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PAGE 6 | THE VILLAGER • July 23, 2020
Johnson & Wales University to shutter 25-acre Denver campus next year
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BY THOMAS GOUNLEY EDITOR/REPORTER, BUSINESSDEN.COM
rivate college chain Johnson & Wales University plans to close its Denver campus, which opened in 2000, in summer 2021. The nonprofit university also will close its campus in North Miami, Florida, at the same time, Chancellor Mim L. Runey said Thursday in a letter posted on the institution’s website. That will leave the Providence, Rhode Island-based institution with campuses in that city and Charlotte, North Carolina. “As we position the university for the future, JWU’s unique status as one university, with four geographically diverse on-the-ground campuses must now become part of our past,” Runey wrote. Runey said the Denver and North Miami campuses will open in September for current students, but new students will not be permitted to enroll at those campuses. They will
close after the academic year is complete. “The university will work with every student impacted to develop a plan that allows them to graduate on time, whether at another JWU campus, online or another institution,” Runey wrote. Johnson & Wales’ Denver campus is located at 7150 E. Montview Blvd. in the South Park Hill neighborhood. It is approximately 25 acres and has 13 buildings on it, according to the school’s website. Johnson & Wales owns the real estate. It purchased the eastern half, the 1985 N. Quebec St. parcel, in August 1999 for $8.46 million, according to public records. Two parcels that make up the campus’ western half, both shown in city records as 1800 N. Oneida St., were added in July 2003 for $22.17 million. A spokesman for Johnson & Wales said no decisions have been made regarding what will be done with the real estate. Campus enrollment in
Centennial Hall, one of 13 buildings on the Johnson & Wales Denver campus, dates to 1886 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Photo courtesy of Johnson & Wales
fall 2019 was 927 students, 421 of whom were in the culinary school, according to Johnson & Wales. The university had 47 full-time and 50 part-time faculty members at the time. Prior to Johnson & Wales, the campus was home to the Colorado Women’s College and the University of Denver
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Law School. One prominent building on campus is Centennial Hall, which was built in 1886 for the Colorado Women’s College and originally named Treat Hall. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Johnson & Wales said the building had been closed for 30 years before the uni-
versity reopened it in 2015 following $17 million in renovations. Denver has seen colleges close before. The former Colorado Heights University campus in southwest Denver was purchased by Glendale-based Westside Investment Partners in 2018 for $16.5 million.
The new Executive Director of the Newman Center, Aisha Ahmad-Post starts Aug. 3
The University of Denver and Robert and Judi Newman Center for the Performing Arts are pleased to welcome Aisha Ahmad-Post as the new Executive Director of the Newman Center. Ahmad-Post starts in the role on August 3, 2020. Ahmad-Post joins the Newman Center with wide-ranging experience in performing arts production, programming, education, and management. Most recently, she worked to open the Ent Center for the Arts at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and has presented the first several seasons of the acclaimed Artist Series at UCCS, alongside successes in education, community engagement, audience development, and operations. Prior to her time at the Ent Center, Ahmad-Post was Producer of Public Programs for The New York Public Library, where she booked and produced artists, created a live stream platform, and created several programs encouraging audience engagement. “I’m honored to join Newman Center and the DU community. This transition comes at a time when the performing arts industry faces, quite literally, an existential crisis, and our country grapples with how to better uphold our pledge to justice for all,” said Ahmad-Post. “I envision Newman Center playing an important role in rebuilding our local and national arts com-
munities, while using performing arts as a tool for investigating who we are as a society.” A graduate of Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she earned Master of Music and Bachelor of Science degrees, Ahmad-Post also recently completed the Association of Performing Arts Professionals Leadership Fellow program. She has been active in local and national performing arts organizations, including board service at the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region and Cheyenne Mountain Public Radio, and service in the Rocky Mountain Arts Consortium as president and member. “We’re thrilled to welcome Aisha Ahmad-Post to the University of Denver’s Newman Center for the Performing Arts. She is a remarkable talent whose skills and experience will further advance arts and culture at the University of Denver,” said Chancellor Jeremy Haefner. “As executive director of the Newman Center, Aisha will play a key role in building DU’s relationships with local communities and on the national stage. Especially now, as the ways in which we interact with the arts have changed in the face of a global pandemic, Aisha’s wealth of experience and networks will prove invaluable to launching new initiatives and introducing DU to new artists in the coming seasons.”
