Metropolitan Denver Magazine - Fall 2017

> T H E DY N A M I C D OZ E N

> N O T H E L D H O S TA G E

> E M P L O Y E R S L O V E C O L L E G E AT H L E T E S

FALL 2017

MAKING OUR MARK O N TH E MILE HIGH

ALUMS WHO’VE IMPACTED DENVER

A CREATIVE EXCHANGE 8.4 –10.21.17

Artists

Events

Anna McKee Aurora Robson Cannupa Hanska Luger The Infamous Flapjack Affair & National Park Experience Isabelle Hayeur Matt Jenkins & Lynna Kauchek Natascha Seideneck Nicholas Galanin & Merritt Johnson Tomiko Jones & Jonathan Marquis Vibha Galhotra Winter Count Collective

First + Third Fridays, 6 –8pm Open late for exhibition viewing & art making Tue + Thu 8/29 – 10/19, 3:30–5:30pm Young Artist Studio art workshops for ages 11–21

GALLERY

This exhibition examines the loaded issue of water and promotes stewardship, advocacy and activism through the work of contemporary artists, and in direct conversation with students, policy analysts and scientists.

Thu 9/14, 6pm Artist talk with Anna McKee & Jim White, CU Boulder Professor of Geological Sciences and Environmental Studies Wed 9/20, 6pm Art, Democracy and Water, artist talk with Matt Jenkins and Lynna Kauch of Food & Water Watch Wed 10/4, 6pm Uncanny Territory, artist talk with Natascha Seideneck

965 Sante Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204 • 303 294 5207 • msudenver.edu/cva • Tue-Fri 11am–6pm, Sat 12–5pm Top: Anna McKee, WAIS Reliquary: 68,000 Years (detail), glass, glacier water, silk wood, 2014, image by Joe Rudko.

Propagate:

A Backyard Revolution 8.4 – 10.21

FALL 2017

VOL. 5 NO.2 INSIDER.MSUDENVER.EDU

METROPOLITAN DENVER MAGAZINE

NOVEL APPROACH Alumna Jessica Thummel’s award-winning novel tells the story of Sam, a transgender man who moves to San Francisco amid the 1980s AIDS epidemic.

Read her story on Page 20.

08 12 26 FEATURE

MAKING OUR MARK ON THE MILE HIGH Meet three alums who’ve had an immense impact on Denver.

02 THE FIRST WORD

President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., discusses the University’s next chapter.

03 IN YOUR WORDS

Alumni share what they learned at MSU Denver that they still use today.

04 NEWS

MSU Denver continues to have an impact on and off campus.

ON THE COVER They came of age in Denver. They went to college in Denver. Now, they’re changing the city – for the better. Illustration by Craig Korn.

FEATURE

THE DYNAMIC DOZEN

Tracking 12 years of outstanding progress at MSU Denver.

18 NOT HELD HOSTAGE

Alumnus Jeff Daniels taps inner strength to overcome guidance counselor’s snub.

20 THE WRITING ON THE WALL

Alumna Jessica Thummel won an international book award for her debut novel.

22 A HIGH-FLYING LEGACY

Aviation alum Richard Gunter took flight at MSU Denver, launching his career as an Air Force pilot.

FEATURE

WHY EMPLOYERS LOVE COLLEGE ATHLETES

Good news for college athletes – you probably won’t struggle to find a good job.

29 PEOPLE

Alumni share news and notes.

30 THE FINAL WORD

Get to know the new president – Janine Davidson, Ph.D.

32 PEOPLE IN MEMORY

We remember those who are no longer with us.

24 BROTHERS IN BUSINESS

Sibling alumni parlay their accounting degrees into success.

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FIRSTWORD The Next Chapter I am so excited to introduce myself as the new president of Metropolitan State University of Denver. I want to start by saying thank you for the opportunity to lead your university. Over the last few months, I’ve heard the stories of so many proud Roadrunners whose education has changed their lives. Your stories, much like those featured in this issue of Metropolitan Denver Magazine, serve as a constant inspiration to me as I begin my work here.

As you may know, my first day on the job was July 24, which I spent with my new bosses – the MSU Denver Board of Trustees. We discussed the current trajectory of the University and insights from my campus and community listening tours. It was an excellent discussion about how best to work together as we write the next chapter in MSU Denver history. I plan to share my vision at our annual Welcome Back event on Sept. 13. My address will be livestreamed and I hope you’ll tune in.

As a preview, I’ll say that among my top priorities will be student retention and graduation.

While we’ve made enormous strides over the last decade, we need to do even more to support students while they’re here, ensuring that they finish their degrees and launch into the workforce, so they too can become proud and successful Roadrunner alumni.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank Dr. Jordan for all he has done for MSU Denver and me. Not only did he lay a strong foundation for me to build on during my presidency, but he spent his last several weeks on the job sharing his insights and wisdom with me. I am extremely grateful to him for helping me hit the ground running.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing more of your success stories in the weeks and months to come!

Sincerely,

Janine Davidson, Ph.D. President

Metropolitan Denver Magazine is published three times a year by the Metropolitan State University of Denver Office of Marketing and Communications. © 2017 Metropolitan State University of Denver. All rights reserved. Address correspondence to: Metropolitan Denver Magazine, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Office of Marketing and Communications, Campus Box 86, PO Box 173362, Denver, CO 80217-3362. Email: magazine@msudenver.edu.

The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the policies and opinions of Metropolitan State University of Denver nor imply endorsement by its officers or by the MSU Denver Alumni Association. Metropolitan State University of Denver does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation or disability in admissions or access to, or treatment or employment in, its educational programs or activities.

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PUBLISHER AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR CATHY LUCAS | EDITOR DAN VACCARO | ART DIRECTOR SCOTT SURINE | PUBLICATION DESIGNER CRAIG KORN | EDITORIAL ASSISTANT KRISTEN LOTZE | COPY EDITOR CLIFF FOSTER | CONTRIBUTORS MIKE BULL (CLASS OF 2009) | MARK COX | JENNY EDWARDS | M.G. ELLIS | SARA HERTWIG | DOUG MCPHERSON | RUYA NORTON | GLENN PAYNE | CORY PHARE | NATHAN SOLHEIM | LYNNE WINTER (CLASS OF 2017) | MARK WOOLCOTT | EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: DEBORA GILLIARD, PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT | BRIAN GUNTHER, SCHOOL OF EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY & PROGRAM COORDINATOR | JAMIE HURST, DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS AND GIVING | JULIE LUCAS, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF INTEGRATED MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS | SAM NG, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF METEOROLOGY | KIP WOTKYNS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM

Your WORDS In

SHARE YOUR STORY

Everyone has a story to tell and we want to hear yours! Email us: magazine@msudenver.edu.

We asked alumni this question:

What’s one thing you learned at MSU Denver that you still use today?

Here are your answers.

Maddy Wickoren The importance of communicating with others‬

Breeanna Benton My knowledge of design‬ ‬‬‬

Tsegamlak Girma Micro

pipetting ‬and other lab skills! ‬‬‬‬

Awyn Fulton There is no reason

to not reach for the highest rung and there is always someone who needs your help to reach higher.

In other words, dream big and help other people reach their dreams. ‬

Alyssa Marie Zitek How to create a nurturing and caring environment within my classroom; modeled so well by the School of Education staff!!‬ Samantha Kalinowski Public

Tia Terlaje There are seriously some great people left in the world!

All of my professors and classmates are the most caring, hardworking and dedicated individuals I know.

It has been an honor. ‬ Jerry Kliner If anything, MSU Denver overwhelmingly taught me that it’s not “the name” on your degree that counts but the quality of the education you got and how you use it …

Shelby Carranza Everything

I learned about teaching students and helping students with disabilities. MSU Denver’s Special Education Department fully prepared me for my teaching job! ‬

Chiyoko Fujimoto All the

knowledge and skills I learned in human performance and sport and speech communications!!

speaking. I was deathly afraid of it when I entered college. I left giving the valedictory speech to over 10,000 people. In my career, I’ve been able to lead meetings, facilitate focus groups and present at conferences with relative ease because faculty at MSU Denver always pushed me to do things I thought I couldn’t do.‬

Jason Guber

Understanding‬ the difference between the books and the real world. My professors in the [College of Business] made sure we understood what the realworld applications of our studies were. ‬‬‬

Chanda Turnbull, M.S. Since‬ most students at MSU Denver had jobs and school, I would say organizational skills. ‬‬‬ Dan DeHerrera, CHSP

Balance. ‬I had a job, was a full-time student and tried to maintain a social life. Finding the right balance for all three is a skill I still use today. ‬‬‬

Collette Pella I‬had the most amazing professors at MSU Denver in both the Social Work and Sociology departments.

I learned most about cultural sensitivity. ‬‬‬

Nancy Blank Nothing‬ can replace hard work. ‬‬‬

Wayne Bart Drive‬and purpose‬ Mandy Alegnani, MBA The‬

value of teamwork! ‬‬‬

Shawn Brndiar, LSW LAC EMDR I learned who I was

supposed to be. Thanks to MSU Denver’s foundation in human services and then my MSW, I transformed into a pretty good counselor and social worker, which later translated into being a highly reviewed professor. ‬‬‬

Franklin Taylor Atkinson

That‬it’s okay for plans to change and that everyone is capable of contributing. ‬‬‬

Kevin Harris Math‬‬‬‬ *Some responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Adesola Owolabi Time‬

management‬‬‬

THANK YOU TO OUR ROADRUNNERS ATHLETICS SPONSORS

TM

Hotel Partners Hilton Garden Inn Denver Cherry Creek

Holiday Inn Denver Lakewood

Holiday Inn Denver Cherry Creek

SpringHill Suites Denver Downtown

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News

MSU Denver continues to have an impact on and off campus.

WE HAVE

LIFTOFF

Robert Park, Ph.D., (left) and former President Stephen M. Jordan, Ph.D., at the June 22 ribbon-cutting.

The new Aerospace and Engineering Sciences Building is MSU Denver’s starship Enterprise.

Not only will it take student learning to places that few colleges have gone before, but its successful launch is the result of some serious teamwork.

that support specific skills and technical expertise. A 50 percent scale model of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, manufactured by MSU Denver students, hangs in the glass-walled west-facing atrium for all to see as they drive by on Auraria Parkway.

That teamwork was on full display at the June 22 ribbon-cutting ceremony, where the University announced a $1 million gift from longtime partner Lockheed Martin.

The building also features cutting-edge programmable machine tools provided through a partnership with Hartwig Inc. and a publicprivate partnership enterprise floor, where local companies will house their facilities. One such partner is satellite manufacturer York Space Systems. With mentorship from the experts at York, students will be involved in the design, engineering and manufacturing of satellites.

They’ll also get to operate the spacecraft on orbit and learn how to analyze collected data for the benefit of society.

The gift funded an additive manufacturing laboratory, centered around a state-of-theart 3-D printing machine called the Stratasys Fortus 900mc. It also established the Lockheed Martin Endowed Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Sciences Institute, a position that will be held by Robert Park, Ph.D. The event was followed by tours of the 117,000-square-foot building, more than half of which is dedicated to specialized laboratories 04

FALL 2017

READ MORE: insider.msudenver.edu/ we-have-liftoff/

FULBRIGHT FUTURE Janet Hernandez was the first in her family to go to college; now she’s the first student in MSU Denver history to win a Fulbright. The Fulbright scholarship is one of the most prestigious academic awards in the world. Recipients are funded to research, study and teach in more than 140 countries.

Hernandez will spend her Fulbright year in South Korea teaching English and Spanish to elementary students.

“I picked South Korea because I’m fascinated with its culture and languages,” she said. “[The language] is completely different from anything I’ve ever spoken. I’m excited to be in a new region of the world with the amazing food, and I’m especially excited to meet new people and learn Korean.”

She wants to learn as many languages as possible so she can speak with people from different backgrounds.

The future educator graduated in May 2017 with a degree in English and Spanish. She maintained a 3.88 GPA while also working at the Colorado Press Association and volunteering regularly.

READ MORE: insider. msudenver.edu/ heading-to-southkorea-and-afulbright-future/

A native Spanish speaker, Hernandez says she loves languages “because they connect humanity.”

Building renamed for president devoted to student success For 12 years, the Jordan name was synonymous with student success at MSU Denver. On June 10, the University ensured it always would be, renaming its flagship facility the Jordan Student Success Building, in honor of outgoing president Stephen M. Jordan and his wife, Ruthie.

The surprise announcement was made at the 2017 Summer Soirée, an annual fundraising gala put on by MSU Denver.

“This is a fitting tribute to a leader who has dedicated so much of his life to ensuring that students have a better future,” said Michelle Lucero, chair of the MSU Denver Board of Trustees. “From this day forward, when people talk about this building and when students make good use of it, the name Jordan will always be paired with the words ‘student success,’ and that’s as it should be.”

The announcement came just weeks before Jordan’s June 30 retirement.

The name will be added to the structure one year from now, per state regulations.

More than 450 people attended the soirée. Guests were treated to food, live music and a video highlighting Jordan’s work. The $300,000 raised at the event is earmarked for the Steve and Ruth Jordan Endowed Scholarship for Leadership, which was established to support students who might not otherwise have access to higher education. In the 2017-18 school year, money from the scholarship will provide six students with $2,000 each.

READ MORE: insider.msudenver.edu/building-renamed-for-presidentdevoted-to-student-success/

News The HEaT is on MSU Denver is serving up another school.

The Board of Trustees recently approved the creation of a new School of Hospitality, Events and Tourism – a move that dramatically increases the visibility of one of the nation’s most innovative hospitality programs.

Trustees cited rapid growth in the hospitality program as a reason for elevating the University’s current Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Events to a school. Enrollment has doubled since the University entered into a public-private partnership with Sage Hospitality to open the Hospitality Learning Center in 2012. The center, which

pairs learning space with the SpringHill Suites Denver Downtown hotel, is one of 11 such facilities in the nation.

Carol Krugman, former chair of the department, who worked on the transition over the past three years, says the school will continue to provide great benefits to hospitality students planning to enter one of Colorado’s largest industries.

“It offers students an enriched curriculum in their specialty field and the opportunity for more relevant courses to prepare for the workplace,” she said. “That makes them more competitive and much more visible to potential employers.”

HOW TO AVOID A WATER CRISIS IN THE WEST This spring, the One World One Water Center at MSU Denver and the Denver Botanic Gardens formed a partnership that will have long-term implications on the future of water education and stewardship in the Centennial State.

“Both organizations were already pursuing similar objectives,” said Jennifer Riley-Chetwynd, director of marketing and social responsibility for the Denver Botanic Gardens. “By joining forces, we can do so much more, and have a bigger reach for our work.”

That work will include stronger collaboration between MSU Denver professors and Botanic Garden scientists, shared research projects and the pursuit of joint funding. Wherever possible, the aim is to involve students.

As part of the agreement, Riley-Chetwynd also becomes co-director of the OWOW Center, in addition to her work at the Botanic Gardens. She already serves as an affiliate faculty member in journalism at MSU Denver.

“We need to work together to answer questions about how to deal with our population growth, where our water will come from and how we will keep urban communities viable without endangering our environment,” she said.

“No one group can do all of that alone. It’s the only way forward if we’re going to make Colorado’s future sustainable.”

READ MORE: insider.msudenver.edu/how-to-avoid-a-mad-max-stylewaterless-future/

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CHIEF OF STORYTELLING 7

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THE PROFESSOR’S ROOM Rebecca Gorman O’Neill is most comfortable when she’s surrounded by books and art.

As a professor of English and interim department chair, her office is filled with endless inspiration, just waiting to be turned into the next great story. Here’s a little window into hers, by way of the items in her workplace.

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I’ve got baseballs all over the place; I just like to have them in my hand, especially when I’m on the phone. I’m originally from Ohio and pulling for the Cleveland Indians is just sad, so I’m a diehard Rockies fan – I’ve even got a little radio in here to listen to the day games.

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This is a scale model of Tower Bridge in London, where I lived and studied for a semester. I’ve loved Legos since I was a kid and find working with my hands extremely soothing. And, as an adult, now I can buy all of the sets I’d like – I’m really looking forward to picking up the Saturn V rocket one!

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I’ve always got three screens going simultaneously: my work computer, my iPad for music and to-do lists, and one that is a stream of live animal webcams; they make me completely happy. I was an April-the-giraffe devotee. I definitely love giraffes, as they’re so huge, gentle and ridiculously adorable.

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Once a year, I get up to Rocky Mountain National Park to seriously run around a bit. My husband found a great 1930s reproduction of this poster of the park. I tried to track down this specific lake three times and failed, but finally found it – it’s Cub Lake.

Cathy Lucas, chief of staff and chief communications officer at MSU Denver, was named Public Relations Person of the Year by the Public Relations Society of America, Colorado Chapter.

The prestigious peer-nominated award was presented to Lucas at a gala in May. She was honored, in particular, for her work implementing brand journalism into the University’s communication strategy.

At its core, brand journalism abandons the traditional press release in favor of compelling in-house storytelling, complete with images and video. Features are packaged to the media directly, while also distributed on social media and the web.

MSU Denver is one of the first universities in the nation to adopt this strategy and has dramatically increased its story views and media coverage as a result.

READ MORE: insider.msudenver.edu/ chief-of-storytelling/

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My pinboard with artwork is a representation of what’s going on inside my head.

I’ve got a picture from the first play I ever wrote and a few of my favorite comic book writers: Charles Paul Wilson III (the cover from Neil Gaiman’s “The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury”), a mermaid with jellyfish from Renee Nault and one of Sara Richard’s works on “My Little Pony.”

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The most successful play I’ve written is a pseudo-biography of Edgar Allen Poe, called “Tell-Tale;” there are a bunch of high schools that stage productions of it.

This Poe doll was a gift from my mom.

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Office doors tell a lot about the person inside. I firmly believe in an open door as a department chair. It means a lot to create an approachable, welcoming environment for our students – they’re why we’re here.

WANT MORE? Keep up to date with MSU Denver news at insider.msudenver.edu.

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MAKING OUR MARK ON THE MILE HIGH

T

ALUMS WHO’VE IMPACTED

DENVER STORY CORY PHARE

They came of age in the city. They went to college in the city. Now, they’re changing the city – for the better. From revitalizing neighborhoods to advocating for the next generation of residents, these Mile High catalysts affect change in Denver every day.

Paving the road home Veronica Barela is tough. She’s determined. And as a savvy community builder, she gets things done.

PHOTO SARA HERTWIG

In other words, she’s a Roadrunner.

And NEWSED’s annual Cinco de Mayo Festival – which just celebrated its 30th year – kicks off the city’s festival season.

Understanding Veronica Barela’s accomplishments as CEO and president of the NEWSED community-development corporation requires knowing her story of persistence and empowerment.

“Art has been extremely important in building community,” Barela says. “[It] gives us something to culturally hang our hats on – and we want to share that with the public.”

Raised in Denver’s North Lincoln Park housing projects, she grew up in the community she’s helped build for more than four decades. And though there were hardships, she credits the experience for forging her vision of leadership.

Though her first foray into higher education was cut short after racial intimidation at another institution, she decided to enroll as a Roadrunner, being familiar with the school from which her brother and sister graduated.

“Growing up poor, I learned to appreciate what I did have and not to waste time on things that don’t matter,” Barela says. “It made me really care about helping people get out of poverty.”

“There wasn’t a single professor I didn’t like – and if we encountered racism, there were people around to help process and do something about it,” Barela says. “The difference was like night and day.”

Barela’s civic engagement is a testament to the power of uniting a neighborhood. As a west Denver activist for decades, she recalls how NEWSED’s entry into housing issues kicked off with advocating for displaced populations, starting in the 1980s. With gentrification related to soaring home prices, that advocacy continues to this day.

“The homeownership rate then was 16 percent – that was unacceptable,” Barela says. “We had to do something to bring middle income back into the community.”

Building community takes a strong foundation – and for Barela, it meant finding an educational fit locally.

Another key difference: the school’s reputation for creating workforce-ready students. Barela says employers hire MSU Denver graduates because “we’re working people – we have our feet on the ground.”

Having feet on the ground led to NEWSED’s enduring impact over the decades. Empowering a community takes education, effort and hard work.

For Barela, though, it’s more than that – it’s paving a road home.

That was the impetus for a massive revitalization effort: Grants paved the way for streetscaping, tree planting and painting that helped spur the redevelopment of Santa Fe Drive.

“I loved MSU Denver; it’s the best training I could have had,” she says. “I’m so proud to be a Roadrunner.”

Today, the area is a magnet for arts and culture in the Rocky Mountain region. The Art District on Santa Fe’s monthly First Friday Art Walk regularly draws upward of 15,000 attendees.

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Out of the gate, running Nickolas Dawkins has built a legacy of school turnarounds – and he’s not looking back.

PHOTO MARK WOOLCOTT

As principal of Denver’s Manual High School, Nickolas Dawkins understands what it takes to turn things around.

The 2003 English degree graduate has a track record of transformation: At Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Early College, he contributed to the achievement of a 100 percent graduation rate. As principal at Hamilton Middle School, he helped realize some of the highest achievement growth in the state.

And the key to his success? An equity-minded approach to ensure that every student receives a great education.

“When I’ve come into places, students are often falling behind,” he says. “I can understand that; for a long time, I was there myself.”

Having lost his family as a teenager, Dawkins knows firsthand how vital it is to have the right support at the right time. As a Roadrunner, he credited faculty in education and English for being instrumental in a journey that’s taken him through graduate school and all the way to study at the University of Oxford.

For Dawkins, however, the foundation is local – the education he got at MSU Denver.

“Through practicums and other real-world connections, we learned to celebrate students for who they are and where they come from,” Dawkins says. “The University gave me a chance to do that; now I try to give back the same opportunities.”

One of the components in Dawkins’ approach is reframing the perception of problem behavior as a strength-based opportunity to build on. By adopting an appreciative mindset, students have foundational confidence that becomes selffulfilling.

It matters to Dawkins because, as he put it, schools can and should be judged by how they treat those with the most potential impact from high-quality instruction.

To do that, he empowers teachers to do what they do best – teach.

“My job is to help our great teachers improve student learning by removing obstacles for them to do their jobs,” he says. “We hire a lot of MSU Denver education graduates to help with that – they have a culturally responsive lens to build resiliency and help students be successful.”

For Dawkins, this understanding came into focus personally at MSU Denver. As an English major with a minor and emphasis in secondary education, he learned the transformative power of setting high expectations with the targeted support to reach them.

“I came from the city; I live in the city. I know these kids,” he says.

“We are the students who were counted out, but we came out of the gate running – and we’ve never looked back.”

Getting young people back on the road

As chief probation officer for the Denver Juvenile Probation Department, Shawn Shawn Cohn turned Cohn has spent more her criminal-justice than 25 years getting degree into a career young people back on turning lives around. track after setbacks with the legal system.

And with more than 500 youths currently on probation, it requires a deft touch to balance individual situations with community safety.

a probation chief who came to one of her courses – along with working at the Excelsior Youth Center residential facility – that helped solidify her professional track into youth corrections.

“Folks here are passionate about helping kids turn their lives around,” she says. “We recognize that people make poor choices sometimes, so we work hard to get a rehabilitative plan in place and positively engage families.”

“I’m a huge supporter of the criminal-justice program at MSU Denver,” she says. “So many of our probation officers now come from there; they just have a different level of understanding for the system.”

Now, it’s Cohn’s turn to pay it forward. As a guest presenter at MSU Denver, she extols the virtues of internships and applied volunteerism, which give students an edge in the competitive job market.

Helping young people turn their lives around requires focusing on the individual and the community. For Cohn, insight into both came from her time as a Roadrunner.

The 1990 graduate knew from early on the kind of work she wanted to do. While attending Lincoln High School, she met a resource officer who piqued her interest in making a difference through law enforcement.

But it wasn’t until she became a Roadrunner that she got a real look into a career that would give her the opportunity to impact lives throughout the Denver community.

“The instructors teaching these courses often had careers in the fields they taught in,” says Cohn, who majored in criminal justice with an emphasis in juvenile delinquency and minored in psychology. “In addition to getting the information from books, I got real-life, hands-on experience.”

Cohn recalls a course on statute that was taught by a practicing district attorney. She also notes the immense value that guest lecturers bring to the classroom by exposing students to different opportunities within criminal justice. Indeed, it was

PHOTO MARK WOOLCOTT

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12 THE DYNAMIC DOZEN

TRACKING 12 YEARS OF OUTSTANDING PROGRESS AT MSU DENVER STORY JULIE LUCAS

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The past 12 years have brought remarkable changes to Denver’s urban university. You’ve probably heard about the big stuff: new buildings, programs and partnerships. But there is so much more to the story. Here are the numbers that mark the journey, the data that paints a full picture of these dynamic dozen years.

Campus Diversity MSU Denver is a leader in diverse enrollment among Colorado’s four-year universities, giving students the chance to develop the multicultural awareness critical to thrive in today’s workplace. The racial and ethnic diversity of the University mirrors that of Colorado.

Students of Color

Latinx 4,770 (24.1%)

Total Undergraduate Students

7,812 (39.5%)

Black or African-American 1,255 (6.3%)

Bi- or Multiracial 853 (4.3%) Asian 771 (3.9%) American Indian or Alaska Native 107 (.5%) Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 56 (.3%)

2016

By 2018, MSU Denver will become a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution with 25 percent Latino undergraduate, full-time equivalent enrollment. The designation will open doors to additional funding and benefit all students.

As of Aug. 14, the University’s Latino enrollment was 26.3 percent for fall 2017.

2016

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Faculty Increase Over the past dozen years, MSU Denver has increased its number of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty, a number that correlates with rising graduation rates. The University has successfully built a more diverse faculty, reflecting the students it serves.

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Student Retention and Graduation As an institution that serves many nontraditional students, MSU Denver has faced challenges in retention and graduation since its founding. The University has met these challenges with increasing success in recent years.

Public-Private Partnerships In an era of diminished public funding for higher education, MSU Denver has created mutually beneficial partnerships with private businesses. These public-private partnerships give students opportunities to build relevant skills while offering industries a highly trained workforce.

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67

Bachelor’s Degrees

85

Undergraduate Minors

32

Certificate Programs

Becoming a University with Master’s Degrees Gov. John Hickenlooper signed SB12-148 into law April 18, 2012, transforming Metropolitan State College of Denver into Metropolitan State University of Denver. Since then, MSU Denver has made impressive strides, received significant notice and acquired accreditations that affirm the quality of its programs.

Support and Engagement from Alumni and Donors Since 1965, MSU Denver has known it would need to take an outside-the-box approach to growth. Without a long history and the deep alumni support that legacy affords, the University has had to strategically prioritize and leverage its financial, physical and human resources. The institution has focused on sharpening its brand, lifting its profile among stakeholders, including potential donors, and continually engaging its alumni.

375.7%

$7,273,176* In 2005, there were 1,617 alumni donors. This year, MSU Denver had 2,195 Alumni engagement has risen as well, from 2,252 in 2005 to 5,575 this year.

*As of July 31, 2017

See the entire report at msudenver.edu/progress-report

Not held ALUMNUS TAPS INNER STRENGTH TO OVERCOME GUIDANCE COUNSELOR’S SNUB. STORY DOUG MCPHERSON | PHOTO M.G. ELLIS/WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY

hostage

Jeff Daniels recalls the day his high school guidance counselor told him he wasn’t college material.

Thankfully, he didn’t listen to what turned out to be laughably unwise counsel.

A few months later, Daniels was a freshman at MSU Denver and on his way to a doctorate, not to mention a stellar career in psychology.

“I was in a rock band, and we came close to getting a contract with Warner Bros., but it fell through,” he says.

“Our drummer was going to Metro State, and he said he liked it, so I came too.”

Daniels says besides a solid education, he also got something he desperately needed: encouragement.

“I have to credit one of my professors; he was also my mentor: Alan Dahms,” he says.

cutting-edge research he’s done with the FBI on school shootings, hostage-taking and police ambushes is saving lives.

He says after some soul-searching, he wanted his work to make a difference in the world. “I grew up in Jefferson County, so after the Columbine [High School] shooting, I decided to research ways to prevent these kinds of events,” he says. He received a grant and began investigating how to thwart them.

“One of the key findings is that we have to break the code of silence and get students and faculty and staff to talk about any plots,” he says.

Daniels’ research with the FBI to better understand hostage-takers’ motives has provided new data to negotiators, who are using that information to resolve conflicts. And his work on police ambushes is helping save police officers’ lives.

Dahms was the antithesis of Daniels’ high school guidance counselor. “I had him for several classes, and his passion for teaching and psychology and his encouragement that I was Ph.D. material made a huge difference in my life,” Daniels says. “He and the University gave me what I needed to keep going in my career.”

“Knowing that at the end of the day perhaps a life has been saved makes me feel good,” he says.

After graduating with a degree in psychology in 1987, Daniels went on to earn his doctorate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

It’s a career MSU Denver acknowledges with great pride: This past spring, the Department of Psychology gave Daniels its distinguished alumni award.

“The foundation I got at MSU Denver was instrumental to my success when I went to graduate school,” he says. “My classmates were from many other major universities, and I could stand my ground with any of them.”

His advice to today’s students isn’t surprising given his story: “Find what you’re passionate about, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t.”

He’s also proud that some of his past students stay in touch. “One reached out to me who graduated 10 years ago and is now a faculty member at a university – he wants to do some research with me.”

Today, he’s a professor and chair of the Department of Counseling, Rehabilitation Counseling and Counseling Psychology at West Virginia University. And the

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The

writing on the wall

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ALUMNA JESSICA THUMMEL WON AN INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR

Thummel adds that “Rebecca Gorman O’Neill is one of the most influential professors I’ve ever had” through three writing courses and a senior capstone.

“Her approach to teaching and discussion of form and other elements of strong writing really shaped how I look at storytelling,” Thummel HER DEBUT NOVEL. says. “I still hear bits of wisdom she’d give when STORY NATHAN SOLHEIM | PHOTO MIKE BULL (CLASS OF 2009) I work, my favorite of which was from her screenwriting class. It was basically, ‘start as late in the scene as you can, and leave just as quickly.’”

Jessica Thummel’s journey to become an For her part, Gorman O’Neill says seeing internationally published novelist included an Thummel triumph is a powerful reward for the important chapter at MSU Denver.

MSU Denver English Department.

Thummel won the prestigious 2016 Dundee “When the larger literary community International Book Prize for her debut novel, acknowledges what we already know – the “The Cure for Lonely,” which tells the comingtalent of our students – it instills in us a great of-age story of Sam, a transgender man who deal of pride, knowing that we had a little part moves to San Francisco amid the 1980s in her great success,” Gorman O’Neill says.

AIDS epidemic. The prize annually recognizes talented first-time novelists and provides Winning the prize was a dramatic shift for them with a critical pathway to the Thummel, who went from three published short publishing industry. stories to appearances on BBC television and radio in a short span.

As a winner, the Denver-based novelist was awarded a publishing contract with Freight This summer, Thummel continued working Books and 5,000 British pounds. She also on revisions to her new novel, which is set in received an invitation to the Dundee Literary Denver. She also traveled to the Edinburgh Festival in Dundee, Scotland, and a week of International Book Festival, where she dedicated writing time. hobnobbed with acclaimed authors like Zadie Smith, Colson Whitehead and Roxane Gay. Of “It was a book I wanted to read and one I had a course, she also read and discussed “The Cure hard time finding,” Thummel says of her novel. for Lonely.”

“That’s not to say there weren’t wonderful books with trans characters in the world 10 “I don’t think someone should ever read a book years ago when I started writing this novel, unless they’re interested in it or it’s required for but I couldn’t find them, and I also couldn’t a class,” Thummel says. “That said, I hope people stop thinking about Sam.” will find something to be curious about – the voice or the story or where it’s set – and I hope, Thummel received her bachelor’s degree in in Sam, they can find something of themselves.”

English from MSU Denver in 2007 along with a minor in Spanish, plus a teaching licensure in secondary education. The 34-year-old says several MSU Denver English professors contributed to her education immensely, including Elsie Haley, Ph.D., whose “high expectations for work ethic and analysis set the tone” for the rest of her academic career. Thummel also earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

A high-flying Richard Gunter, Ph.D., remembers the moment he decided to become a pilot.

“When I was 4 years old, my parents took me to the Chattanooga Airport to see a jet-propelled airplane,” he says. “I was mesmerized by the pilot in the cockpit. I knew then what I wanted to do with my life.”

Sadly, a year after that trip, Gunter was orphaned.

Undeterred, he kept his dream alive by collecting and drawing pictures of the planes he imagined flying.

“There was little opportunity in the Deep South,” Gunter says. “Flying a plane was not something a ‘boy like me’ could do.”

As a teen, Gunter purchased a motorcycle that propelled him beyond the limits of his neighborhood, introducing him to people in aviation and further feeding his desire to fly.

Gunter joined the National Guard after high school, an experience that spurred him to consider joining the Air Force someday. At the same time, he enrolled in college but was put off by the experience. “I was not interested in the subject matter, and they didn’t care that I was there,” he says.

Still restless to fly, Gunter took up sky diving.

“It was a way for me to meet the guys who flew planes – to connect myself to aviation,” he says.

“It was addictive.”

legacy

On a serendipitous skydiving excursion in Florida in 1971, Gunter met Bob Gilbert. A kindred spirit, Gilbert also wanted to become an Air Force pilot.

There were few schools with aviation degree programs at the time, but Gilbert spoke of a new school in Denver called Metro State.

“I was relieved and excited,” Gunter says. “I could finally learn what I wanted to learn.”

While he’d found a college program that fit his needs, Gunter remained eager to become an Air Force pilot as quickly as possible. When he discovered there was no Air Force ROTC at MSU Denver, he approached Dean Gail Phares to see if it would be possible to join forces with the University of Colorado Boulder program. This was in spring 1972, and he was getting close to the cutoff age for flight school. Gunter needed Phares to add the curriculum before the fall semester; without it, his dream of becoming a pilot would be lost.

Gunter would ultimately found the Air Force ROTC program at MSU Denver. He and two other young men became the first students to graduate from the program in 1974.

All three went on to fly for the Air Force. The crosstown agreement with CU Boulder – which remains to this day – has benefited more than 60 former and 13 current MSU Denver students.

Gunter’s military career took him around the world – from Southeast Asia to Europe and beyond. He also worked as a counseling psychologist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, helping disabled veterans rebuild their lives, until his retirement in 2005.

“From the beginning, my goal was to get to MSU Denver,” Gunter says. “I jumped over fences and roadblocks to get there, but once I did, it was worth it.

“Life is good, thanks to MSU Denver.”

AVIATION ALUM RICHARD GUNTER TOOK FLIGHT AT MSU DENVER, LAUNCHING AN ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER AS AN AIR FORCE PILOT. STORY LYNNE WINTER (CLASS OF 2017) | PHOTO JENNY EDWARDS

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Brothers SIBLING ALUMNI PARLAY THEIR ACCOUNTING

in business

DEGREES INTO SUCCESS. STORY DOUG MCPHERSON | PHOTO MARK WOOLCOTT Brothers Bob and Tom Morrison mean business when it comes to success.

If you’d known them as kids, you wouldn’t be surprised. Growing up in Denver, they learned about hard work.

“Our neighbor managed an ice-cream store at Stapleton Airport,” recalls Bob, who graduated from MSU Denver in 1991 with a degree in accounting. “We’d take the bus from Wash Park out there and work long hours. Our parents never bought us cars, never paid for clothes when we were teenagers or gave us money to go out with our friends. Those items were up to us.”

Tom agrees. The 1993 accounting graduate says, “Our parents set great examples for us as far as responsibility, integrity, honesty, education and hard work.”

“Next to love and affection,” Bob adds, “the greatest gift they gave all of us was how to be financially independent.”

Today, the Morrison brothers stand at the peak of their professions.

Bob has held senior positions

at internationally recognized companies such as Deloitte & Touche, JD Edwards and USAA. He’s now president at Downing Street Wealth Management LLC, where he manages over $50 million in client assets.

Tom also worked at Deloitte & Touche, along with Ernst & Young, and served as a tax director for a large public company. Today, he’s vice president of tax at National Cinemedia, the country’s largest cinema advertising network.

But aside from the lesson of hard work, how’d these two end up both studying accounting and succeeding in business?

As a child, Bob says, he was fascinated with commerce. “Even though I love numbers, I’m a people person first,” he says. “Business gives me a platform to marry those two skills.”

For Tom, it was all about figuring things out. “I think we both like to solve problems and help people,” he says.

Both say they fine-tuned their skills at MSU Denver because of professors who had street credibility with plenty of work experience.

“I learned accounting and tax from people who had practiced and had real-world experience and brought that into the classroom,” Bob says.

Tom says he loved the accounting faculty because “they combined real-world experience with academic rigor. My professional mentor, Al Richards, was a parttime tax instructor at MSU Denver and was also a practicing CPA.” The Morrison brothers’ advice to students: “Do whatever you can to connect with alumni,” Tom says.

“Make yourself known so you’ll stand out when someone is looking to hire. Also, be willing to give back to the community.”

“Pursue your dreams, and do not let failure derail your goals,” Bob says. “I’ve failed numerous times.

It’s about what you learn from those experiences. I don’t view failure as a negative; I view it as an opportunity. If you pursue your passions, the money will follow.”

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WHY EMPLOYERS LOVE COLLEGE ATHLETES GOOD NEWS FOR COLLEGE ATHLETES. IF YOUR SPORTING HEROICS DON’T WORK OUT, YOU PROBABLY WON’T STRUGGLE TO FIND A GOOD JOB. STORY MARK COX | PHOTO MARK WOOLCOTT

If

If someone’s gifted at cooking, you don’t automatically expect that person to be good at sailing a boat, do you? Similarly, if someone’s a maestro on the piano, it doesn’t necessarily follow that he or she will be a natural with pets.

And yet, if a student is a good soccer player, baseball slugger, volleyball specialist, golfer, swimmer, runner – any college sport, really – then many companies automatically assume this athlete will also make an ideal employee.

Why? What is it about the way a young woman wields a hockey stick that convinces recruiters she’ll also be a whiz in their high-tech office environment?

The answer, of course, lies not in the specifics of any individual sport, but in the larger cultural environment from which college athletes come.

Are you looking for somebody tough, who’ll get back up when knocked down? Want someone with thick skin who’s accustomed to getting blistering feedback? Need savvy team players, who are wellorganized and intuitively understand their roles?

You need an athlete!

COMPLETE PACKAGE “Employers just love college athletes,” says April Schofield, marketing lecturer at MSU Denver.

“And that’s because sports and good business practice involve a lot of similar qualities. There’s the competitive nature, ability to multitask, the team mentality and comfort with taking orders.

And really, which employer isn’t looking for those assets?”

There’s even a magic word that sums up the college athlete’s attractiveness to employers (and which was independently mentioned twice by both interviewees for this story): “coachability.”

“The ‘coachability’ aspect is really important,” Schofield says. “Even as a parent watching your kids at sports practice, you’ll see that some people just can’t handle being told what they’re not good at. But with student-athletes, employers already know they can take criticism and use it constructively.”

COACHING COUNTS For living proof of this theory, look no further than Gerald Mota. The former varsity soccer team player, who graduated from MSU Denver in 2011, saw his sporting achievements jump off the page once he started showing his resume to potential employers. He credits sport with helping to secure a great job with Northwestern Mutual following graduation.

Now an established financial director, Mota can see with hindsight why his athletic pedigree was such a draw. “Lots of corporations like how coachable we are; it’s as simple as that,” he says. “They know they will be able to mold and teach us the ways of their business, especially when we’re still young and relatively unformed.”

But can it really be as simple as that? The kid who happens to be good at running or throwing a ball equals a surefire employee bet? Actually, maybe so.

“I honestly think that many of the stereotypes do apply,” Mota says. “All the former college athletes I know really do have a high work ethic and bounce back easily from disappointment, and all those things. It’s kind of drilled into us.”

“EVEN NOW, SO MANY STUDENTS HIDE THEIR SPORTING ACTIVITY ON THEIR But perhaps even more important, in Mota’s case anyway, was the sense of competitive drive that soccer instilled in him: “My employers saw that I wasn’t satisfied to be complacent and just stay in the same position. I was always striving to be better than I was the day before and openly reaching for new goals, and I think they responded to that.”

BIG REPUTATION Of course, the sporting-business-star model probably works better for some careers (sales and finance being obvious examples) than others. If you’re considering a professional path that values individuality and a strongly creative – even slightly maverick – streak (hello, graphic designers and architects), then maybe years of sports drills with a coach barking orders at you won’t be the best preparation.

Still, it remains the case that college athletes have a deservedly high reputation in the business community.

And here’s another reason why they perform so well – they just want to belong.

Schofield explains: “Many college players have been regularly playing their sport since they were 5 years old, so that

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RESUMES, THINKING IT MIGHT SEEM FRIVOLOUS,” SCHOFIELD SAYS. “AND I SAY, ‘ARE YOU CRAZY? EMPLOYERS WILL BE REALLY EXCITED TO SEE THIS.’”

transition at graduation from student and athlete to just employee can be quite painful. They have essentially lost a part of their identity, so throwing themselves into their new role is a way of bouncing back.”

And the supreme irony of the college athlete’s elevated status in the workplace? The athletes themselves are usually the last to know about it. “When I first got involved in college sports, I was just a young, immature kid who wanted to play professional soccer,” Mota recalls.

“I had no idea that kicking a ball around a field might impact my later life in such a beneficial way.”

FIELD OF DREAMS But that’s a lesson he’s now learned.

These days, when hiring people, Mota always looks out for a sporting element on their resumes. “Again, it all comes

back to that ‘coachability’ aspect,” he says. “You want someone who will be receptive and open to feedback, so you can help them become more efficient.”

And what about today’s college athletes: Have they evolved into a canny group of career-minded go-getters with an eye already open to future career opportunities? Not a bit. Apparently, they may be as unaware about the value of their athletic endeavors as Mota was when he graduated.

“Even now, so many students hide their sporting activity on their resumes, thinking it might seem frivolous,” Schofield says. “And I say, ‘Are you crazy? Employers will be really excited to see this.’”

Her message to students is blunt: “Don’t be afraid to advertise your college sporting activity and spell out exactly how you’ve learned from it. It could be your ticket to a good job.”

People Alumni News + Notes 1995

Marcela A. Mendoza (B.S. aerospace science ’95) joined the Jackson Lewis P.C. firm’s Denver office as a principal. Mendoza, who previously worked at Ogletree Deakins, has more than 16 years of experience in business-related immigration matters.

1998

Peggy Dillon-Jackson (B.A. psychology ’98) started her own business designing costumes for local singers and musical entertainers. Dillon-Jackson also writes and creates illustrations for fictional historical fairytale books; she is hoping to publish her second book this year, titled “Plaid Fairies.” She enjoys traveling and has gone to England several times for business and pleasure, as well as Scotland, Ireland, France, Switzerland and Italy. Dillon-Jackson is planning to return to MSU Denver to pursue a master’s degree in social work.

2003

Joy Carol Davidson (B.A. modern languages ’03) is a certified nursing assistant at Christian Living Communities. Davidson offers support to individuals experiencing brain failure, more commonly known as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Davidson has also written a book: “Surviving the Storm: Finding the Best New Normal,” and is currently working toward self-publication of a grief curriculum she wrote.

2004

Monalisa V. Maniego (B.S. individualized degree program ’04) was a work-study employee of the Human Services Department at MSU Denver. Since graduation, Maniego has been employed with a number of nonprofit organizations in the Denver metro area in both full-time and temporary roles. She worked for Mercy Housing for three years, Firefly Autism for two years, and is currently excited about her new home as development coordinator with a national organization called Nurse-Family Partnership. NFP is a program that works with agencies across the country to train nurses who work alongside at-risk single mothers, to support their needs and empower them so that they are better equipped to give their babies a great start in life and break the cycle of poverty.

2006

Jenny Bridges (B.A. speech communications ’06) is an account director at 90octane, a digital agency in Denver that specializes in top-pursuit marketing, helping clients connect with, and convert their most valued prospects.

2010

Kytriena Payseno (B.A. theater/English ’10) is the theater director of the Ojai Youth Entertainers Studio, creating theater education programs for people from ages 2-99, and directing/producing plays and musicals. She has taught drama in California for Jefferson Public Schools, Ojai Unified Schools as well as local private schools such as: Oak Grove, Ojai Valley School and Besant Hill School.

She has returned to the Ojai Youth Entertainers Studio to continue her passion of directing and teaching today’s youth about theater. Payseno created SpeakEZ Cabaret and is the associate creator of the Glass Moon Theatre Company, which strives for women’s empowerment. She is a member of Equity, Spotlight, IMDB, For Actors by Actors and The Colorado Theatre Guild and holds two 4Star awards for Best Supporting Actress. Currently, Payseno is writing a collection of warm-up and theater games/ exercises for drama teachers and directors, and can be found performing in the band Deer Leg in the Southern California area.

Meranda Vierya-Blass (B.A. Chicano studies, criminal justice and criminology ’10) is a Denver native who says her time at MSU Denver influenced her decision to become a local business owner. She began the only Latina-owned legal marketing firm in Colorado. In a little over a year, Denver Legal Marketing LLC has expanded into five states: Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming and New York. Vierya-Blass has been active in the Denver legal community for more 20 years and has been named an “Outstanding Legal Professional” by Law Week Colorado twice (2014 and 2016). She has also had articles published by The Denver Bar Association’s publication, The Docket.

2012

Daniel “DJ” James (B.S. management ’12) is the director of national accounts and operations for Techni-Tool, a wholly owned subsidiary of W.W. Grainger Inc. In his more than 20 years serving aerospace, medical and electronics manufacturing clients, James has partnered to develop manufacturing and purchasing practices that maximize client operations and net profit. He currently manages top-tier aerospace partnerships and is responsible for negotiating and obtaining national contracts for the sales organization.

2013

Hillary L. Campbell (individualized degree program ’13) is working as a web systems manager at the University of Colorado Boulder. She also recently received a job promotion and got married to her childhood sweetheart.

Shea Swickle (B.S. biology ’13), an Army veteran, just graduated with a Master of Public Health diploma from University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

2016

Kylee Adolfson (B.A. social work ’16) is fulfilling her dream of being a social worker.

Adolfson currently works for Denver Urban Scholars at Kipp Montbello College Prep.

She says she absolutely loves working in the academic environment and is planning to go back to school to earn her doctorate.

Adolfson hopes to teach at the university level and is very passionate about education and the opportunities it provides. Adolfson has also been helping some close friends with starting a nonprofit and stays connected to the Denver community by volunteering with several different nonprofit organizations.

Hardik Bora (B.S. management and computer information systems ’16) is the regional director at Coding with Kids, teaching K-8 students how to program computers as well as partnering with schools and other organizations to offer enrichment classes and summer camps.

Shelby Carranza, nee Gregor, (B.A. special education ’16) is working in a permanent position as a learning specialist at an elementary school in the Jefferson County School District. She was hired right after graduation as a special education teacher.

Carranza also got married in April, so it has been “an exciting and crazy year” since graduating. She remembers her time at MSU Denver fondly.

Bonnie Cavoto (B.A. theater ’16) is the social media manager for Ion Real Estate.

SHARE YOUR NEWS Email your class notes to magazine@msudenver.edu

2015

Kateland Leigh Lawton (B.A. English/ writing ’15) is a subrogation specialist at Afni Inc. in Bloomington, Illinois.

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the

FINALWORD

President Davidson discusses her new role and how flying a jet might be like leading a university.

STORY DAN VACCARO | PHOTO MARK WOOLCOTT

N

ew president Janine Davidson, Ph.D., took a few minutes out of her busy schedule to chat about how she prepared for her role, whether she wanted to be a university president when she grew up, and maybe most importantly, if she roots for the Broncos.

with faculty, staff and students, as well as a variety of community leaders, supporters and board members. I also spent the last two weeks of June with Dr. Jordan full time to go deeper still on my “listening tour.” I still have a lot to learn about MSU Denver, but I feel ready to get going as president!

What did you do to prepare for your time at MSU Denver?

What are you most excited about?

Dr. Jordan and I worked hard to make this transition as smooth as possible. In addition to reading all I could find and all the staff provided me, I made monthly three-day trips to the University to meet

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I am most excited about meeting more of the students. My trips to campus did not always fall during times when a lot of students were on campus, so I am really looking forward to being part of launching the new school year.

What are you most apprehensive about?

My biggest worry should be no surprise – it’s the steady and continual public disinvestment in higher education. This is the biggest challenge MSU Denver faces as we strive to hold the line on being the best value, high-quality, affordable university in Colorado. So, we will be working very hard to not only take the University’s fundraising to new levels, but also to work with Colorado and national higher education leaders and legislators to stop or reverse this troubling trend.

What’s something people might not know about you?

Given the public profile from my previous jobs, people can discover a lot about my professional life on the internet. You might think all I do is work!

Yes, I work hard, but I like to take breaks, explore the world and have fun, too. I love to travel and to get outdoors with my husband, family and friends. We are really looking forward to being back in Colorado to hike, ski and rock climb.

Did you want to be a university president when you grew up?

As a kid, it never occurred to me to be a university president! Though nothing

else I have done so far – except being a pilot – was on my radar as a kid either.

There are so many jobs out there that kids never know about. That’s why it’s so important to stay curious and keep an open mind.

In what ways do you think flying a jet will be like running a university?

Hmmm … People say that flying a jet is like “hours of boredom, interrupted by moments of terror.” I don’t expect my job at MSU Denver to ever be “boring” or “terrifying.” What I do expect to be similar is the passion people have for what they do. Pilots LOVE flying; and from what I can tell, everyone at the

University LOVES this school! This passion is a big part of what attracted me to MSU Denver. Also, flying a big cargo jet requires a lot of teamwork. The aircraft commander is never flying solo.

I know as president I will have a great team too – from faculty, staff and students, to all the alumni and other community leaders who will help me keep MSU Denver in the air.

What is your favorite sports team?

I can’t say I have a favorite team – but I do like sports, so I’ll be rooting for the Nuggets, Broncos, Rapids, Avalanche, and the Rockies; and I’m sure you’ll see me at a lot of Roadrunner events!

People In Memory 1970s

1990s

Emmett Richmond (B.A. English ’73) April 2017

Robert M. Butler, Jr. (B.F.A. in arts ’92) April 2017

Trieba Clark Meeks (B.A. English literature ’71) May 2017

Richard A. “Dick” Cowger (B.S. business management ’74) March 2017 Jane Edith Riedmiller (B.A. history ’76) June 2017

1980s

Richard I. Santos (B.A. history ’80) May 2017 Ella Suzann “Suzie” Reikofski (B.S. human services ’82) May 2017

Antoinette Jordan McCann (B.S. nursing ’90) April 2017

2000s

Nona Lee Powell (B.A. history ’06) April 2017 Ryan Andrew Call (B.S. aviation and aerospace science ’07) May 2017

2010s

Joshua Jacob Greenberger (B.A. behavioral science ’12) May 2017 Heidi Cooley (B.S. health care management ’16) May 2017

Faculty and Staff

Debra Lynn “Liz” Allen Gettings was an administrative assistant in the Center for Faculty Excellence until her death in June 2017.

Gettings was a vocal advocate for marriage equality, winning the 2017 Outstanding Woman Award in the classified category for her work. She was also active in the Mythopoeic Society, a nonprofit dedicated to the study of fantasy and myth-based literature by writers like J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. She served on the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Committee for 16 years. She is survived by her wife, Patricia Yarrow, a program assistant in MSU Denver’s Art Department.

Laura McCall, Ph.D., was a professor in the History Department until her death in April 2017.

McCall began her teaching career in 1990 at Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, where

she worked for eight years. At MSU Denver, McCall was a prolific scholar, publishing book chapters and articles, including three in the most prestigious journal in her field, Journal of the Early Republic.

She also co-edited “A Shared Experience: Women, Men, and the History of Gender” and “Across the Great Divide: Cultures of Manhood in the American West.”

McCall was the rare professor who excelled at all facets of her work. The University honored her with awards for outstanding teaching in 1996, research in 2001 and service in 2007. She was a tireless advocate for historic preservation in her hometown of Golden, Colorado, and she showed uncommon dedication to students both in and outside of the classroom. Students praised her as both a demanding and rewarding instructor, and she took great pride in her sponsorship of the department’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the National History Honor Society.

Remembering

Chelsie Marie Worth was both an alumna (B.S. land use ’14) and a staff member at the Center for Advanced Visualization and Experiential Analysis at MSU Denver. She died in March 2017.

Worth is remembered as a bright light in the University community as well as a tenacious, dedicated and essential staff member in the CAVEA. She was committed to science and information visualization.

A skilled cellist, Worth began her MSU Denver academic career as a music major, but her paths of study touched on many different areas, ultimately finding a home in environmental science and geographic information systems. Her interests were broad and deep, ranging from transportation issues to network data modeling to the importance of trees to planet Earth. But her true passion was found through her work in the CAVEA, where she delivered collaborative decision-making events and uniquely “co-created” approaches to immersive learning, always advocating for creating more opportunities for MSU Denver students to learn and grow.

An endowed celebration scholarship has been created in her honor, as a means to help Worth continue to deliver engagement and passion for science and the arts. Through this scholarship, she can continue to empower others to discover their own academic and professional paths through Earth sciences.

For more information, visit: advance.msudenver.edu/giving/chelsie-worth 32

FALL 2017

BE A CHAMPION

MSU Denver Champions are passionate supporters willing to serve as advocates to inform and influence public-policy decisions that impact the University.

As a champion, you’ll get email updates and information about issues, events and other opportunities to get involved. msudenver.edu/champions

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit 2965 Denver, CO

Campus Box 86 P.O. Box 173362 Denver, CO 80217

ALUMNI WEEKEND Weekend events include:

Oct. 5-8

• Casino night • College of Business Alumni Social • • • •

M Club Alumni Social Roadrunners 5K Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet Various Athletics contests: • Men’s and Women’s Soccer • Men’s and Women’s Tennis • Cross Country Invitational • Women’s Volleyball

R SV P a t e ve n t s . m s u d e n v e r. e d u / f a l l - a l u m n i - w e e k e n d