Roadrunners

ROAD RUNNERS

1970

JOHN GURZO (B.A. History, ’70) is retired after a career that included working as the head baseball coach for Stockton University until 2002 and as director of the communitydevelopment department with the Borough of Red Bank in New Jersey. A member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America for many years, he remains actively engaged in the great outdoors.

1995

ALAN RENCH (B.S. Biology, ’95) is a retired teacher of secondary science and math with a master’s degree from Walden University. After teaching for 21 years, he recently retired to northern Wisconsin with plans to tutor secondary and postsecondary science and math students seeking mastery of those subjects.

2013

KRISTOFER CASTELLANES (B.S. Human Services, ’13) has been working for three years with Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners and the Colorado Crisis and Support Line as a crisis/opioid specialist. He said he is grateful for the amazing professors at MSU Denver who taught him everything he needs to succeed.

Fond farewell

Cathy Lucas, who helped transform Metropolitan State University of Denver from a regional college into a renowned urban university, stepped down July 1 after 22 years.

The former vice president of Strategy and External Affairs served MSU Denver since 1999, leading communication strategy and helping shepherd the University’s trajectory under Presidents Stephen A. Jordan, Ph.D., and Janine Davidson, Ph.D.

“I started 2021 with two words: refresh and recalibrate,” Lucas said. “Emerging from a global pandemic, losing my mom and caring for my 89-year-old dad, I was pushed to slow down. As a result, I reflected on the many great experiences I’ve had here and what could be next for me.”

During her tenure, Lucas led numerous policy and public affairs initiatives, including the changing of the school’s name, gaining legislative approval to add master’s degrees and securing funding for capital projects. She also guided the communication strategy when the University offered its now-lauded in-state resident tuition

rate for undocumented students. “Cathy made great contributions to MSU Denver over two decades,” Davidson said. “She was integral to the growth of our STRATEGY AND brand from ‘college’ to ‘university’

COMMUNICATIONS and, through her work on our

CHIEF HELPED RAISE strategic plan, positioned us for

THE UNIVERSITY’S the next level.” PROFILE AND LAUNCHED Leading the award-winning

AN AWARD-WINNING STORYTELLING Strategy, Marketing and PLATFORM. Communications team was a source of pride for Lucas. The team has been recognized for its innovative brandjournalism approach and was named the 2019 Public Relations Team of the Year by the Public Relations Society of America Colorado Chapter. She also served as publisher of RED Magazine. Lucas was honored among the 2019 Denver Business Journal Outstanding Women in Business — Communications and Media and the 2018 Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce Top 25 Most Powerful Women. She also received the 2017 PRSA Colorado Public Relations Person of the Year award.

2014

PATRICK GRUBER (B.S. Hospitality, ’14) and his wife, Kara, are the owners of Beachfront Foods, a Denver-based, islandthemed company. A food lover since childhood, Gruber launched the mission-driven business in 2020, making sustainable and delicious sauces and seasonings as well as merchandise available online and in select locations around the city.

2015

FRANCESCA SMITH (B.A. Journalism, ’15) is a competitive snowboarder, a life coach at Highest Power Brands, a marketer with H² Marketing and the co-founder of NU Food, a source of tasty and healthy plant-based snacks. She has also partnered with Pivot 2 Power, a networking platform for women to showcase their power and educate, connect and empower women in the community.

2020

LUKE KOVALCIK (B.A. English, ’20) is proud to announce the publication of his debut novel “Predeceased Ascension,” which he worked on writing during his free time as an MSU Denver student. He said he is grateful to his professors in the Department of English for their guidance.