teaching career. His wife, Leslie, died in 2007; he is survived by two daughters.
1976
MS
natural world, an avid beekeeper, sailor, gardener, and woodsman who took great satisfaction in cutting his own firewood and splitting it by hand. He is survived by his wife, Patricia; two children, and two stepchildren.
1983
Mitch Scott Ivy passed away Aug. 2, 2021. He was active on the CC swimming and diving team. Mitch is survived by his loving wife, Lenora Ivy, children Alissa and James, his brother Matt ’81 and wife Jane Ivy, and parents Jim and Mary Gean Ivy. The family has set up memorial donations in Mitch’s honor to support cancer research. Information: everloved.com/life-of/ mitchell-ivy.
1986
Jeff Lyle Shaw passed away May 7, 2021, in Atlanta, Georgia. At CC, he was a Kappa Sigma and was active in multiple sports. He was editor-in-chief of the Catalyst student newspaper and received the Cutler Publications Award for Outstanding Student Publications in 1986. Jeff earned his juris doctor at the University of Kansas, where he graduated at the top of his class, and practiced law.
1992
Mike Van Zandt passed away July 28, 2021, in Riverview, Florida, from complications related to COVID-19. At CC, he played football and lacrosse, and he was a Kappa Sigma. The family lived in Japan for the past 17 years. He is survived by his wife, Naoko; and daughters Anne and Hannah ’25.
1993
Jeanne Marie Ulmer passed away Aug. 13, 2021, in Longmont, Colorado. She was an adventurer, educator, runner, friend, devoted dog lover, and beautiful soul who leaves an indelible imprint on the hearts of all who knew her. She was a Beta Delta who traveled the world and spent the last 16 years working for the University of Colorado in Boulder.
Mitchell Bird died Sept. 2, 2015. He was a Phi Delta Theta, was involved in campus publications, and earned his bachelor’s degree in anthropology. David Patrick Trowbridge of Brooksville, Maine, died July 24, 2021, from Parkinson’s disease. Patrick was a keen observer of the www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
29
Milestones: Nuptials, Births, & Obituaries
MS
In Memoriam
Steve Handen died of cancer July 12, 2021, at age 82. He taught CC’s Foundations of Nonviolence General Studies class starting in the early 1990s to around 2011 (continuing as a guest), mentored generations of CC student activists, supported civic engagement, and engaged widely with professors, students, and the community.
and grace. He thought and felt deeply, his spirituality one of liberation and daily activism. Steve’s sharp and critical mind tirelessly drew him to engage with the communities he rooted himself within — he helped start a poor people’s clinic, credit union, a land trust with more than 20 houses for people who need no or low rent, a free bike shop, a community newspaHe embodied his faith every day, per, a burial ground for unhoused dedicating his life to working for people, political theatre troupe, nonviolence, living simply, embrac- and sustainable living houses. ing others with compassion and He is survived by his wife, Mary loving kindness, and working for the dignity of all to change systems Lynn Sheetz, daughter Emmy that perpetuated injustice. Handen ’00, and sons David Spence and Luis Meja. A memorial Mass Steve’s teaching, like his living, took place July 23. balanced moral clarity with humor
Tom Nycum, 76, who served CC as a vice president for business and finance/treasurer from 2001-2008, died July 20, 2021, at his home in Fruita, Colorado, after a long journey with health issues. Tom was a thoughtful, steady, smart, and kind human being. He was guided by his inner compass; integrity was essential to him in his leadership, relationships, and work. He was insightful with people and in the business world, grounded, and connected to his values.
James taught at CC until 2002 and preceded her in death in 2017. Elaine is survived by her children, Deborah, Rebecca, and Gideon Yaffe; three grandchildren; and her sister. Donations may be made to the International Center of Photography in New York or any local arts organization.
He is survived by his wife, Vicki, and son Ture, and three grandchildren. A funeral Mass was held Aug. 14 in La Junta, Colorado, where Tom was born. The family asks that donations be made to HopeWest in Grand Junction, Colorado, or to The Woman’s Club of Colorado Springs.
Brian Young, vice president for information technology/chief technology officer, died suddenly July 28, 2021, at age 50. Throughout his eight years at CC, Brian’s kindness, humor, care, and joyful spirit built community in numerous ways. His energy was expansive and full, focused, and determined. Brian was an imaginative manager, trusted colleague, loyal friend, and loving partner, uncle, and sibling. He embraced life with vibrancy: on the golf course, watching his beloved Bengals, and with us in his everyday interactions. His heart was big and he was a gift to all who knew him. He is survived by his partner, Heather Kissack; and his sister, brother, and their families. A memorial service took place on Tava Quad on Aug. 5. Donations can be made to the American Cancer Society.
Elaine Gordon Yaffe, 84, died July 20, 2021, in Denver. She was a writer, photographer, and longtime CC administrator who wrote the first biography of visionary women’s college president Mary Ingraham Bunting (Radcliffe College). Elaine graduated from Radcliffe and Columbia, then married writer James Yaffe in 1964. They moved to Colorado seven years later for his job teaching English at CC. Elaine joined the CC administration in the early 1980s, first in communications and later as assistant dean of the Summer Session.
Tom took great interest in mentoring those he worked with and was committed to helping the institutions he worked for create something better for the future. He had a sense of stewardship and took that role seriously in many capacities, and he was an early and staunch supporter of sustainability.
The accomplished musician started playing the piano at 8 years old, graduating to trumpet and picking up the guitar and banjo in his 20s. He was able to master any instrument he touched, and was a prolific lyricist and songwriter, with at least 13 CDs to his credit. Iggy Igloo (Jonathan Ellis) passed away June 1, 2021, after a battle with cancer. Iggy loved the arts and music community, and he hosted “Planet Groove” on KRCC for many years. His research of music and their creators from around the world educated us about other cultures and styles of art and music.
Iggy was brave until the end, always comforting his caregivers, friends, and family. When he learned that he was dying, he said, “I want to show my family that I am a warrior.” He is survived by his son, mother, father, siblings, and many other family members and friends.
Bill A. Yost ’66, ’97, P’93, Catherine Grant Weir-Parker ’65, and Lex Towns ’67, P’96 have written “Liberal Arts and Sciences in Academia: A Case Study and Tribute,” in honor of four former Colorado College psychology professors: Doug Freed, Carl L. Roberts Jr., Don Shearn P’86, P’90, P’08, and Gilbert Johns. The faculty members joined the college between 1956 and 1962 and served for nearly 35 years. Sadly, Freed passed away in 2013, and Roberts and Johns died in 2021. The article may be accessed at https://2cc.co/weirtribute2022. 30
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
Bookshelf
BS
Creative Works by the CC Community
By Leslie Weddell
Transnational Chicanx Perspectives on Ana Castillo Co-edited by Karen Roybal, assistant professor of Southwest Studies For more than 40 years, Chicana author Ana Castillo has produced novels, poems, and critical essays that forge connections between generations; challenge borders around race, gender, and sexuality; and critically engage transnational issues of space, identity, and belonging. Her contributions to Latinx cultural production and Chicana feminist thought have transcended and contributed to feminist practice, ethnic literature, and border studies throughout the Americas. The book, co-edited with Bernadine Hernández, assistant professor of American Literary Studies at the University of New Mexico, is the first edited collection that focuses on Castillo’s work, which directly confronts what happens in response to cultural displacement, mixing, and border crossing. Published by University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021. The Very Nice Box By Laura Blackett ’13 and Eve Gleichman This book has it all: humor, social commentary, hilarious subway ads, new relationship vibes, toxic males who come to harsh ends, and more. It follows Ava, a product engineer at a slick furniture company. She’s hard-working, obsessive, and heartbroken from a tragedy that killed her girlfriend and upended her life. When Ava’s new boss — the young and magnetic Mat Putnam — offers her a ride home one afternoon, an unlikely relationship blossoms. But Mat isn’t who he claims to be, and the romance takes a sharp turn. The book is a funny, suspenseful, bitingly satirical debut — with a shocking twist. It’s at once a send-up of male entitlement and a bighearted account of grief, friendship, and trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021. Don’t Forget Us Here, Lost and Found at Guantánamo By Mansoor Adayfi and Antonio Aiello ’94 At the age of 18, Mansoor Adayfi left his home in Yemen for a cultural mission to Afghanistan. He never returned. Kidnapped by warlords and sold to the U.S. after 9/11, he was disappeared to Guantánamo Bay, where he spent the next 14 years, held without charges, as Detainee #441. Mansoor survived the camp’s infamous interrogation program and became a resistance fighter leading prison riots and hunger strikes. While at Guantánamo, he wrote a series of manuscripts he sent as letters to his attorneys, which he then transformed into this book, written in collaboration with Aiello. Through his story, he also tells Guantánamo’s story, offering a window into one of the most secretive places on earth. Published by Hachette Books, 2021.
⊲
Silent Witness: Forensic DNA Analysis in Criminal Investigations and Humanitarian Disaster Co-edited by Eric Stover ’74, Henry Erlich, and Thomas J. White Since its introduction in the late 1980s, DNA analysis has revolutionized the forensic sciences: It has helped to convict the guilty, exonerate the wrongfully convicted, identify victims of mass atrocities, and reunite families whose members have been separated by war and repressive regimes. Yet many of the scientific, legal, societal, and ethical concepts that underpin forensic DNA analysis remain poorly understood. Told by more than 20 experts in genetics, law, and social science, “Silent Witness” relates the history and development of modern DNA forensics and its application in courtroom and humanitarian settings. Stover is the faculty director of the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. Published by Oxford University Press, 2020. Founders and Organizational Development: The Etiology and Theory of Founder’s Syndrome Co-authored by Kat Miller-Stevens, associate professor of business, and Stephen Block Miller-Stevens’s second book is designed to help today’s researchers, faculty, students, and practitioners become familiar with the causes and dynamics of Founder’s Syndrome as an organizational condition challenging nonprofit/nongovernmental, social enterprise, and for-profit and publicly traded organizations. The book uses applied social and psychological theories to peel away the layers of an organizational enigma. It reveals three causes of Founder’s Syndrome and provides insight into the power and privileges assumed by founders who engage in undesirable and self-destructive behaviors leading to their termination. Insight is provided into accounts of well-known founders who were terminated or forced to resign. Published by Routledge, 2021. The Christie Affair By Nina de Gramont ’88 De Gramont’s book is a reimagining of mystery writer Agatha Christie’s famous 11-day disappearance in 1926. Having announced his intention to divorce her so he could marry his mistress, Archie Christie took off to spend a weekend in the country. Sometime that night, Agatha left home, abandoning her car beside a nearby chalk quarry with a suitcase full of clothes (but taking her typewriter). Eleven days later, she turned up at a spa hotel in Harrogate, having signed in under the name of her husband’s lover. Based on those facts, de Gramont weaves imagined storylines for both the mistress and the writer, converging at the spa hotel. Published by St. Martin’s Press, 2022.
Alumni who have written or edited books, or recorded CDs, are invited to send notifications to bulletin@coloradocollege.edu and bookstore@coloradocollege.edu. To mail a copy, send to Bulletin, 14 E. Cache La Poudre St., Colorado Springs, CO 80903. All submitted material will be donated to Tutt Library. Inscriptions inside books are always welcome. www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
31
LONNIE TIMMONS III
The CC Questionnaire
Claire Oberon Garcia Professor of English and Former Dean of the Faculty/Acting Provost WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT?
Raising four children who now have independent, interesting lives and who love to read and travel.
WHAT MEMORY ABOUT CC REALLY STICKS IN YOUR HEAD?
The student town hall in Winter 2020 when hundreds of students announced that they were holding the college accountable for living up to our antiracist and DEI commitments.
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE CC DOES BEST?
Offers smart and curious students an excellent liberal arts education. IF THERE WAS ONE THING YOU WOULD CHANGE ABOUT CC, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
More office, learning, and lab spaces! WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR?
Missing out.
WHICH PERSON, LIVING OR DEAD, DO YOU MOST ADMIRE?
Zora Neale Hurston.
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE BLOCK BREAK OR BLOCK?
The first time I taught the class Black Writers in Paris, in Paris with Professor of French Ibrahima Wade, Block 4, 2005. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
“‘Isn’t life,’ she stammered, ‘isn’t life—’ But what life was she couldn’t explain. No matter. He quite understood. ‘Isn’t it, darling?’” (Katherine Mansfield, “The Garden Party.”) WHAT IS ONE NON-DOMINANT AND/OR NON-VISIBLE IDENTITY YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE ABOUT YOURSELF?
I’m visually impaired.
WHO WOULD YOU INVITE TO YOUR DREAM DINNER PARTY?
The writers Jessie Redmon Fauset and Alexandre Dumas, the painters Eugène Delacroix and Jordan Casteel, and the filmmakers Ava DuVernay and Michael Powell.
IF YOU DIDN’T WORK IN YOUR CURRENT PROFESSION, WHAT OTHER JOB WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO HAVE?
WHERE DO YOU MOST WANT TO VISIT?
ON WHAT OCCASION DO YOU DO A “HAPPY DANCE?”
India is the country that I’m most curious about but haven’t visited. IF YOU COULD HANG OUT IN ONE SPOT ON CAMPUS, WHERE WOULD IT BE?
Tutt Library: I love how the building is such a hive of activity of many different kinds. I especially love how it looks at night from afar.
32
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
|
Winter 2021/22
I’d be a professional writer.
When I see our granddaughters.
WHAT IS A TALENT YOU HAVE THAT VERY FEW KNOW ABOUT?
I can always beat the daily Angry Birds challenge.
WHAT WOULD BE THE LAST LINE IN YOUR BIOGRAPHY?
Alleluia!
B E C A U S E O F Y O U…
CC’s Building on Originality campaign has enabled transformative change across campus, from the community to the classroom. Now, thanks to more than 40,000 generous donors, the future for our students and our campus is brighter than ever.
We have so much to celebrate. Here’s a snapshot of what your support has made possible: Scholarships & the CC Experience
Fostering Engaged Teaching and Learning
Expanded internship, student research, and exploration opportunities
Bringing visiting scholars, writers, artists, and entrepreneurs to campus
Charles L. Tutt Library Renovation
Creativity & Innovation at CC
Increased capacity to 90,000 sq. ft. and 1,100 seats
Creativity & Innovation grants funded 31 faculty projects and 12 student projects
139 new scholarships created to increase access to a CC education
Largest carbon-neutral, net-zero energy academic library in the U.S.
Yalich Student Services Center and Ed Robson Arena One-stop resource offering services for student health and well-being A versatile arena benefitting the campus and the Colorado Springs communities
Funding to support CC faculty as teachers and scholars
Cultivating resilience, risk-taking, and creative problem-solving through collaboration with nearly 300 classes
… and so much more.
It’s never too late to make a difference for CC students. Consider supporting Colorado College with a gift to the Annual Fund: coloradocollege.edu/give
Learn more at coloradocollege.edu/campaign www.coloradocollege.edu/bulletin | Winter 2021/22
3
Bulletin
14 E. Cache La Poudre St. Colorado Springs, CO 80903
End Scene
4
COLORADO COLLEGE BULLETIN
“Backstage” by Haley Wright ’22, a public installation/performance part of an Advanced Design/Installation course taught in Fall 2021 by Lecturer in Dance Patrizia Herminjard ’96 and visiting artists Joshua Kohl and Crow Nishimura. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III.
|
Winter 2021/22