Metropolitan Denver Magazine - Fall 2014

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METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER

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OUR STUDENTS ARE MAKING PLANS …

Ambitious plans for careers that make a difference.

Metropolitan State University of Denver students are on a mission to graduate and enter careers right here in Colorado. When you give to MSU Denver scholarships, you help today’s students change the future—theirs and Colorado’s.

MSU Denver serves more low-income, first-generation college students than any other four-year institution in the state.

And more than 70 percent of MSU Denver graduates stay in Colorado, transforming our communities and our economy.

Giving to MSU Denver scholarships is a direct investment in Colorado’s future workforce.

Learn more. msudenver.edu/giving | 303-556-8424

FALL 2014

VOL. 2 NO.3 MSUDENVER.EDU/MAGAZINE

METROPOLITAN DENVER MAGAZINE

STREET ARTIST Learn about Keith White (B.S. technical communications ’04) and his organization, Your Name in Graffiti, which created a new mural on the Auraria campus. Photo by Aaron Atencio.

ONLINE ONLY at msudenver.edu/magazine.

14 20 26 DARK VOICE

GOING FIRST

02 THE FIRST WORD

08 FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK

03 ASKED AND ANSWERED

10 TAKING FLIGHT

Kali Fajardo-Anstine writes edgy stories that are garnering national attention.

Providing a real-world education means adapting to the ever-evolving real world.

A reader reflects on how an MSU Denver professor changed her life.

04 NEWS

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

The trials and triumphs of students who are the first in their families to go to college.

Todd Labo came to MSU Denver a guitar player and left a musician.

Henning Schymik’s MSU Denver education helped his career soar to unimagined heights.

12 BEYOND THE BEATS

Dr. MC brings the roots of rap and hip hop to the surface.

A NATIONAL TREASURE

Frank DeAngelis, who led Columbine High School through its darkest days, spreads a message of hope.

18 HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS Dustin Nyhus designs unique — and chic — housewares, and supports independent artists along the way.

30 PEOPLE

MSU Denver alumni share news and notes.

31 ALL IN THE FAMILY

Mother and son Roadrunners credit caring faculty for helping them to succeed.

16 THE BIG PICTURE

Students’ mural is a “gift to the community.”

ON THE COVER Lauri Lynnxe Murphy (B.F.A. fine art ’96) credits her well-rounded education from MSU Denver with influencing her art. In her personal statement on her website, Murphy describes herself as “a maker, transfixed by materials and the transformational impact of the hand. The past several years have seen a marked shift in my interests from abstraction to research-based artwork that reflects the urgency of my ecological and political concerns.”

LEARN MORE about Murphy online only at msudenver.edu/magazine.

the

FIRSTWORD

Providing a real-world education means adapting to the ever-evolving real world.

While the world moves at lightning speed, our mission at Metropolitan State University of Denver — to provide a highquality, accessible education that prepares students for success and lifelong learning — remains constant.

Achieving our mission and providing MSU Denver students with a relevant, realworld education requires us to adapt to the ever-evolving real world.

Consider how we’re responding to workforce needs by creating publicprivate partnerships that address specific industry clusters. Our innovation shows in endeavors like our interdisciplinary Aerospace and Engineering Sciences (AES) initiative, which will unite programs in aviation and aerospace science; civil, mechanical and electrical engineering technology; industrial design; physics; computer science and computer information systems under one roof. And what a roof it will be: The 142,000-squarefoot, $60 million AES building, which recently received $5.2 million in state funding, will be a symbol of progress and promise for the University, the state and beyond.

We’re working to improve success for all students — especially those who’ve traditionally struggled in college — through our commitment to inclusive excellence. We’ll move forward with various initiatives that improve graduation rates for AfricanAmerican and Latino students, including our efforts to earn the federal designation of Hispanic Serving Institution. We’ll continue to enhance key student-support programs, as well as training and development for MSU Denver staff who work in those areas.

We’re constantly expanding the breadth and depth of our programs to arm our students with the up-to-the-minute knowledge and skills they need to be leaders in their fields. Our newly-created School of Education, for example, offers research-based programs and ample classroom experience via partnerships with Colorado school districts. The result is that our students become visionary educators poised to make a difference in classrooms, schools and communities state-wide.

How do we know what we’re doing is working? Just look at the success stories featured on the pages of this magazine.

There’s Frank DeAngelis (Page 26), who is sharing his hard-earned wisdom and hope with communities nationwide after rebuilding his own in the wake of the

Metropolitan Denver Magazine is published three times a year by the Metropolitan State University of Denver Office of Marketing and Communications. © 2014 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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FALL 2014

Columbine shootings; there are the firstgeneration students (Page 20), who are breaking new ground and forging new legacies for themselves and their families; and there are faculty like B. Afeni McNeely Cobham (Page 12) who are teaching our students to think critically and be active participants in everything they do.

The people of MSU Denver demonstrate our success as an institution. Their accomplishments. Their contributions to communities near and far. Their creativity, entrepreneurial spirit and innovation.

Their intellectual curiosity. These individuals make this University what it is today and show us what is possible tomorrow. And clearly, the possibilities are endless.

Finally, I am pleased to share that the MSU Denver Board of Trustees and I have mutually agreed to extend my service as President through July 2016. I look forward to leading the University toward continued success that will benefit Colorado for years to come.

Stephen M. Jordan, Ph.D. President

PUBLISHER CATHY LUCAS | EXECUTIVE EDITOR MARISSA FERRARI | MANAGING EDITOR EMILY PATON DAVIES CREATIVE DIRECTOR SCOTT LARY | ART DIRECTOR CRAIG KORN, VEGGIEGRAPHICS | PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER JULIE STRASHEIM | EDITORIAL ASSISTANT/WEB EDITOR BRETT MCPHERSON (CLASS OF 2014) | EDITORS CLIFF FOSTER | AMY PHARE | CONTRIBUTORS KURT J. BRIGHTON | JANALEE CARD CHMEL | TREVOR DAVIS (CLASS OF 2015) | ROGER FILLION | LAURI LYNNXE MURPHY (B.F.A. FINE ART ’96) | LESLIE PETROVSKI | AMY PHARE | CHRIS SCHNEIDER | JESSICA TAVES (B.A. IDP ’11) | MARK WOOLCOTT | EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD CATHY LUCAS, CHIEF OF STAFF AND ASSOCIATE TO THE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS | ROBERT AMEND, PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM AND TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION | CHELSEY BAKER-HAUCK, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MARKETING | GREG GEISSLER, DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS AND PRIVATE GRANTS | DEBORA GILLIARD, PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT | SAM NG, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF METEOROLOGY | TANIDA RUAMPANT, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH, ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

AskedandAnswered A reader reflects on how an MSU Denver professor changed her life.

We Asked: How did your MSU Denver education change your life? Was there a particularly inspiring person you encountered while at the University?

You Answered: About eight years ago when the mortgage industry crashed, I was laid off from my job as an underwriter. Since it was difficult to find another position due to the crash, I decided to go back to school at the age of 50 and get my degree.

I signed up for algebra with Dr. Diane Davis [associate professor of mathematical and computer sciences] and quickly learned I was up to my ears in trouble. I spent the

first two weeks of school crying and banging my head against the wall. Although I was really good at algebra in high school, that was over 30 years ago and things seemed to have changed a bit since then. Algebra was like a foreign language to me. I was questioning my ability to finish the class and considered dropping out of school altogether. After all, when I was in high school, I took a standardized test that indicated there was less than a 50 percent chance I would be able to complete college.

When I was unable to grasp a concept, she would explain it in a different way until I did understand. I saw her do the same with other students. She had a real talent for explaining a formula or concept in several different ways, making it possible to accommodate many different learning styles.

I finally broke down and went to Dr. Davis for help. I will never forget how patient and kind she was. I asked if she thought I had the ability to do the work. Without hesitation, she looked directly at me and said, “Yes!”

I will always be grateful to Dr. Davis for her help and patience.

I cannot describe what a huge impact she had on my life.

Vicki Blinn, B.A. psychology ’10

I ended up getting an A in her class.

I was so motivated, I continued on and, in 2010, I graduated summa cum laude. Today, I am the owner of a small business.

Share Your Story: Everyone has a story to tell, and we want to hear yours!

Tell us about your favorite MSU Denver class, program or professor. Brag about your accomplishments since leaving the University. Explain how the institution is contributing to your community. Share how MSU Denver helped change the course of your life. Whatever your story of transformation, we want to know!

And now, sharing your story has never been easier: Click on the “Share Your Story” link on our website at www.msudenver.edu, email us at magazine@msudenver.edu or write to us at Metropolitan Denver Magazine, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Campus Box 86, PO Box 173362, Denver, CO 80217.

msudenver.edu/magazine

Available online.

News

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

SOLID GOLD The use of sustainable materials such as tables made from recycled Colorado pine beetlekill wood helped certify MSU Denver’s Hospitality Learning Center (HLC) and the SpringHill Suites Denver Downtown Hotel as LEED® Gold for New Construction by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in May. Managed by Denver’s Sage Hospitality, the 150-suite hotel is metro Denver’s first LEED® Gold hotel.

Great heights in the classroom and the cockpit A new agreement with Colorado Northwestern Community College (CNCC) in Rio Blanco County will enable students to enroll in classes at either MSU Denver or CNCC and gain flight training at a reduced cost while pursuing associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in aviation.

“This agreement enables us to offer students additional options for flight training and academics, while addressing the latest update to FAA pilot-qualification standards,” said Jeffrey Forrest (B.S. professional pilot ’91), professor and chair

The hotel and HLC earned a total of 62 LEED® points from the USGBC, including those for water efficiency, innovative design, and sustainable site and materials selection.

Notable quotable Securing rights in our nation has required struggle.

Struggles that have been worked out on real bodies.

of MSU Denver’s Aviation and Aerospace Science Department.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently increased the hiring

— MSNBC host,

requirements for first officers who fly U.S. passenger and cargo airlines from a

author and political

Commercial certificate (250 hours of flight experience) to an Airline Transport

science professor

Pilot certificate (1,500 hours of flight experience). The new MSU Denver/CNCC agreement will reduce that requirement to 1,250 hours for students who follow all required FAA regulations. Both the reduction in flight hours required and the less-expensive flight training will significantly reduce costs for students, which can exceed $75,000 on top of standard university tuition.

Melissa Harris-Perry during her lecture as part of MSU Denver’s 23rd annual Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professorship earlier this year.

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FOUNDING DEAN JOINS NEW SCHOOL OF EDUCATION Elizabeth Hinde is the School

U. S . S e c r e ta r y of E duc at ion v i s it s U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan visited MSU Denver in May for a roundtable discussion with young Latino men about their experiences and quests for higher education.

of Education’s founding dean following the school’s establishment

Several MSU Denver students participated in the discussion, as well as students from area high schools, Colorado Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia, MSU Denver President Stephen Jordan, and Marco Davis, deputy director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, who moderated the discussion. The event was part of President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative, which promotes partnerships with foundations, businesses and other entities that foster programs and practices to help young men of color succeed and reach their full potential.

this fall. Hinde

“Our nation and our state depend on young men and women of color not only persisting to post-secondary education but also graduating,” said President Jordan. He cited the courage of MSU Denver’s Board of Trustees in offering undocumented students an affordable nonresident tuition rate in 2012. The Board’s actions are credited with helping to pave the way for the passage of the ASSET bill last year, which allows qualified undocumented Colorado high school graduates to attend any public Colorado university or college for the in-state tuition rate.

Fulton Teachers College. Hinde

comes to MSU Denver from Arizona State University, where she served as director of the Division of Teacher Preparation at the university’s Mary Lou has a doctorate in curriculum and instruction and a master’s in elementary education, both from Arizona State University.

INNOVATIVE AEROSPACE AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES CURRICULUM MSU Denver is revolutionizing aviation, aerospace and advanced manufacturing education through a groundbreaking Aerospace and Engineering Sciences (AES) initiative. A $60 million cutting-edge facility, set to open in 2017, will foster advantageous connections between aviation and aerospace science; mechanical, electrical and civil engineering technologies; industrial design; physics; computer information systems and computer science.

An interdisciplinary group of MSU Denver faculty has worked together to create a curriculum that will specifically address Colorado’s workforce needs, equipping students with the skills and knowledge identified by industry leaders as vital to the future

of their companies. The result is a new advancedmanufacturing major with a variety of innovative concentrations that will prepare the most skilled, workforce-ready graduates in the nation.

Next step: the group will submit 25 new courses for approval and begin the process of creating the new major.

“This responsive approach to a workforce need is unlike traditional university processes,” said MSU Denver President Stephen Jordan. “It has been rejuvenating to our faculty, who are working in teams across disciplines. And it has been refreshing to industry leaders, who tell us they are optimistic about the pool of future employees that we will create.”

FALL 2014

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NEWS

NEW MINOR BUILDS CAREER OPPORTUNITIES The Civil Engineering Technology (CET) program is offering a minor in architecture. The minor will increase the marketability of aspiring civil engineers by preparing them for success within increasingly interdisciplinary design firms, in which engineers and architects work side-by-side.

“Schools” graduate to “colleges” As of July 1, the University’s schools are called “colleges” to better represent the breadth and depth of their programs,

“There’s a need for close cooperation between civil engineers and architects … Those two groups work closely together within the field,” said Zsuzsa Balogh, professor and program coordinator in the CET program. “Our graduates will have a unique set of knowledge and skills that will give them an advantage in this competitive market.”

disciplines and departments.

Corrections director speaks to students Rick Raemisch, executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC), visited MSU Denver in April to speak to students about working in corrections and his experiences in the criminal justice system. Raemisch, who previously led the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, was appointed head of the DOC less than a year ago, following the murder of his predecessor, Tom Clements.

The minor was developed in partnership with visiting faculty from the University of Pécs in Hungary and includes a distinctly global perspective. CET majors who complete the architecture minor will be guaranteed acceptance into the university’s Master’s of Architecture program, which they can complete in three semesters while living abroad.

Jennifer Bradford, assistant professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, arranged Raemisch’s visit. Bradford, who serves on the Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice with Raemisch, considers his visit a coup.

“We’ve had some high-profile guest speakers, but this is definitely a high point of my career at MSU Denver so far,” she said.

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WANT MORE? Keep up to date on MSU Denver news at msudenver.edu/newsroom.

FALL 2014

07

For those about to Something happens when adolescents first encounter the music that becomes Their Music. Something visceral, something joyful yet poignant, something bordering on magic.

The record that hooked Todd Labo (B.A. guitar performance, composition ’98) is crystal-clear in his memory, even 30 years later.

“I was 13 and I heard Def Leppard’s ‘Pyromania’ and totally fell in love,” Labo said, laughing in the snug room where he gives 40-45 guitar lessons a week. “That and Iron Maiden’s ‘The Number of the Beast.’”

Although Labo’s lesson room in the back of the venerable Littleton guitar shop, Music Go Round, is small, his passions are not. He’s framed by posters for shows he’s produced featuring students from his Littleton Conservatory of Rock, an advanced music program for aspiring musicians ages 7 to 18. Labo and a former partner founded the program in 2010 to give kids an opportunity to take their music further and experience playing in front of live audiences.

Each summer and fall, two groups of 10 kids come together for a four-and-a-half-hour weekly session for 10 weeks. They work on nine or 10 songs, with drums, bass, guitar and vocalists participating. All of this culminates in a series of concerts at Denver and Littleton venues.

But what Labo is most proud of is his spring program, when lessons transform into something more conservatory than rock. While in past years Labo has successfully arranged and conducted massive pieces like 28-guitar renditions of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme and Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” these days he keeps the selections on a more manageable scale.

“Our spring show is an acoustic guitar show, and although we call it that, it’s actually a classical guitar show. It’s just my private students, and they play in trios and quartets.

“I love the rock shows,” he added, “but I love the classical guitar show best.”

For Labo, the road to falling in love with classical guitar was a convoluted one, and one that really began at MSU Denver, a good 10 years after he first picked up an electric guitar and banged out “Smoke on the Water.”

“I met the amazing [Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of Guitar Studies] Alex Komodore who taught classical guitar,” said Labo. “He was a fantastic instructor. It was inspiring to watch him play and teach. Sometimes even now when I’m practicing, I can hear what he might say in response to a passage of music I’m working on.”

Judging by his students, Labo honors Komodore every day by inspiring his own students.

“Above all, the performances definitely keep me coming back,” said 16-year-old Sammie VanNorstrand, who has studied with Labo for four years. “After a summer of hard work, watching everything come together at last is relieving and thrilling. Todd works so hard for the shows to be perfect and they never disappoint.”

Labo’s own inspiration comes from seeing the hard work of kids like Sammie pay off.

“When that door shuts and I’m teaching, this is the greatest job in the world. I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” he said.

But were it not for Labo’s own instructors pushing him out of his comfort zone, it’s doubtful he ever would have touched so many lives himself.

“I went into Metro State a guitar player,” he said, “and I came out a musician.”

ROCK OUT to a performance by Todd Labo and his students at msudenver.edu/magazine.

LEARN MORE about the Littleton Conservatory of Rock at littletonconservatoryofrock.com.

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ROCK TODD LABO CAME TO MSU DENVER A GUITAR PLAYER AND LEFT A MUSICIAN. STORY KURT J. BRIGHTON | PHOTO MARK WOOLCOTT

Todd Labo performs with students from his Littleton Conservatory of Rock.

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HENNING SCHYMIK’S MSU DENVER EDUCATION HELPED HIS CAREER SOAR TO UNIMAGINED HEIGHTS.

When Henning Schymik (B.S. aviation technology ’00) earned his degree, he had no idea how his career would take flight.

STORY AMY PHARE | PHOTO CHRIS SCHNEIDER

Like so many students, college transformed Schymik but his takeaways are different than most. “College is a big experience — kind of a journey moving away from home.

But having that experience at MSU Denver, it was much more goal-oriented and purpose-driven,” he said.

“Some people think if you want a pilot career that you just need a license, but MSU Denver gave me a background in more than how to fly a jet,” said Schymik, who shifted from flying to pursue the business side of aviation. “My education gave me a much broader background and helped me grow into a career I never imagined,” he said of his new role as senior vice president at XJet, a luxury aviation service provider based out of Colorado’s Centennial Airport.

Schymik’s love of flight began at an early age with remote control airplanes and gliders that led to a lifelong pursuit. “If you asked me 10 years ago, I’d say the only thing I want to do is fly,” said Schymik. “Through XJet I discovered that there is far more to do with my life beyond flying airplanes. I absolutely love my job now, and there’s a purpose to it. I love every day.”

And MSU Denver continues to prepare aviation students for success: In 2015, the University will break ground on its new 142,000-square-foot Aerospace and Engineering Sciences Building, integrating the study of advanced manufacturing disciplines into a single, new program.

“Colorado is really growing in the aerospace and aviation industries, and there is a lot of growth coming to the Denver area,” Schymik said. He is experiencing that growth first-hand as XJet enters its next phase, expanding its club locations globally.

“We often think we have to follow a path because of our families’ expectations or outside factors, but in the end, it’s all about finding your own path,” Schymik said. “I have more to give in my life and now I see my purpose. You just never know which turns life will take. Sometimes we may be too focused when we should be open to life’s opportunities.”

FALL 2014

11

Beyond the

BEATS

DR. MC BRINGS THE ROOTS OF RAP AND HIP HOP TO THE SURFACE. STORY BRETT MCPHERSON | PHOTO TREVOR DAVIS

“Scratching past the bumping beats / showing culture from the streets. Looking past the veil of rhymes / to see what issues they will find.”

This is how a rap artist might describe “The Twenty-First Century Minstrel Showdown: Hip Hop vs. Rap Music and the Commodification of Social Identities,” taught by Africana Studies Lecturer B. Afeni McNeely Cobham. The course aims to uncover the social dynamics behind the bling and swagger of hip hop and rap, with McNeely Cobham examining topics such as privilege, identity and oppression through the lens of the popular music styles.

“I use the course to unpack various sociopolitical issues,” said McNeely Cobham, nicknamed “Dr. MC” by her students.

McNeely Cobham describes herself as a woman of color and size, with two master’s degrees and a doctorate, who lives in a nice neighborhood and works as a university faculty member. She isn’t afraid to examine her own societal status and expects her students to do the same, regardless of their ethnicity.

“If I can examine my social advantages as an underrepresented person in society, I certainly want my white students to do so as well,” she said.

McNeely Cobham opens the class with a historical analysis of what was happening when hip hop began. She grew up in Brooklyn in the 1970s, close to the inception of the style. “We never knew it’d become a billion-dollar industry or go global,” she said. “We just wanted an outlet to deal with the nonsense that was going on in our communities.”

She said the building of the Cross Bronx Expressway through a predominantly African American community displaced many people

and resulted in more poverty and crime. Young people of McNeely Cobham’s generation began rapping, DJing and breakdancing to express their despair about the condition of their neighborhoods.

Nearly 40 years later, hip hop has grown into an industry that generates more than $10 billion annually. McNeely Cobham wonders if the dominance of white baby boomers in the distribution of an art form mostly created by black males has created “a kind of modernminstrel effect,” she said. “The business of hip hop is really what’s driving it at this point.”

Still, she feels there are positive implications for the African American community. Successful artists can find opportunities in fashion, film, sports and philanthropy. One example: Apple Inc. recently purchased “Beats by Dre,” a product line started by Andre Young — Dr. Dre — cofounder of the West Coast gangsta-rap group N.W.A., for $3 billion.

McNeely Cobham encourages her students to use critical thinking when participating in hip hop and rap, either as artists or fans. “I want my students to be conscientious when they’re at a concert, watching videos or singing song lyrics,” she said.

McNeely Cobham inspires and challenges her students in the classroom and at the popular Sankofa Lecture Series, an extension of the class that features prominent hip hop and rap artists as guest speakers each fall.

“I tell my students, ‘I don’t have the answers for you. But we’re going to have a lot of questions,’” she said.

B. Afeni McNeely Cobham stands in front of a mural on the Auraria campus created by Keith White (B.S. technical communications ’04) and his organization, Your Name in Graffiti.

LEARN about White at msudenver.edu/ magazine.

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“Mija, you had a great-great-aunt, Milagros, the same Milagros your mother is named after, and let me tell you how she ruined her life, how she used the herbs too often, how her black hair grew so long and so beautiful that all the men in our pueblo and even from far away wanted to marry her, how she would not choose one because she believed the longer and more beautiful her hair grew, the better her choices of husbands would be, how one night, when the rest of the children were sleeping soundly in the same bedroom, her black hair coiled around her neck like a dark snake, squeezing all the life from her throat.”

—From “Remedies” by Kali Fajardo-Anstine, published in Bellevue Literary Review

KALI FAJARDO-ANSTINE WRITES EDGY STORIES THAT ARE GARNERING NATIONAL ATTENTION. STORY JANALEE CARD CHMEL | PHOTO JESSICA TAVES Kali Fajardo-Anstine (B.A. English ’09) admits that her short stories are dark. Darkness is unavoidable, she said, when you write about the people and cultures that she does.

“When you’re Chicana, it means you have historically outlived great violence,” she explained. “I come from American Indian, Hispano and Jewish ancestors.

Throughout history these groups have suffered immensely. It’s a disservice to my culture to ignore it.”

Recently, Fajardo-Anstine’s “dark voice” has been getting quite a bit of attention. In the last few years, her work has been published in Boston Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Kartika Review, The Idaho Review and Southwestern American Literature.

The short story, “Remedies,” earned a notable citation in The Best American Series and her story “Sabrina’s Neck” was a finalist in Glimmer Train’s Family Matters Contest.

She was also nominated for a prestigious Pushcart Prize.

Fajardo-Anstine dropped out, but earned her GED. Then, she registered for college and took her first class at MSU Denver the summer before her high school peers went to college.

“My first class was taught by [lecturer] Roger Green and he had us read Sartre. Finally, my mind was engaged. I felt nurtured at Metro.”

Fajardo-Anstine minored in Chicana/o Studies and says that is where she first discovered she had a unique story to tell.

“The professors in the Chicana/o Studies Department were so supportive,” she said. “They validated my existence. They were academics, and they were studying and researching what it meant to be a woman like me.

I hadn’t encountered that before.”

After graduating from MSU Denver, Fajardo-Anstine earned a spot at Hedgebrook, a residency program for women writers. She was also a writer-in-residence at Hub City Writers Project in Spartanburg, S.C. and she earned an MFA from the University of Wyoming.

More recently, Fajardo-Anstine has decided to stop moving around and get a job.

“I’d like to be able to afford rent and food,” she said.

Of course, she will keep telling her stories.

Fajardo-Anstine said her earliest memories are of “creating my own space” by hiding under her bed from her six brothers and sisters, reading books. She wasn’t a great student, however, and by high school, she’d had it.

“I was bored in high school,” she said. “I would skip school and read Kafka in the park.”

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“I’m infinitely curious, I love exploring, I love ideas, I love beautiful language,” she said. “I have a hunger to produce something that’s beautiful and interesting for people.”

READ MORE of Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s work at msudenver.edu/magazine.

Dark

VOICE

The

Picture

STUDENTS’ MURAL IS A “GIFT TO THE COMMUNITY.” PHOTO TREVOR DAVIS

MSU Denver students created the mural for the soccer field at the new Regency Athletic Complex at MSU Denver.

DISCOVER the collaborative process that led to the mural’s creation and the significance behind its imagery at msudenver.edu/magazine.

Home is where the is DUSTIN NYHUS DESIGNS UNIQUE –AND CHIC–HOUSEWARES, AND SUPPORTS INDEPENDENT ARTISTS ALONG THE WAY. STORY BRETT MCPHERSON | PHOTOS DENY DESIGNS

The founder of Denver-based DENY Designs is a man of many firsts.

The company — an abbreviation of owner Dustin Edward Nyhus’ name — began as an online boutique in 2011 and now sells more than 1 million quirky items for the home on the Internet and in stores.

“Every product we offer is the first of that thing that has ever been done,” said Nyhus, who graduated from MSU Denver with a bachelor’s in industrial design in 2003. “I’m heavily involved in the productdevelopment side.”

The company’s product line, which is designed entirely in-house, includes clocks and coasters, tapestries and trays, and everything in between. Ordinary household items are embellished with original — and often eclectic — images created by independent artists who 18

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receive a percentage of each sale.

Roughly 150 artists contribute to the product line, and Nyhus is constantly searching for new talent in order to offer housewares that are truly one of a kind.

Just how unique are DENY products? How about a throw pillow with an image of a headphonewearing otter spinning a record on a turntable while clutching a New York City skyscraper? A Baroquestyle kitchen clock that says “kiss my grits” on its face? Or an electric green shower curtain that sports a life-sized image of a grizzly bear?

Nyhus is an accomplished multitasker who honed those skills while a student at MSU Denver. He earned his degree while working — sometimes two jobs at once — and tending to his family. “The most important lesson I learned is how to balance all that … how to juggle in the professional world,” he said.

Nyhus and DENY have attracted national attention from publications such as Better Homes and Gardens,

InStyle and Interior Design magazine, and products are for sale in Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom and other retail stores. “We’re a good fit for retailers because we’ve got thousands of pieces that target a range of demographics, and we’ve got the capability to produce items quicker than most manufacturers,” Nyhus said. “They come to us and say, ‘We are looking for this’ and we say, ‘Is this perfect for you?’ And then our team moves forward.”

But perfection is in the eye of the beholder. And Nyhus advises those just starting out to avoid allowing a quest for perfection to stall the creative process.

“If you wait for perfection there’ll be 10 other companies that will pass you by,” he said. “When you have a shape, launch it and get it out there.

Let the audience decide what’s perfect.”

EXPLORE the world of DENY Designs at msudenver.edu/magazine.

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The trials and triumphs of students who are the first in their families to go to college.

R

STORY LESLIE PETROVSKI | ILLUSTRATIONS LAURI LYNNXE MURPHY

icardo Sarabia had just graduated from Aurora Central High School and was considering working construction with his brothers when his cousin convinced him to apply for a College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) scholarship at MSU Denver.

“She called me and said, ‘You should go to Metro.

We can be roommates.’ Then her mom told my mom. And then my mom was like, ‘You need to go to school!’”

Sarabia, the youngest of eight kids, none of whom had seriously pursued higher education, was unconvinced. Still, he went to MSU Denver to speak with staff in the CAMP office. During that meeting, Sarabia changed his mind. The 18-yearold with a bright smile, whose parents were itinerant farm workers following the crops season to season, had an inkling that, with the support offered by CAMP, he could create a different life for himself.

Sarabia remembered thinking, “I’m going to do it.

I’m just going to go for it.”

But for first-generation college students, the road from “going for it” to “getting it” — the degree — is longer and more circuitous than for students with a legacy of parental college attendance.

Almost 50 percent of today’s college students are first-generation, meaning mom and dad never attended college, according to the U.S. Department

of Education. This simple characteristic has enormous implications for these young people beyond charting new familial ground. Students who break the higher education barrier in their families enroll at a serious disadvantage.

“To be honest, I didn’t think I could do it,” Sarabia said about his likelihood of graduating. “I was just this kid from Aurora, and I felt like everybody here was a super-smart genius and all had 4.0s.”

This kind of tentativeness bears out in outcomes.

First-generation students earn their diplomas at a rate of 50 percent in six years compared with 64 percent for second-, third- or fourthgeneration students.

The reasons for this are many: balancing school and work; the overwhelming red tape associated with federal financial aid; insufficient advising or not seeking advising in the first place. Firstgeneration students may be underprepared if their K-12 years didn’t equip them properly for college-level work. Their families may value hard work over education or need their students’ incomes. Anything can derail a student who doesn’t feel like he belongs in the first place.

“I took a lot of crap from my brothers,” Sarabia said. “They would tell me, ‘You need to get a job and put school on the back burner.’ I’d want to talk to them about the things I was learning. I got the feeling that they thought, ‘Why is he talking again?

Why is he flapping his gums?’”

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A Magnet for First-generation Students MSU Denver educates its share of first-generation students, given its modified open-enrollment policy, affordable tuition and commitment to serving Colorado’s diverse population. (The University has set a goal of achieving 25 percent Latino enrollment by 2018 to achieve federal Hispanic Serving Institution status.) Though not every state school tracks or defines first-generation students identically, it appears as if MSU Denver has the largest number of first-generation undergraduates in Colorado: 6,737 as of spring semester 2014.

About 32 percent of the student body selfidentifies as first-generation compared with about 20 percent of resident undergraduates at the University of Colorado Boulder, 25 percent at Colorado State University and 32 percent (or about 3,250 students) at the University of Colorado Denver, which shares the Auraria Campus with MSU Denver.

“Because of who we are and our urban location we naturally attract more first-generation students as well as students of color and lowincome students, all of whom are at a greater risk for not graduating,” said MSU Denver President Stephen Jordan. “The success of these students is critical to helping us solve the ‘Colorado Paradox’ – the state’s trend of importing more college-educated people than it graduates.

Ensuring that our first-generation students graduate is crucial to addressing the current lack of homegrown talent in our workforce.”

Judi Diaz Bonacquisti, associate vice president for enrollment services, pulled out a diagram with three overlapping circles. The circles show the intersections between enrolled MSU Denver

students of color, lower-income Pell Grant recipients and first-generation students. The populations overlap, she said, which means many MSU Denver students are balancing the challenges of being first-generation with financial difficulties and negotiating what is still — as diverse as it is — a largely white campus.

When senior Chantal Baca started at MSU Denver, she was that perfect trifecta: Latina, low-income and first-generation. She is well aware of the barriers she’s hurdled getting to this point in her college career.

Baca cleared the first barrier with support from MSU Denver’s Excel Pre-Collegiate Program, which helps students throughout Adams County navigate college admissions no matter their college choice. Baca, 21, then enrolled at MSU Denver as part of the eight-week Summer Scholars Program, which offers students scholarships and opportunities to get a taste of college life by taking summer classes, making friends and availing themselves of support systems such as tutoring and advising. Even so, Baca was tempted to quit.

“My parents weren’t able to help me,” she said frankly. “I had to do everything myself.”

During her first two years, Baca, a speech communications major, attended school full time and worked 60 hours a week at four jobs — two on campus, night shifts at the Comfort Inn Central near the Denver Merchandise Mart, and a sales job at the discount retailer Gordmans.

The pace was exhausting.

“When you are first, you have to figure out how you to pay for it and where to go for books,” she said. “When students whose parents went to

The success of these students is critical to helping us solve the ‘Colorado Paradox’ – the state’s trend of importing more college-educated people than it graduates. Ensuring that our first-generation students graduate is crucial to addressing the current lack of homegrown talent in our workforce.

—MSU Denver President Stephen Jordan

Family members encouraged Ricardo Sarabia, pictured at home with his sister, mother and niece, to enroll at MSU Denver.

PHOTO JESSICA TAVES

school enter, it’s a different experience. They aren’t aware of how much work it is. They don’t have to worry about it.”

program that offers paired classes, study groups and other activities — many students are reluctant to seek help or don’t know that it’s there.

J.R. Johnson (B.A. journalism ’14) agreed that one of the biggest obstacles is wrangling finances and other college business. Newly graduated from MSU Denver, he’s working toward an MFA in screenwriting and directing from Columbia University. Johnson and his twin sister, Tiffani, who graduated in August, received a lot of encouragement and assistance from their parents, who wished they had gone to school. It also didn’t hurt to have a sibling along for the ride.

Helping Students Make the Grade

“Don’t be afraid to ask questions or ask people for help,” Johnson said. “There are a lot of people here who want to help you. You may not get the perfect answer, but eventually you’ll find the help you need. They want you to follow whatever goal you have and check it off your list.”

Therein lies the rub. Though MSU Denver has countless lifelines — including free tutoring, advising, and a growing First Year Success

Helping students make it to graduation is in the country’s economic interest. America has fallen from first in the world to 12th in four-year degree attainment among 25- to 34-year-olds.

This has the Obama administration pushing states to ratchet up their graduation rates.

Because of changing demographics, schools also need non-white, non-middle-class, firstgeneration students to enroll — and persist — in order to stay viable. As a result, colleges that attract students who are vulnerable to dropping out are taking a hard look in their institutional mirrors, which in the long run could change the shape of higher education.

Quietly, MSU Denver has been working to transform a longstanding policy that has hamstrung countless students in the limbo of remedial classes.

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In 2013, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education approved MSU Denver’s application to offer Supplemental Academic Instruction (SAI) under its revamped remedial education strategy. The move upended a decades-old policy to remediate students who are accepted at four-year institutions at community colleges.

The University is making strides on other fronts, too. An initiative, called the Equity Scorecard, is part of a larger state project — Equity in Excellence — to produce more students with degrees and certificates and to close college achievement gaps for students of color.

For students in remedial classes, a disproportionate percentage of whom were students of color and first-generation, the old practice was untenable. They were not bonding with peers and faculty at their home institutions and couldn’t apply remedial course credit toward their degrees, which added additional time and costs to their higher-education investment.

The process, which was developed by the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education, had MSU Denver’s 15-member Equity Scorecard team take a deep dive into the data, separating retention and graduation rates by race and ethnicity. The result was a snapshot of students who matriculated in 2006 and what happened to them. Not surprisingly, like many other U.S. colleges and universities, MSU Denver has a degree attainment gap for its African American and Hispanic students.

Last year, MSU Denver became the only fouryear institution in Colorado — and one of the few nationwide — to offer students who need very little remedial work “gateway classes” of entry-level English and math augmented by SAI labs, rather than referring them to community colleges. (MSU Denver students who score on the low end of their assessment tests still take remedial courses at the Community College of Denver.)

Thus far, results have been impressive.

Generally speaking, students who received SAI passed at rates even greater than students who didn’t need SAI in the first place — outpacing those students, in some cases, by 10 or 20 percent.

Diving further, the team also looked at key programs — including Summer Scholars, advising, First Year Success and required math classes — that students encounter in their first year, an especially important time that can make or break a college career.

After all the focus groups and data mining, the Equity Scorecard team developed some general recommendations that put the responsibility for equity squarely on the shoulders of the entire MSU Denver

Don’t be afraid to ask questions or ask people for help. There are a lot of people here who want to help you.

—J.R. Johnson (B.A. journalism ’14)

community. The team called on departments to examine their areas for equity imbalances, engage in cultural competence training and rethink departmental websites to engage students of color. Instead of treating all students “equally,” the big takeaway is to meet student needs in ways that are culturally meaningful.

In part, the answer to achievement gaps lies in that ineffable thing called community. To get Jose or Jada or Josh or Brittany from matriculation to graduation, it takes a village. “There needs to be that critical mass,” explained Modern Languages Department Chair Lunden MacDonald, who along with Chicana/o Studies Department Chair Ramon Del Castillo, leads the Equity Scorecard project. “You need that critical mass of people who can help you through the bad days. But how do we do that? How do we let the community know this is a welcoming place?”

The first-generation students who make it are quick to acknowledge that their success was a team effort, perhaps aided by parents who saw that baccalaureate degree as the

realization of a personal dream they never achieved, or faculty and staff members who recognized that a bad test score might overwhelm a kid who is working three jobs and going to school.

Sarabia, whose mother never finished elementary school and whose dad passed away in 2012, credits the CAMP office — and a lot of cheerleading on the part of his older sister Liz — with getting him through. Today, he is on pace to graduate next year, having spent his 2014 spring semester in England interning for a London community center.

“There were a lot of people counting on me,” he said of his CAMP friends. “I would come in and say, ‘I don’t know if college is for me. I don’t have the support at home.’ And they gave me the support. ‘You can do this. This is for you.’ I realized, I needed to kick ass.”

DISCOVER other first-generation MSU Denver alumni at msudenver.edu/magazine.

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NATIONAL STORY JANALEE CARD CHMEL | PHOTOS MARK WOOLCOTT

F

rank DeAngelis is perhaps best known as the principal who led the Columbine High School community through its darkest days and beyond.

He recently retired, but he’s not done spreading his message of hope to schools across the globe.

Frank DeAngelis,

“Frank DeAngelis is a national treasure,” said John McDonald, executive director of Security and Emergency Management for the Jefferson County School District. “Every once in a while, you have a transformational person who can help redefine the conversation. That’s Frank.”

High School

The conversation that McDonald (B.A. criminal justice ’92) is referring to is the epidemic of school shootings.

The Columbine High School massacre, which occurred on April 20, 1999, was not the first school shooting but it is among the most notorious. DeAngelis (B.A. physical education ’78) believes that’s because it unfolded live in the national media.

Since that day, when 12 students and one teacher died at the hands of two young gunmen who took their own lives, there have been hundreds of school shootings. Jefferson County alone — where Columbine is located — has had five in the 15 years since the tragedy.

As a result, school administrators and teachers nationwide operate in an environment that emphasizes security nearly as much as education. Finding the balance between those often-conflicting realities has been DeAngelis’ quest for 15 years. He learned personal lessons from the discoveries made since the tragedy.

He honed his leadership skills to help the school emerge from fear and worked 60 to 80 hours a week to create a culture that, above all, respects every individual.

In the wake of the Columbine shooting, DeAngelis accepted a calling that many principals in his situation 26

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who led Columbine through its darkest days, spreads a message of hope.

are simply unable to accept. And he continues to accept that calling. In his “retirement,” DeAngelis will work part time for the Jefferson County School District’s Security and Emergency Management Department, with the goal of helping to create schools that are more “proactive than reactive.” He will also continue visiting schools around the country that experience shootings and will speak locally, nationally and internationally about this incredibly difficult issue.

DeAngelis has a very personal motivation for his efforts: He recently became a grandfather. Looking at a picture of little Mia Isabella, DeAngelis’ voice became soft and he said, “I can’t imagine how I’d

feel if one day she walks into a school where they have armed guards in the hallways.”

The Tragedy At approximately 11 a.m. on April 20, 1999, DeAngelis was in his office interviewing a candidate for a teacher position. Suddenly, school radios announced that gunshots had been fired in the building.

The teacher candidate, Kiki Leyba, who was later hired, recalled, “That day, I saw Frank run directly toward gunfire. He never hesitated. Frank is a guy who always reacts from his heart.”

The events that day took hours to unfold with nowiconic images playing out on national television: Children emerging from the school with hands above their heads; Patrick Ireland falling from a broken window into the arms of police officers; helicopter images of SWAT team officers rushing onto campus.

DeAngelis, who describes himself as a “cradle Catholic,” said his faith was never shaken during the tragedy or the aftermath. He drops a heavy ring of dozens and dozens of keys on the table and tells this story to explain:

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“Here is a set of keys I had in my pocket that day.

A gunman is coming toward me and I’ve got 20 girls with me. We’re running to get away from the killers, and I reached into my pocket and pulled out the one key that opens every door in the building. I have tried to do that again for the last 15 years and I can’t do it. I reached right in, pulled that key out and got us in to safety. God had to be there.”

In the days, weeks and months that followed, DeAngelis confronted his own emotions as he faced — and led — a shattered community.

tragedy, which would have been 2012. But then he was approached by parents who said, “My child was in the two-year preschool program back in 1999; you can’t leave yet.”

DeAngelis laughed thinking of how the requests to stay continued.

“It made me feel good that no one was asking, ‘When is that guy going to retire?’” he said. “I feel bad for people who count down the days until their retirement.

For me, I was counting down the days thinking, ‘I only have two more days with my kids.’”

“When I talk to kids at Columbine and they say they’re going to Metro, I say, ‘What a wise choice.’”

According to Jefferson County’s McDonald, the average time that a principal can “make it” after a school shooting is three years. DeAngelis himself admits that he struggled to figure out his role and how long he could and should stay at Columbine.

“I promised the class of 2002 that I wouldn’t leave because they were freshmen when the tragedy happened,” DeAngelis said. “But then I realized that wasn’t long enough because I had made a promise to myself and to my priest, who told me that I needed to rebuild the community. My life was spared that day for a reason, and if I really wanted to rebuild that community, it wouldn’t happen in three years.”

So, he promised to stay until he handed diplomas to the children who had been in preschool during the 28

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MSU Denver’s Influence DeAngelis has always loved kids; they were the inspiration behind his choice to become a teacher. He is “full-blooded Italian” and grew up in North Denver’s Catholic Italian neighborhood. The son of workingclass parents, he paid for his college tuition and says that MSU Denver was instrumental in shaping his career.

“At Metro, one of the things I loved about their program was that we got a lot of field service,” DeAngelis said.

“We ended up going to elementary schools where I got hands-on experience.”

“It was the best decision ever. When I talk to kids at Columbine and they say they’re going to Metro, I

say, ‘What a wise choice.’ I had such a fantastic education. I feel it prepared me to do what I did for 35 years.”

DeAngelis got his first full-time teaching job in 1979 at Columbine and never left the school. He taught and coached until he became assistant principal in 1994 and then principal in 1996.

That experience as both a teacher and administrator, combined with his personal encounter with school violence, help DeAngelis understand things that perhaps no one else can, McDonald said.

“Frank has helped us design our school security program,” McDonald said. “I consulted with Frank for many crisis events, including the recent Arapahoe shooting, the Jessica Ridgeway tragedy and the Deer Creek shooting. Frank is the bridge between education and school safety.

“We are setting the standard nationally in schoolshooting preparedness in large part because of Frank.”

Teacher as First Responder McDonald said his first goal with DeAngelis on board is to “do a full debrief” on the Columbine shooting.

“I hope to capture lessons learned that may never have been identified before and create a repository for others to come from around the country to learn from Frank’s experience,” McDonald said.

From there, DeAngelis will help train principals and teachers across the Jefferson County School District.

“Today’s teacher is an emergency responder,” McDonald said. “They are the first responders at our schools.”

Teacher as first responder: That is a very different picture of education than many teachers envisioned upon entering the profession. One of DeAngelis’ personal goals is to help schools establish cultures in which respect, high-quality education and security work in tandem rather than in conflict.

No one knows more clearly how difficult that balance can be.

“How do you create these inclusive, respectful, educational environments?” he asked. “Prior to April 20, I was so naïve. As a principal, you may find the people who tell you what you want to hear, but that doesn’t give a true barometer of the school. I could find student senators or students doing well academically or kids in the performing arts, but it never occurred to me to walk to the skate park or go to the area where kids smoke cigarettes to find out why they’re not buying into what I’m selling.”

After the tragedy, that’s exactly what he did.

“Once I did that, I learned things that I needed to do differently. I changed. Now, even though those kids may not be the top students, they know I care about them. If I can plant the seed for other communities and schools to create that atmosphere, it would be great.”

An Environment Where Kids Feel Welcome Today, Columbine students, faculty and alumni boast of being a “family.” DeAngelis realizes that changing a school’s culture is only the first step to ensure safety.

However, he hopes that a positive culture can diminish a school community’s demand for invasive security measures.

“I can remember, right after the tragedy, people were talking about metal detectors. We were putting parents at every door. We had armed police officers and security cameras. But students came up to me and said, ‘Mr. D., this isn’t like a school anymore; it’s like a fortress.’ Bottom line, you have to prepare for threats but you have to create an environment where kids feel welcome.”

DeAngelis brightens when thinking about his future.

In addition to working with Jefferson County schools, DeAngelis, who divorced in the aftermath of the tragedy, recently married his high school sweetheart.

He also plans to continue taking his “message of hope” to other schools that face shootings. He has been to Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook Elementary, Deer Creek Middle School, Platte Canyon High School, Chardon High School and Arapahoe High School.

“My biggest message is that I’m doing this work in memory of the 13 who died. Then I talk about the things that will happen in recovery from a shooting. People think they’ll wake up someday and life will feel normal again, but it won’t. But you can’t give up hope. When I stand up in front of people, I give them a message of hope. I can say, ‘I’ve been there for 15 years. Look at Columbine; we’re stronger than ever.’”

He ends his presentations with pictures of his granddaughter.

“I will continue carrying this message so that she doesn’t have to face what those kids at Sandy Hook faced.”

WATCH a 9News segment about Frank DeAngelis at msudenver.edu/magazine.

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People Alumni News + Notes 1972

2003

2009

2013

1978

2005

2010

Heidi Gillespie (B.S. human nutrition ’13) is a customer service representative at FutureQuest Inc., a web hosting service in Denver.

She is working toward a master’s degree in teacher education at MSU Denver.

Ben Grossman (B.A. political science ’72) created a digital imaging company and a film company before retiring. He is currently experimenting with no-glasses 3-D broadcasting technology.

Reverend Burtnett M. Stine (B.S. psychology ’78) has worked as an addiction disorder clinical therapist at UnityPoint Health Services in Iowa for 14 years. He has served as a pastor for 15 years and has held other counseling positions. He plans to retire in Colorado within the next few years.

1990

Omar Hurricane (B.S. physics ’90) is a physicist at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. He led a research team studying the potential to use lasers to concentrate energy, and in turn, create new energy.

1997

Donna Hickey (B.A. journalism ’97) is a realtor at Ion Realty. She lives in Denver’s Baker neighborhood and is active in the community.

1999

Sara Crandall (B.S. social work ’99) is a social worker at Pershing Elementary School in Lincoln, Neb. where she helps students develop social skills and connects families with needed services. She was honored for her social work by a local Rotary club and U.S. Bank.

Michelle LaCrue (B.S. IDP ’99) married her husband, Patrick, in 2001 and recently left her position with the City of Lakewood to stay home to raise their three young children.

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Kimberly Dunwoody (B.S. IDP ’03) graduated with a doctorate of education from Creighton University in 2013. Dunwoody is the director of user experience at Truven Healthcare Analytics in Greenwood Village, Colo.

Melissa Wimbish (B.M. music ’05) won the 2014 National Association of Teachers of Singing artist award, receiving more than $10,000 in cash and prizes. She performs nationally and internationally.

2007

Nathan Hahs (B.A. psychology ’07) is a published author and poet and a proud parent of two. He recently returned to MSU Denver to study mathematics and physics.

Lisa M. Fredrickson (B.S. social work ’07) is a licensed clinical social worker who owns a private therapy practice in Lakewood, Colo. that specializes in individual, couples and family psychotherapy.

2008

Javier Flores (B.F.A. art ’08) is a street artist who recently exhibited his work at Museo de las Americas in Denver’s Santa Fe Arts District.

Kristin Hanson (B.A. history ’08) is an attorney who hopes to open a private practice.

She was licensed by the state of Colorado in May after earning her master’s degree in 2013.

Misha Harris (B.A. communication ’08) is a fire controlman, Third Class in the U.S. Navy serving aboard the pre-commissioned amphibious assault ship America (LHA6).

The ship is undergoing final construction in Pascagoula, Miss. and will be stationed in San Diego upon its completion.

Erin Kortgardner (B.A. speech communication ’09) is director of community relations at Denver’s Lowry Park assisted living community. She previously worked as a blood drive technician for Bonfils and enjoys traveling to tropical locations with her husband, Ross.

Tyler Hurst (B.S. aviation management ’10) is operations manager at Rick Husband International Airport in Amarillo, Texas where he is third in command. Hurst is proud of his legacy with the still-active Metro Aviation Professionals Association.

2011

Sarah Worah (B.S. human nutrition ’11) is a clinical dietician at North Suburban Hospital in Thornton, Colo. and a fitness consultant at Explore Fitness. She is engaged to be married.

Svetlana Yamanova (B.S. accounting ’11) is a graduate of the University of Denver’s Graduate Tax Program. She obtained her master’s degree on a full merit-based scholarship.

Jeremy VanHooser (B.S. human services ’11) works in MSU Denver’s Office of Institutional Diversity following a run for the Colorado House of Representatives.

2012

Travis Myers (B.S. speech communication ’12) is a management analyst for the United States Air Force. He lives at Ramstien Air Force Base in Germany following a one-year remote assignment in South Korea.

Jeremy Priest (B.A. economics ’12) is co-owner of the men’s neckwear manufacturer, Knotty Tie. He and his business partner Mark Johnson oversee the production of custom, hand-sewn ties at their Denver-based headquarters.

Cody Hickman (B.A. philosophy ’13) is a husband and father of four working as a research assistant while studying law at the University of Denver. A survivor of the Aurora Theater shooting, Hickman has worked with survivors of other mass tragedies.

Nicole Zayhowski (B.A.IDP ’13) is working for the national organization 9 to 5 and testified on a bill regarding affordable child care that Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law.

She won MSU Denver’s 2014 Outstanding Women’s Award for Alumni.

Lindy Hargrave (B.A. IDP ’13) is the illustrator of the children’s book, “Better than Cheese,” about the importance of spreading kindness. She enjoys decorating musical instruments and paints at concerts around Denver.

2014

Angela Beley (B.A. recreation ’14) is a Navy veteran who recently interned with the U.S. Coast Guard in Miami.

Casey Boatman (B.A. journalism ’14) is airport service manager at Oregon’s Eugene Airport where he oversees public outreach, marketing and tenant relations.

Denise Regan (B.A. anthropology ’14) is working towards a master’s degree in archaeology at the University of Durham in England. The 61-year-old hopes to return to and teach at MSU Denver.

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operations, including legislation, the department’s 70-plus boards and commissions, and all 64 Colorado counties.

Her path to this position was neither direct nor predictable, however.

Over the years, Dee has installed sprinklers, mowed lawns, flagged traffic on construction sites, installed phones in office buildings and served as an accountant. Clearly, her professional success is the result of hard work. But she gives a lot of credit to MSU Denver.

ALL

in the family

STORY JANALEE CARD CHMEL | PHOTO MARK WOOLCOTT

D

ee Martinez sweeps into the room, full of energy and smiles, despite the rain that drenched her as she walked from one Colorado state government building to another. She’s nearly bursting with good news about the Colorado Community Plan that was just signed by three state agencies. The plan will better serve individuals with disabilities and mental illness, as well as seniors, living in public institutions. It represents years of work and collaboration between stakeholders,advocates and state government, including the Colorado Department of Human Services where Dee works.

Her son, Aaron Martinez, seemingly used to his mother’s passion and energy, shakes his head, smiling. He had been in the middle of a story about his new job as a baseball coach at McPherson College in Kansas. But it can wait.

Mother and son have an obvious love and respect for each other. They also have something else in common: They are both graduates of MSU Denver.

Dee graduated in 1985 with degrees in biology and chemistry, as well as a minor in math. Aaron is a newly minted MSU Denver graduate with a 2014 degree in marketing. Aaron is on his way to his first college coaching job and Dee is working on her 32nd year as a Colorado State employee, a run that began when she got a job at the Auraria campus bookstore.

Today, Dee is deputy executive director of enterprise partnerships with the Department of Human Services, a large organization that covers everything from child welfare to behavioral health and economic security services for all Colorado residents. In this role, Dee supervises all of the department’s external

“It’s the foundation for everything,” said Dee. “The professors really cared. They wouldn’t let me drop or fail. They worked hard with me. I received an amazing education at Metro.”

Aaron agrees, especially about the professors. At one time, Aaron had plans to play college baseball and he was on his way when the NCAA declared him ineligible due to too many college transfers. Aaron had been recruited too many times and hadn’t known the rules.

Dream crushed, Aaron knew he had to finish school so he attended MSU Denver, where he discovered his “true calling:” college baseball coach.

His marketing professors helped him “package himself” to stand out from other applicants for the positions he sought.

“From the communication skills I practiced to the hands-on learning, I know I have experience that sets me apart,” he said.

Both Dee and Aaron agree that they received “outstanding” educations at MSU Denver, but the hallmark of their experiences was the professors.

“They are different at Metro,” said Aaron. “The professors honestly and truly love what they do, and they love helping students.”

FALL 2014

31

People In Memory 1960s

Hilda Jerich Orum (B.A. psychology ’69), April 2014

1970s

Dennis Donley (B.A. physical education ’73), May 2013 Leon Gaydosh (B.S. accounting ’73), January 2013 Mary Gore (B.A. sociology ’72), June 2011 Jackie Pevey (B.S. professional pilot ’79), December 2011 Phyllis Stare (B.S. early childhood education ’73), May 2014

1980s

Carol Lois Aberle (B.S. nursing ’84), January 2014

Faculty and Staff

Friends

Matt Kailey was an affiliate faculty member in the Institute for Women’s Studies and Services, an award-winning author and a prominent figure in the field of transgender issues. He was named on the first “Trans 100” list, and his book “Just Add Hormones: An Insider’s Guide to the Transsexual Experience” was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Kailey died in May 2014.

Vincent Harding was an author, activist, historian, teacher and a central figure in the civil rights movement. An associate and advisor to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harding’s connection to MSU Denver spanned decades.

Having received the University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Award

Professor Emeritus Brooks Van Everen was a faculty member in the Department of History from 1967–2000. He served as Faculty Senate president for two years in the early 1980s and was influential in the development of MSU Denver’s Study Abroad Program.

Van Everen won the Distinguished Service Award in 1983. He died in May 2014.

Theatine Father Tomás Fraile served 41 of his nearly 51 years as a priest at St. Cajetan’s Catholic Church. He was at St. Cajetan’s when the parish moved from the Auraria campus to West Denver, and, with his friend, Theatine Father James Prohens, helped oversee the building of the new parish. Father Fraile was named pastor of St. Cajetan’s following Father Prohens’ death in 2007. A native of Spain, Father Fraile was well loved by Denver’s Hispanic community. He died in March 2014.

in 1993, Harding returned to campus to deliver the keynote speech at the annual Martin Luther King Peace Breakfast in 2013. Harding also served as a consultant to MSU Denver’s Department of Africana Studies from 2004 to 2009, holding the title of “elder scholar.” Harding died in May 2014.

READ Eric Skougstad’s letter about his father, David Skougstad, who taught accounting at MSU Denver at msudenver.edu/ magazine. David Skougstad died in February 2014.

Caroline Blaney (B.A. psychology ’84), July 2004 Susan Johnson (B.S. accounting ’85), March 2014

1990s

Scott Andersen (B.S. computer science ’95), November 2013 Merry Bingaman (B.A. Spanish ’98), December 2013 Jane Heard (B.A. contract ’90), May 2012 Scott Sanderson (B.S. finance ’97), December 2013

Drive with ROWDY Pride Show your Roadrunner pride wherever you drive, with an MSU Denver license plate.

Order yours today!

Katherine Taylor (B.A. history ’91), May 2014

www.msudenver.edu/rowdyontheroad

Dawn Kaye Williams-Ross (B.A. early childhood ’90), May 2014

Plates are $25 for students and recent graduates and $50 for all others.

A one-time DMV specialty plate charge of $50 will apply.

Proceeds support the MSU Denver Alumni Association.

32

FALL 2014

Save The Date

BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY MSU DENVER HOMECOMING FEBRUARY 2–7, 2015 With events for students, alumni and families, it’s good to be a Roadrunner! msudenver.edu/homecoming

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

Campus Box 14 P.O. Box 173362 Denver, CO 80217