Megan Clancy ’07
Creative Director
Noel Dolan Contributing Writers
Jennifer Phelps ’93
Mandy Bray ’09
Project Manager
Naomi Rene Trujillo
Director
Mark Lee
Video Producer
Julia Fuller
Vice
Johanna Blickenstaff
Over the past year, we have commemorated Colorado College’s sesquicentennial anniversary. To round out the occasion, we created this issue of The Peak as a retrospective and a celebration of the impact CC has had over the past 150 years.
In crafting this commemorative issue, I learned so much about the history of our college. And I am convinced now more than ever that, whenever you called this campus home, it is still the same CC today as it was then. Some things have changed. Improvements have been made, and we have grown –doing better as we know better. But at the core of it, what this place is and the spirit of CC that means so much to so many of us remains true and constant. CC is a place that is always striving toward big ideas, improving itself with authentic intent to improve the world in which we exist. A place filled with passionate people eager to contribute. A place of exploration, inspiration, deep thought, and the willingness to ask, "what if?" A place with a strong and proud legacy of Tigers past, present, and future.
When we initially sat down to discuss what to include in this issue, it quickly became evident that there was no way that we could possibly showcase all the great moments and people inspired and shaped by CC in a single magazine. There have been books written on decades alone. While comprehensiveness was unattainable, I want to thank Jessy Randall, CC’s amazing Archivist and Curator of Special Collections, for helping me navigate the Tutt Library archives and distill as much of our storied history as possible for your benefit.
I hope what you find in this issue does justice to the place you know and love as well as the history that you each played a part in creating. I hope you see the CC you remember and reconnect with what you found so special about this campus and community.
Happy reading, and Happy Birthday, CC! Here’s to your next 150!
Megan Clancy ’07 Editor, The Peak
For the past 150 years, Colorado College has delivered a liberal arts education characterized by academic excellence, civic engagement, and our location as a downtown campus at the base of the Rocky Mountains.
Over the decades, we have grown alongside our city and adapted to the changing landscape of higher education. We have evolved college practices, structures, and norms — from creating and launching the Block Plan educational model, to making a bold antiracism commitment long before other institutions, to becoming the first in the Rocky Mountain region to achieve carbon neutrality — with collective input from students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
I am incredibly honored to lead Colorado College as we utilize the momentum and learnings of our first 150 years to launch our next. While we are not the CC of 150 years ago, our mission to deliver a transformative liberal arts education remains the same and is more relevant than ever. Liberal arts prepare engaged, informed citizens with the tools, ingenuity, and empathy to make a difference in their communities.
This issue of The Peak showcases some of the alumni who have contributed to CC’s legacy thus far. I hope their dedication to making a difference makes you as proud to be part of this community as they have made me. Each and every one of you is an integral part of the CC story — and today’s students and the generations after them will add the next chapters.
So, tell me. As we look to the future together, what are your hopes for CC's next 150 years? What is the impact you hope we will make on the world? What do you aspire to hear people say about us 150 years from now? Use the QR code to let me know — and let's start creating the path to that future today.
Warmly,
Dr. Manya Whitaker Interim President
Megan Clancy '07
Colorado College was founded in 1874 – the brainchild of General William Jackson Palmer, founder of Colorado Springs, who envisioned an institution of great philosophical and scientific thought as a center for his new city. Over the next 150 years, CC would stretch and grow, finding itself through phases of great struggle and great triumph. To mark the College’s Sesquicentennial, we look back at the decades that transformed this campus from the initial, singular schoolhouse that it was, and honor the generations of students, faculty, and staff who have called this place home. ❉
by
Megan Clancy '07
The charter for a new college is filed with the Territory of Colorado on February 9, 1874. General Palmer dreams of having a college in the city and provides the land and money. Thomas Haskell, the College's founder, organizes the new institution and sets it in operation, with great financial support from the Congregational Church. It is an institution supported by the church and its people, but decidedly "free from ecclesiastical control." From the beginning, it is “a coeducational institution open to all sexes and races.”
On May 6, 1874, classes begin. The first session takes place in the College’s first building — a threeroom structure across from Acacia Park that costs $1,500 to build and $200 to furnish. This first session is attended by 13 men and 12 women. It is 10 weeks long and tuition is $10–$20, depending on the student’s track of study.
These early years are tenuous and uncertain with frequent change in leadership and great financial stress. ❉
“Through its unending roll-call of students [Colorado College will] bestow a benediction upon the shining shores of far-off seas in distant ages.”
— Edward P. Tenney, CC's 2nd President
Megan Clancy '07
The central part of Cutler Hall — the first permanent campus building — is finished in 1880 with the two wings complete two years later. At first, the building is referred to as The College, and then, briefly, it’s known as Palmer Hall before being named after its benefactor, Henry Cutler. In 1885, the first intercollegiate football game west of the Mississippi is played at CC. Tigers beat University of Denver (DU) 12-0!
Colorado Springs and the College come alive in the early 1890s with the discovery of gold in Cripple Creek. Enrollment and donations increase steadily. Campus gets its first student publications, oratorical contests are popular events, and a small campus gym is built, encouraging athletic student life.
In 1892, CC gets its first library, Coburn Library. In 1894, Wolcott Observatory is built, and in 1898, Washburn Field is created. This time-period is filled with CC community members whose names will continue to be part of CC life far into the future: Palmer, Haskell, and Loomis. ❉
“The faculty that President Slocum did succeed in bringing to Colorado College gave to the institution a name among the best colleges and universities in the land. Some of the faculty had international reputations as scholars, and they were men of strong personalities that were an inspiration to the students.”
— Louise Buckley
Megan Clancy '07
On February 23, 1904, Palmer Hall opens as the campus's new science building, complete with a natural history museum of taxidermied animals and a large whale skeleton. It is described as one of the finest college buildings among liberal arts colleges in the United States. This same year, CC becomes one of four institutions in the Western U.S. to be selected for a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Students now have majors and faculty advisors, and enrollment continues to grow. McGregor Hall, the third women’s dorm, is built in 1904, and the fourth, Bemis, opens in 1908. Off campus, men students begin organizing into fraternities. In 1905, CC becomes the first college or university in Colorado to have a racially integrated athletic team (Tiger Football). ❉
“Bemis Hall has cast its refining influence over the women students and over the whole college...Trustees, faculty members, students and friends of the college have met within its walls for the finest of the fine arts, friendly and gracious associations. ”
— Charlie Brown Hershey, CC's 6th President
Megan Clancy '07
In 1913, CC students lay the foundation for future campus activism in their first organized protest of the campus’s prohibition of card playing and smoking. This same year features the building of a new campus gym and outdoor amphitheater. Enrollment now exceeds 700 students and faculty begin to demand a larger role in the academic governance of the College. This shift in leadership style is heightened with the fallout of the Slocum Affair and the College's move to a new president. This time period also marks the end of Christian moralism as a cornerstone of the College's academic structure.
In 1917, enrollment declines by over 100 as many students leave to serve in World War I, and the College institutes a compulsory military training program for all men students. In 1918, The Broadmoor is built at the foot of Cheyenne Mountain and quickly becomes the site for CC's formal dances. And, in the fall of 1918, the Spanish Flu hits campus. CC is put under quarantine and classes are suspended for months. ❉
Megan Clancy '07
These are considered the quiet years in CC history. College leadership is stable and enrollment numbers level. Only about 10% of students come from Colorado. CC is known nationally for providing a good liberal arts education to a select group of talented and motivated men and women.
But, while things are relatively quiet with the College’s administration and academics, there is some cultural discord on campus. Reflecting the changing values of the Roaring Twenties, students take issue with the strict social rules of the CC administration. Prohibition makes the hipflask a big part of college life, and CC's women began to lean into jazz to express their need for freedom and self-expression. Fraternity serenades on the Women's Quad are a common occurrence. Students and faculty alike are demanding more freedom and more power. ❉
Megan Clancy '07
During this decade, CC continues to persevere in nationally and internationally trying times. In 1931, the New Colorado College Plan divides the academic program into three divisions: The School of Letters and Fine Arts, The School of Social Sciences, and The School of Natural Sciences. Degree requirements are more generalized, and students are encouraged to take a wide variety of courses in their first two years. "Orals" become a mainstay of final exams. CC now offers full athletic scholarships and has become a pinnacle of athletic accomplishment.
The campus itself continues to grow. The College begins buying many of the homes adjacent to campus to provide more student accommodation. Shove Memorial Chapel is built in 1931, Stewart Field is added as the newest athletics area, and Coburn Library expands. In 1936, a new museum, The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, is built on the edge of campus, and CC begins using its theatre for dramatic productions. In 1938, The Broadmoor turns its indoor horse rink into an ice rink, and CC organizes its first hockey team.
The Great Depression causes enrollment to drop, three dorms close, and faculty salaries are cut by 20%. But by the end of the thirties, enrollment soars back over 800 and private gifts begin to grow. ❉
Megan Clancy '07
There are big changes on campus. Winning World War II replaces educational excellence as the main goal for CC. The College is designated as a training center for the Navy-Marine V-12 Program. A victory garden is planted in the middle of campus and a large percentage of men students leave campus to serve in the armed forces.
After the war, thanks to the GI Bill, enrollment grows to 1,250 by the end of 1946. Then, in 1948, CC is considered a possible communist threat by some locals and even brought under question by the House of Representatives' Committee on Unamerican Activities. Thanks to a vocal College president and faculty, academic freedom withstands these outside pressures. ❉
Megan Clancy '07
The population boom in Colorado leads to an increase in enrollment and Slocum Hall is built to house the growing number of men students. This starts a building boom on campus with expanded dorms, a new student union, and Olin Hall and its fishbowl. For the first time in school history, CC permits men and women students to dine together on a regular basis in a coed dining hall.
In 1950, the College implements its first honor code across campus. 1955 brings raised admission standards, increased tuition, and the elimination of the compulsory chapel requirement. Freedom and Authority is taught for the first time.
CC no longer gives athletic scholarships, so it builds a pool to attract student-athletes. In 1950 and 1957, CC wins the NCAA Men's Hockey Championship. ❉
The campus expansion of the previous decade continues with the building of Boettcher Health Center, Armstrong Hall, and Mathias (originally nicknamed "Superdorm"). Coburn is now too small for the growing student body, so Tutt Library is built.
The sixties usher in an era of protests on campus. In 1965, over 500 CC students and faculty march down Tejon St. to protest civil rights abuses in Alabama. There are also protests against restrictions to where students can live and how late women students can stay out. In 1968 and 1969, weekly anti-Vietnam War vigils are held at Earle Flagpole, students participate in anti-war marches from campus to downtown, and protests are held at the entrance to Fort Carson. There are campus teach-ins and a protest that shuts down Cascade Ave.
In 1963, Lloyd E. Worner is the first CC alum to be appointed CC President. And, in 1968, talks begin about revising the academic calendar. A group of faculty work to create a first-of-its-kind, radical academic structure in which students would take just one class at a time. On October 27, 1969, The Block Plan is adopted by a faculty vote of 72–53. ❉
Mandy Bray ’09
James Heckman ’65 is a Nobel laureate and Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago, where he also directs the Center for the Economics of Human Development. His research, including four books and over 300 publications, has profoundly impacted the understanding of human development and capital. But back in 1961, he was a CC first-year student from the Denver suburbs setting foot in Reinitz Ross and Bill Hochman’s intro seminar.
Heckman majored in Mathematics but describes being deeply impacted by courses in Classics, History, and Philosophy.
“I remember reading Plato’s Republic in Jane Cauvel’s course on philosophy. It absorbed my thoughts and being for months and raised so many valuable questions. CC classes opened me up to the canon of Western and Classical literature. It was exhilarating, and the instructors were deeply engaged with ideas and with challenging a group of ignorant but enthusiastic students with many new ideas.”
Heckman’s research and methods have impacted fields from labor markets to microeconomics, but they have made perhaps the deepest impact on society’s understanding of early childhood education.
“The early education field is rich with ideas, but weak in formal methodology and statistics practice,” he reflects. Heckman worked with researcher David Weikart to organize and interpret data from the pioneering Perry Preschool Project. He developed the Heckman Curve, which demonstrates that the earlier a society invests in education, the greater the returns.
Another enduring contribution is the Heckman Correction, a two-step statistical technique that addresses sample selection bias. It is widely used across labor economics and social sciences and earned Heckman the Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences in 2000.
The award that meant the most to Heckman? Being awarded tenure at the University of Chicago, where he's continued to teach and interact with world-class scholars for over 51 years.
“I hope that my children and grandchildren succeed. I also hope that I can contribute to the knowledge of how to develop and measure the skills that promote human flourishing for all.” ❉
Mandy Bray ’09
As a senior at CC, Cathy Priest ’66 knew she had a choice to make. Teaching, nursing, and marriage were the three accepted tracks for women graduates at the time. She had her math teaching credentials, but she wanted something different.
During Spring Break, Priest road tripped out to the Bay Area for interviews with IBM and other companies. Back in Colorado, the call came. She had a job as a programmer.
When Priest began her job at IBM in 1966, she was one of four women programmers on a team of 60.
“We were not very well received by the men. The career path had been for the men to be computer operators, and if they did well, they could be promoted to programmers. And here were four girls right off a college campus who knew nothing about programming and had taken their jobs. We had to prove ourselves.”
She set about to do exactly that. Priest began to learn programming from program instruction books and classes.
Despite the sexism, Priest thrived at IBM. Her first big job was programming for a large IBM supply distribution warehouse. “I didn't know anything about distribution warehouses and safety stock and backorder tickets, so I learned the business and then wrote a program to support them. It was really fun,” she recalls.
At the time, IBM was reinventing computing with innovations like the disc drive and the IBM System/360, which first allowed software compatibility between machines.
After 30 years, she left IBM and went to Informix Software, where she managed the customer support organization for the Americas. When IBM acquired Informix four years later, she became the Worldwide Director of Relational Database Support – a position she held until 2004.
Outside of work, Priest has led a full and active life. She enjoys philanthropy, water skiing, golf, birding, hiking, skeet shooting, duplicate bridge, and hunting. She didn’t miss a ski season for 60 years and twice competed at the World Championships in International One Design (IOD) sailboat racing. She adopted her husband’s two sons and still Zooms monthly with close friends from Ticknor Hall. ❉
provided by Priest
Megan Clancy '07
The Block Plan begins at CC in the fall of 1970. The College is the first in the country to adopt this structure. Blocks are set at three and a half weeks, one at a time, nine blocks per year, with a maximum of 25 students in a class. This change to the academic calendar completely overhauls every aspect of campus life.
The percentage of women in the student body rapidly increases, and women’s rights and gay rights become a focus of campus initiatives. All dorms on campus now have the option of going coed. Cutler Publications is created, allowing student publications to be free of campus administration's restrictions. And, in response to student demand, the Hub snack bar in Rastall Center begins serving 3.2% beer to students over 18.
El Pomar Sports Center is built to accommodate CC’s growing athletics program and the construction of Packard Hall brings a new architectural style to campus. With the installation
of a teletype machine to a single telephone line in Olin Hall, CC ushers in the computer age on campus.
In 1974, CC celebrates its centennial anniversary. ❉
“In creating the Block Plan… There was no atmosphere of financial or educational or ideological decay or anything of that sort. There was no interest in changing our fundamental direction. The emphasis was on how to do a better job of traditional arts and sciences.”
— Glenn Brooks, Professor Emeritus
Mandy Bray ’09
“I'm the kind of person that likes to focus on something and get it solved,” says Marcia McNutt ’74, President of the National Academy of Sciences. She’s tackled big challenges throughout her career, from plate tectonics to oil blowouts to sexual harassment in science. And it all began with her first block at CC in 1970, Intro to Geology.
“The Block Plan was really important for me as a future scientist because it actually replicated what life would be like as a scientist,” she says.
McNutt went on to major in Physics, earn her PhD in Earth Sciences at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and pursue an academic career at MIT leading large oceanographic expeditions. At that juncture, she pivoted from academic research to leadership, making space for the next generation of researchers.
When asked about the many glass ceilings she’s broken for women in science, she smiles. “What took them so long? Women were running these organizations for decades, but this was a final recognition that you don't need to have male figureheads at the top.”
In 2009, another CC alum played a key role in her journey. Ken Salazar ’77, then-Secretary of the Interior, convinced her to move from California to Washington, D.C. to lead The United States Geological Survey (USGS). During her tenure there, she advised the administration on initiatives including the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Superstorm Sandy, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
In her day-to-day work, she uses not only her scientific knowledge, but writing and intercultural communications that she credits to a liberal arts education. Just as she benefitted from multidisciplinary learning, she believes bringing disciplines together is the key to solving big challenges like climate change.
“The Block Plan was really important for me as a future scientist because it actually replicated what life would be like as a scientist.”
As for the next generation, she hopes they have access to an education like she did. “We don't all need to be scientists, but we all need to understand the scientific method. That starts with an inquisitive, discovery-based education.” ❉
provided by McNutt
Megan Clancy ’07
You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who has provided greater advocacy for early pediatric medical intervention than Dr. Albert Mehl ’77. The former Tiger had a long career as an eminent pediatrician and a leader in understanding the need for newborn hearing screening and early intervention. And it started in his time as a Chemistry major at CC.
“My years at Colorado College didn't magically create in me a new intellectual curiosity, but I look back at those years as a catalyst for me as a young and energetic learner,” says Mehl.
After only three years at CC, thanks to his multiple AP credits, Mehl was able to apply to medical school. He was accepted at the University of Colorado Medical School in Denver and, following completion of medical school and a subsequent three-year residency in pediatrics, he joined a small private practice. He later left his practice for the prepaid, notfor-profit healthcare model of Kaiser Permanente and worked there for three decades.
During this time, Mehl played a key role in one of the earliest trials of screening and intervention for newborn hearing loss.
“Many experts already knew the nature of the problem, and many scientists and engineers who came before me had perfected the technology to test every newborn baby. But only a small handful of those already involved were physicians, and the lack of physician buy-in was a great barrier,” says Mehl.
“In this life, we sometimes find ourselves in a position to make a difference, and I realized it was my turn to carry the flame in a relay of torchbearers.”
Now retired, Mehl looks back on his professional years with pride and his college years with great fondness.
“I think of my years at CC as an immersion in the pursuit of excellence, lived in an environment of newness and exploration,” says Mehl. ❉
“In this life, we sometimes find ourselves in a position to make a difference, and I realized it was my turn to carry the flame in a relay of torchbearers.”
Megan Clancy ’07
During this decade, President Gresham Riley works to build CC's national profile. There is a new emphasis on involving CC Athletics in the academic stature of the college. Women's Soccer becomes a DI sport and, in 1986, they finish the season as second in the nation.
In 1982, CC develops a core curriculum that every student is required to take. The Rastall Center is demolished and, in its place, Worner Campus Center is built. Barnes Science Center is built and residence halls are renovated. Baca becomes the first offcampus facility.
Changes in technology — such as video, pushbutton telephones, and personal computers — begin to alter life on campus. Student musicals such as West Side Story, Hair, and Cabaret are a popular part of campus life. The CC Debate Team is one of the most successful groups on campus. Student demonstrations protest Reagan and his economic
policies. Traditional, formal dating becomes a thing of the past with students shifting more to a group date style, encouraged by the ever-changing social groups of the Block Plan. ❉
“It became clear to me in my many conversations that there was an aspiration on the part of the College community which many people felt had not been fulfilled. And that was the movement of the College into a posture of national recognition — recognition for being the kind of institution that, in fact, it was.”
— Gresham Riley, CC's 11th President
Mandy Bray ’09
Bestselling author and speaker Jen Sincero ’87 had never seen a mountain before arriving at CC in 1983. Waitlisted at first, she called the CC Admissions Office and talked her way into a spot that changed her life.
“I'd never been out west, I’d never been camping, I’d never even been hiking. So, my activities were learning about that kind of stuff and exploring the west and going on road trips,” she recalls. “I was on the volleyball team when I got there, but then I learned that I couldn't go on Block Breaks if I was on the team. So, I quit. I had my priorities pretty clear at that point.”
“I am still 100% on the Block Plan, much to my shock and sometimes horror, because I have written six books at this point, and I have literally written them in three and a half weeks, almost down to the hour.”
When she graduated, Sincero knew she could write thanks to professors like James Yaffee. But she took the scenic route to the bestseller list. Marketing for a record company, playing in a band, and life coaching were all part of her journey – often simultaneously – to publishing You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life.
provided by Sincero
“I started reading all the self-help books and getting into life coaching. I was reading all these books that were actually incredibly helpful, but none of them were funny or edgy. I thought, ‘Okay, I could write the hell out of a self-help book.’”
In 2013, You Are a Badass broke out of the vanilla mold and resonated with audiences far and wide. The book won an Audie Award and hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Subsequent books include You Are a Badass at Making Money and Badass Habits
Now a resident of Santa Fe, NM, which she fell in love with on a Block Break, Sincero has carried some CC habits into her writing career.
“I am still 100% on the Block Plan, much to my shock and sometimes horror,” she says. “I have written six books at this point, and I have literally written them in three and a half weeks, almost down to the hour.” ❉
Mandy Bray ’09
The routine for Paul Markovich '88 at CC was simple. Eat, sleep, go to class, go to Tutt Library, play hockey, recover. As a defenseman on the hockey team, he didn’t have time for much else.
“I loved it. I wouldn't change anything about that level of focus. I thrived on it,” he shares. “I mainly focused on being the best student and the best hockey player that I could be.”
That focus and discipline became a foundation for success – Markovich now serves as CEO of Blue Shield of California.
When Markovich joined the company in 1995, he had no background or education in healthcare. Markovich majored in International Political Economy at CC, studied in Russia, then completed his master's in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
“I realized how complex the healthcare system was and how poorly it was functioning for people. And I thought, we're all human. We're all mortal. If we can make this system better, it’ll improve the lives of everybody.”
Since Markovich was named CEO in 2013, healthcare has faced many challenges, primarily affordability. To lower costs and improve outcomes, he’s spearheaded initiatives like creating digital health records and working to tie pay to value.
The company has grown under his leadership, approximately doubling its membership and tripling revenue. “I think everybody in the company has fully embraced our mission, which is to transform a dysfunctional system into one that's worthy of our
family and friends and sustainably affordable for everyone. We use that as our guiding North Star.”
Looking back, Markovich credits much of his intellectual and emotional growth to a liberal arts education. In particular, how political philosophy helped him develop and articulate his own beliefs. ❉
“To lead, you have to make a lot of decisions and explain those decisions to people both inside and outside the company. If you don't have a coherent philosophy as to why you're doing what you're doing, it's very difficult to convince people to follow you.”
provided by
Megan Clancy ’07
Throughout the nineties, CC continues its push for preeminence among liberal arts schools and defend freedom of speech in academia, while also bracing against a mild recession and the Baby Bust effects on enrollment. After years of change and turmoil, both at CC and in the world, there is a new sense of calm on campus, building to the announcement in 1993, that CC would be appointing its first woman president — Kathryn Mohrman.
Community service is a focus of student life with the Center for Community Service becoming one of the most active offices on campus. In 1990, students and faculty gather to protest the U.S. government's preparations for war in the Middle East. Rollerblading and skateboarding are the popular ways to get around campus. There is a push to change CC's mascot from the tiger to the greenback cutthroat trout. The opposition to this starts a "Squish The Fish" campaign. The tiger stays with a narrow 53% of the student vote.
In 1990, for the first time in CC history, the Men's Cross Country team qualifies for the DIII National Championship. In 1996 both the men's and women's teams qualify. The Colorado Springs World Arena opens and is the new home for CC Hockey, with the team advancing to the national championship in 1996.
In 1992, the Gilmore Stabler Cabin is built outside of Divide, CO. The Big Three residence halls are all renovated and Slocum Commons becomes a popular event space. In 1995, the Glass House is created as a multicultural dorm. The space in the basement of Worner becomes the Tiger Pit and then the LEW (named for Lloyd E. Worner), a latenight hang out spot for students.
With the start of the 1994–95 academic year, students are allowed to double major and, in 1995, students register for classes via computer for the first time in school history. That same year, Women's Studies becomes a major at CC. ❉
Mandy Bray ’09
April 20, 1990. An obscure, unsigned band is booked to play Cutler Quad on Earth Day. The band? Now-Platinum and Grammy-nominated rock band Phish. The promoter? CC Student Don Strasburg ’91.
That was the first concert Strasburg ever booked. Now President of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest Region at AEG, Strasburg has promoted thousands of shows and opened iconic theaters.
At CC, Strasburg was a Political Science and History double major and a Beta Theta Pi member. But his one love was live music. “Most Block Breaks, if there was a Grateful Dead concert somewhere, my friends and I would get in a car and drive there,” Strasburg says.
After hearing Phish out east in 1989, he returned to school with a mission to bring them to Colorado. He started conversations with Live Sounds and Tim Swope ’89 of the Outdoor Recreation Committee (ORC). They formed a plan for an Earth Day concert on campus.
“After that, I had the bug,” shares Strasburg. He apprenticed under Mario Valdes, manager of KRCC, and booked Blues Traveler, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, and others on campus.
The rest is hallowed music history. Strasburg brought world-class musicians to the Fox and opened Denver's Fillmore Auditorium in 1999. After the LiveNation acquisitions of the 90s and 00s, Strasburg left the company in 2007 to join AEG. The AEG portfolio includes Denver's Bluebird Theater, Gothic Theater, The Ogden Theater, Mission Ballroom, Fiddler's Green Amphitheater, Gerald Ford in Vail, and the new Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs. The company also promotes over 140 shows at Red Rocks Amphitheater plus countless other shows across Colorado.
Looking back, Strasburg reflects on a Heidegger term he learned from Professor Fuller at CC.
“Dasein is the pure essence of being in the moment. I believe that is exemplified when you're in music and dancing in blissful existence. I realized at CC this communion is not something that automatically exists, someone needs to take the responsibility to organize it. I am honored to do the work and take it very seriously.” ❉
Jennifer Phelps ’93
Jena Hausmann ’93 is the President and CEO of Children’s Hospital Colorado, one of the top ranked children’s hospitals in the nation. “I fell in love with it,” she says. “It has been an absolute blessing of a career to serve children and families and really be an integral part of a community.”
During her time at CC, Hausmann was fortunate to have Glenn Brooks, the father of the Block Plan, as her advisor. “I was amazed from the beginning by how humble he was and how kind he was to the students,” she says. “He gave me confidence and belief in myself…and helped me to think about what success looks like at Colorado College.”
Hausmann believes much of that success came from CC’s small class sizes. “That interaction with faculty… is where I think really important communication skills were formed, relationship skills,” she says.
In addition, Hausmann was the president of numerous campus organizations and clubs. “When you are given an opportunity to lead a group, you learn organizational skills, inspirational skills,” she says. “Those were building blocks for my confidence and helped me visualize that I might be good at leading.”
Her unique leadership style may have sprouted at CC, but it flourished when Hausmann entered the field of healthcare administration. “When you graduate in 1993 with a Poli Sci degree, you are either going to law school or working in Washington, D.C.,” she says. “Healthcare was part of the 1992 presidential election, and the Clintons were making that a big part of their platform. So, my entrée into healthcare was through the health policy political lens.”
After earning her master’s from the University of Minnesota, Hausmann worked for a decade in the
Fairview Health System in Minneapolis, first as an administrative fellow, and then in several senior management positions at the University of Minnesota Medical Center where she honed her skills and formed an incredible sense of how to leverage highfunctioning teams. Hausmann now advocates for pediatric mental health.
“I see a lot of the mental health issues and the heaviness that weighs on our younger generations,” she says. “There’s this interesting opportunity in college today to continue to create an environment where there’s an ability to create belief and confidence in yourself. What I hope CC can do is to continue to be a place that brings hope, vision, and optimism to the future.”
At the end of last year, Hausmann was named one of Fierce Healthcare’s 2024 Women of Influence. ❉
Megan Clancy ’07
This decade continues the growth and excitement of campus life. Priddy Trips provide first-year students with an introduction to CC and events like Llamapalooza and Dance Workshop become mainstays of the student experience. President Richard Celeste sets in motion plans that help shape the funding and faculty for CC academics.
The early 2000s brings a revived push for equity and diversity to campus, both in academics and in student life. Several student groups focused on providing safe spaces for historically marginalized groups are founded. In 2003, Coretta Scott King, civil rights leader and wife of Martin Luther King Jr., visits campus to deliver the Capstone Address. And in 2005, the Women’s Studies program becomes the Feminist and Gender Studies Program.
This decade also sees change and growth in the layout of campus. 2003 brings the opening of Tutt Science Center and the Cornerstone Arts Center is built in 2008. In 2009, the Press at Colorado College is revived and there is a growth in academic studies of printing and the book. ❉
Jennifer Phelps ’93
“CC instilled in me a value of life-long learning, the ability to stay curious, and learn new things quickly and with depth,” says Ellie Collinson ’03. “I think about all the various mentors that I encountered both on campus as a student and in the CC community, and how much that’s had an impact on me.” Collinson recently served as the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), a federal organization that promotes U.S. exports by developing infrastructure projects in emerging economies.
“We help launch sustainable projects in areas like clean energy and telecom. This creates export opportunities for U.S. firms and supports goodpaying jobs,” Collinson says. “I didn’t appreciate the complexity and impact of this work before I walked in the door. Certainly, the concept of life-long learning is very real.”
Prior to the USTDA, Collinson spent a decade doing lobby work in Washington, D.C. “The Block Plan gave me a really good academic preparation for what it means to have to deep dive into a substantive issue quickly and fully.” Collinson then did operations and financial work for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and was initially appointed by the Biden-Harris Administration as Chief of Staff to the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary of Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
“There are things that I was exposed to at CC that I didn’t necessarily expect would show up at this point in my career,” Collinson says. One of those was her block-long study abroad experience in Japan right after 9/11. “It was an eye-opening experience, going to visit Hiroshima Peace Park and learning about the impact of the atomic bomb and, at the same time, people were coming up to me and expressing their sorrow for what happened,” she says. “It wasn’t necessarily in my mind to do diplomacy. I got very involved in political activism as a student, and throughout my career have done different types of political work, but the diplomacy piece of that was anchored for me when I went to Japan in that odd period of time in our history.”
Collinson also remembers listening to former CC President and U.S. Ambassador to India Dick Celeste and his wife, Jacqueline, talk about their work in India when she was a student. “That was not something at the time that I thought, ‘I really want to do that,’” she says. “Now I’m actually being exposed to several projects with India at USTDA.”
In addition to presenting at U.S. conferences, Collinson represented the USTDA at the White House and in Zambia. “My experience in the classroom at CC helped me be a better communicator and helped me with critical thinking skills in ways that I wasn’t necessarily expecting. Having to defend positions and ideas is obviously a very important part of being a lobbyist and doing any sort of advocacy.” ❉
Mandy Bray ’09
Mike Shum ’07 was working as a CC Admission counselor in 2009, saving up money to buy a camera, when he connected with CC alum and producer Neal Baer ’78. Seeing Shum’s interest in film, Baer invited him along as a director’s apprentice for an episode of Law & Order: SVU.
On set, Shum found encouragement from an unlikely source — actor and rapper Ice T — to follow his passion for documentary filmmaking. That was the inciting incident for Shum to quit his Admissions job, sell most of his possessions, and head to East Africa.
As a student at CC, study abroad experiences and encouragement from professors Sandi Wong and Adrienne Seward cemented in Shum a desire to tell stories as a way to explore big ideas through people’s perspectives.
During his first few years as an independent filmmaker, he traveled through Rwanda, Kenya, Congo, and Libya during the Arab Spring. He honed his craft, growing an audience through YouTube, and worked as a “backpack video journalist” for nonprofits and media outlets with only what he could carry.
“Film has this unique ability to move past the headline and move past the shock value of an image,” he shares. “I like nuance. I like making it more difficult to put someone into a box and trying to understand where they’re coming from.”
In 2020, Shum found himself in another pivotal moment. He had just moved to Saint Paul, MN when the murder of George Floyd caused a national firestorm.
“My natural inclination was to get out into the streets and start filming because you could just feel the tension rising exponentially the day after he was killed. I just kept filming every day that entire week, and the whole world changed overnight.” Police on Trial, Shum’s resulting documentary with PBS’s Frontline, earned the Salute to Excellence Award from the National Association of Black Journalists.
by Jackson Solway
Shum is now a 2024–25 Nieman Fellow for Journalism at Harvard University where he’s researching press freedoms in Hong Kong and Macau. He believes we have a lot to learn about how press censorship affects our understanding of what’s happening in places like Russia, Syria, and Gaza.
“The reality of how much we don’t know about this world and how much we can and should know continues to drive me.”
It was recently announced that Shum will deliver CC's 2025 Commencement Address. ❉
Megan Clancy ’07
The 2010s are a time of examining inequities both on campus and beyond its borders. In 2014, the Butler Center is established on campus and there is a new focus on diversity, inclusion, and intercultural exchange within student life. Students and faculty put efforts into having courageous conversations and making mental health a priority. 2014 also sees campus-wide protests in response to the ruling in the death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO.
This decade features a long list of prominent guests on campus. Of special note on that list are the 2012 visit by President Barack Obama, who draws a crowd of more than 4,100 people to Cutler Quad, and the 2019 visit by Oprah Winfrey, who delivers the Commencement Address.
Toward the end of the decade, there are changes to campus in the form of the 2016 merging with the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, the 2017 Tutt Library renovation that makes it the largest net-zero academic library in the country, and the 2018 renaming of Slocum Hall to South Hall and Armstrong Quad to Tava Quad. ❉
Jennifer Phelps ’93
After graduating from CC, Veronica Paulsen ’16 moved to Jackson, WY, and set her sights on big mountain skiing. In 2020, she was the first woman to land a backflip into Corbet’s Couloir at Jackson Hole – an expert run that requires a 20-to35-foot free fall – and was crowned the Queen of Corbet’s.
“I wanted to have a ski bum year and ski as much as I could,” says Paulsen. “But then I got lured into these freeride competitions.”
She was ready for something different after participating in freestyle mogul skiing since her early teens and competing internationally through college. “From that first year [in Jackson], my skiing was going really well and I started doing well in competitions. A few years down the line I became a professional skier and I’m still doing that.”
Paulsen chose CC because of the flexibility of the Block Plan. “I took the winter blocks completely off and I caught up in the summer,” Paulsen says.
One of her favorite blocks at CC was Drawing. “If I was on the semester program, I would have had to put drawing on the back burner and focus on computer science and math,” Paulsen says. “But because we were fully immersed in it, I could fully focus on drawing as a Computer Science major.”
These days, Paulsen participates in life drawing sessions at the Center for the Arts in Jackson and brings her notebook with her into the mountains. But drawing isn’t Paulsen’s only artistic skill. She is also interested in film and photography, and created her own video series.
“I’m not just a professional skier,” she says. “I’m also a film producer and there is so much work that goes behind that. It’s so fun to get creative with the editors and everyone else I’m working with to put together a storyline.”
Paulsen’s next goal is to be the first woman to land a double backflip into Corbet’s Couloir. And she says the Block Plan fueled her drive. “I think part of the culture around CC with the Block Plan is to dive into whatever you are doing, one hundred percent, for three and a half weeks. That really helped me be committed to whatever I wanted to do.” ❉
Jennifer Phelps ’93
A lover of languages, arts, and sciences, Sophie Ramirez ’17 was drawn to CC from the beginning. “I was looking for a new challenge. I was looking for something completely out of left field. And that was exactly what CC offered.” As a first-generation student, Ramirez says, “Having these connections to knowledgeable people…was a make it or break it for me.”
Ramirez went to South Africa for an internship, took a block on Shakespeare in London, received a Venture Grant and traveled around Germany for three weeks, and was in Spain and Israel for a one-and-a-half block course.
“I majored in Biochemistry and minored in Music and French, so my schedule was super full all the time,” Ramirez says. Despite her demanding lab classes, she managed to also take three language adjuncts when she was on campus (French, German, and Arabic). “Just for fun,” she says.
Her thirst for learning and travel took Ramirez to Sorbonne University in Paris where she earned a master’s in Molecular Chemistry, the National Institutes for Health in Washington, D.C., where she did medical research for a year, Morocco with the Peace Corps, and, recently, Jordan on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship.
“I’m trying to weave all these experiences into a colorful tapestry, just because they have been so different from one to the other,” she says. “It feels like an adult Block Plan!”
Now, Ramirez is in Austria, thankful to have her foot in the door with the United Nations (UN). She is currently the Associate Communications Officer for
the Office of the Deputy Director General, part of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications. “I jumped at the opportunity to work with the UN,” she says. “You need someone who both understands science and knows how to communicate well to do a job like this.”
Ramirez is in charge of researching what the labs are doing, how the projects are going, and their success stories. In addition, she is responsible for writing the Deputy Director General’s speeches with the most up-to-date evidence about the impact the agency is having on member states.
What’s next on the horizon? “Global health, particularly women’s health, is a field of interest for me, which can be applied in the international development world,” she says. ❉
Megan Clancy ’07
Students during the first half of this decade experience life unlike any of the classes before them. 2020 brings the COVID-19 Pandemic to campus, leading to quarantine and virtual learning. Many campus traditions are halted. But other aspects of student life stay strong.
Time outdoors remains a key part of the CC social and academic life. Student activism and engagement in social issues continues, with a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. Environmental awareness and sustainability efforts continue to be a major part of campus culture and, in 2020, CC achieves its goal of becoming carbon neutral, making it the first school in the Rocky Mountain region to reach this milestone.
2021 brings big change to student and athletic life when Ed Robson Arena opens on campus. And, in 2023, CC Academics takes a step forward as Feminist and Gender Studies officially becomes a department.
In 2024 and 2025, Colorado College commemorates its 150th anniversary! ❉
Scan to see this issue's expanded digital stories
Scan to explore the timeline of CC's 150 years
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Hockey (1950, 1957)
Beth Olsen, Women’s Diving 5x (1986 x2, 1987 x2, 1990)
Heather O’Brien, Women’s Track & Field, Heptathlon (1998)
Jordan DeGayner, Men’s Swimming, 200 freestyle (2012)
NATIONAL RUNNERS-UP
Women’s Soccer (1986, 1989) Hockey (1996)
NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Peter Sejna, Hockey, Hobey Baker Award (2003)
Marty Sertich, Hockey, Hobey Baker Award (2005)
Patrick McGinnis, Men’s Soccer, DIII NSCA (2005)
Melanie Auguste, Women’s Basketball, Jostens Award (2009)
FIVE-TIME ALL-AMERICANS
Julian Boggs, Men’s Cross Country and Track & Field (2005, 2006 x2, 2007 x2)
FOUR-TIME ALL-AMERICANS
Janine Szpara, Women’s Soccer (1985, 86, 87, 88)
Cathy Costello, Volleyball (1986, 87, 88, 89)
THREE-TIME ALL-AMERICANS
Jim Starrak, Hockey (1949, 50, 51)
Kris Hammond, Men’s Diving (1978, 79, 80)
Amy Smith, Volleyball (1985, 86, 87)
Shelley Separovich, Women’s Soccer (1986, 87, 88)
Beth Olsen, Women’s Diving (1986, 87, 90)
Kerri Tashiro, Women’s Soccer (1987, 88, 89)
Annabel Arnott, Women’s Cross Country and Track & Field (1993, 95, 96)
Cassie Abel, Women’s Lacrosse (2003, 04, 05)
Helen Sneath, Women’s Lacrosse (2003, 04, 05)
Austin Howlett, Men’s Diving (2013, 14, 15)
Abbe Holtze, Volleyball (2013, 14, 15)
Steph Kelly, Women’s Lacrosse (2016, 17, 18)
Elizabeth Counts, Volleyball (2017, 18, 19)
James Settles, Men’s Cross Country and Track & Field (2023 x2, 24)
TWO-TIME ALL-AMERICANS
Tony Frasca, Hockey (1951, 52)
Doug Silverberg, Hockey (1955, 56)
Bill “Red” Hay, Hockey (1957, 58)
Bob Lindberg, Hockey (1966, 67)
Bob Collyard, Hockey (1969, 70)
Doug Palazzari, Hockey (1972, 74)
Eddie Mio, Hockey (1975, 76)
Kathy Ludwig, Women’s Soccer (1982, 84)
Laura Luckett, Women’s Diving (1983, 84)
Sharon Hoag, Women’s Soccer (1983, 85)
Scott Kang, Men’s Cross Country (1986, 87)
Laura Jones, Women’s Soccer (1988, 89)
Noah Epstein, Men’s Soccer (1990, 93)
Stacey Jonker, Volleyball (1992, 93)
Sara Fry, Women’s Cross Country (1993, 95)
Ryan Bach, Hockey (1995, 96)
Sascha Scott, Women’s Track & Field (1996, 97)
Gretchen Grindle, Women’s Cross Country (1997, 99)
Brian Swanson, Hockey (1998, 99)
Mark Cullen, Hockey (2001, 02)
Curtis McElhinney, Hockey (2003, 05)
Lizzie Franke, Women’s Lacrosse (2003, 04)
Taylor Jaramillo, Women’s Swimming (2004, 06)
Brett Sterling, Hockey (2005, 06)
Katie Fitzgerald, Women’s Lacrosse (2006, 07)
Chad Rau, Hockey (2008, 09)
Emily Perkins, Volleyball (2009, 10)
Jordan DeGayner, Men’s Swimming (2011, 12)
Matt Fechter, Men’s Soccer (2011, 12)
Katie Sandfort, Women’s Cross Country and Track & Field (2016, 17)
Eva King, Women’s Lacrosse (2019, 20)
Kendall Accetta, Women’s Track & Field (2022, 24)
Kendall Havill, Women’s Lacrosse (2023, 24)
Tiger ExCCellence celebrates the history of Colorado College athletics and charts a course for our ambitious future.
Our student-athletes embody a championship culture through their commitment to excellence in athletic competition, the rigorous CC academic environment, and their service to the campus and Colorado Springs communities. We believe that collegiate competition can and should be a transformational experience. Providing resources for our student-athletes that support their potential for excellence is at the core of Tiger ExCCellence.
We have a rich history of success and an ambitious vision for our future, which can only be reached with your involvement and support With your commitment to CC athletics and a championship
“culture, our student-athletes can do anything at Colorado College and throughout their lifetimes! Tiger ExCCellence starts here with your support!
If you are interested in joining Tiger ExcCCellence, please contact Matt Kelly at mkelly@coloradocollege.edu
“Having this mindset of ‘I can always be better’ is a standard of championship culture. When each and every member of a team encompasses all of these standards, it’s one of the most valuable and intoxicating experiences you can come by as an athlete. This is what I’ve experienced with Colorado College volleyball. It’s a feeling like no other.”
Georgia Mullins '22, Volleyball
“To me, championship culture is the collective expectation of success shared by the Athletics Department and teams at Colorado College. Accountability within teams promotes this championship culture as our actions are directly responsible for the success of our teams. Being student-athletes, championship culture does not just end in athletics it continues in academics, with the support and collaboration of the greater CC community.”
Sam Rodriguez '22, Cross Country and Track
Once a Tiger, always a Tiger. Whether a student-athlete or an athlete alum, Tigers pursue excellence with a champion drive.
“Alum Works to Make Olympic City Thrive”
Davis Tutt ’15 has spent the last three years working for the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation (CSSC), with the goal of reinvigorating the city’s sports event culture. He is now the organization’s Director of Sports Tourism & Olympic Engagement, responsible for leading the Sports Commission pillar of the CSSC.
FEBRUARY 2025
“Stuart Marks 30 Years at CC”
This year marks Susan “Stuey” Stuart’s 30th year as head coach of the CC Women’s Lacrosse team. It’s a career marked by record-breaking seasons, numerous coaching awards, and great service not only to her own team, but many others within Tiger Athletics.
“AD Irvine Works to Help Tiger Championship Culture Thrive”
Five and a half years ago, Lesley Irvine arrived at CC as the new VP and Director of Athletics, ready for a new challenge. CC had everything Irvine wanted. She has proved herself to be a leader that is willing to do the work and truly support her people.
Visit the Tiger Sports archives to read these and other stories »
CC commemorated its 150th anniversary from November 1–2 during Homecoming 2024. From the Class of 1974’s 50th reunion to Saturday night’s unforgettable Extravaganza, we welcomed back over 1,600 alumni, faculty, staff, students, and guests. It was a weekend filled with memories, connection, and celebration.
Whether it’s in the classroom, on the quad, or away on a field study, there is always something new and interesting going on at CC.
NOVEMBER 2024
“CC Recognized as a Most Engaged Campus for Student Voting”
CC has been recognized by the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge as a 2024 ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting. The honor recognizes colleges and universities for outstanding efforts to increase nonpartisan student voter participation.
JANUARY 2025
“All-American Tiger Hoops Star Returns to Teach Half Block”
As a student-athlete at CC, Melanie Auguste ’09 was an All-American basketball player, earning the National Player of the Year Jostens Award in her senior year. She is now Nike’s Global VP & GM of Women’s Sports. In January, Auguste returned to campus to teach The Economics of Women’s Sports.
2025
“Colorado College and Science”
CC has a long history as a center of science education. For 150 years, it has produced generations of scientists who are not only skilled in their fields, but equipped with the holistic, critical thinking that is earned through an education in the liberal arts. This Block 5 Cover Story featured alumni who have excelled in the sciences after graduation, explored some of the ways that science is taught on campus today, and looked forward to improvements to come in the world of science education at CC.
Visit the On Campus archives to read these and other stories »
CC’s commitment to antiracism and making the world a more just place has made it a leading institution in producing alumni who change society for the better.
In
JULY 2024
“Molecular Biology Prof Works to Dismantle Racism in the Sciences”
CC Professor of Molecular Biology
Dr. Phoebe Lostroh co-hosted a workshop titled “Unteaching Racism: Understanding and Handling Misuse of Racial Categories.” The workshop was designed to help faculty members unpack remnants of scientific racism in fields where the use of racial labels are common.
2024
“CC Classes Lead Alum to Colorado Legal Services”
Inspired by their experience at CC, Alanna Jackson ’23 is now working as a Denver Housing Unit Paralegal for Colorado Legal Services (CLS), a non-profit organization that offers legal services to seniors and lowincome Coloradans.
2024
"CC Students Publish Judicial Election Resource”
More than 50 CC students over the past two years worked tirelessly to create a judicial retention election resource, which was published in the Colorado Springs Independent in September. In collaboration with Citizen’s Project, the students created a judicial report card with a comprehensive overview of a judge’s record in the courthouse.
Visit the Social Justice archives to read these and other stories »
As members of the CC community, we know the importance and fragility of Mother Earth, and we work hard to protect and care for her.
“Environmental Science Class Prepares Students for Internship Abroad”
Emily Marple ’25, Olivia Spencer ’25, and Lucy Hylton ’25 used the Environmental Science course Ecology and Management of Shallow Lakes to prepare for a five-week internship at ENKI in Třeboň, Czech Republic.
JANUARY 2025
“CC’s COP29 Delegation Returns to Campus”
Eight students returned to campus after spending two weeks in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the 2024 United Nations' Climate Change Conference (COP29). CC’s delegation was led by Dr. Sarah Hautzinger and Myra Jackson.
“CC Professor Heads to Costa Rica as Fulbright Scholar”
Dr. Corina McKendry was selected as a Fulbright Scholar for 2024-25. In January, she headed to Costa Rica for six months to study local governments’ climate actions.
Visit the Sustainability archives to read these and other stories »
As students, we learn how to better the world and, as alumni, we find our place and help our community grow.
AUGUST 2024
“CC Grads Establish Colorado Springs Pro-Housing Partnership”
Max Kronstadt ’20, Liam Reynolds ’21, and Elam Boockvar-Klein ’20 co-founded the Colorado Springs Pro-Housing Partnership (COSPHP) in 2019 to become more involved in the Colorado Springs community and to try to have a meaningful impact on a rapidly escalating local affordable housing crisis.
NOVEMBER 2024
“First-Year Student Brings Food Insecurity Awareness to Campus”
Polina “Polly” Panasenko ’28 is an ambitious first year planning to double major in English and Political Science with a minor in Journalism. She is now combining her passion for community service and concerns around food insecurity in her newsletter, The Meal Plan Guard
OCTOBER 2024
“CC Students Mentor Local Middle School Boys”
While the CC North Boys Enrichment Program is aimed at mentoring boys from North Middle School, located just east of campus, it has done so much more than that. From providing solid mentorship to building lasting relationships, the club has benefitted both the CC and North Middle School students.
Visit the Thriving Communities archives to read these and other stories »
Stories of artistic creation, expression, and creativity on campus and throughout the CC community.
“FAC Initiative Gives Local Students Access to Theatre”
The FAC’s Send a Student initiative provided 135 local children access to theatre in the program’s inaugural season last year. “Our hope is to bring each and every child in the Pikes Peak region through these doors,” says Producing Artistic Director Chris Sheley.
“Students Return to Non-Digital Media with CC Darkroom Club”
The CC Darkroom Club is helping give students exposure to non-digital media. Twice a week, they meet in the darkroom inside the Bemis School of Art and learn how to take photos and develop film.
“ALHAMDU Archives the Present and Future at the FAC”
Three years in the making, the FAC welcomed its largest exhibit ever, ALHAMDU | MUSLIM FUTURISM to campus. The exhibition featured a variety of work from paintings, photography, illustrations, and sculptures to installations, digital media, soundscapes, film, virtual reality, and interactive experiences.
Visit the Arts archives to read these and other stories »
Arts and Politics in Britain: Cambridge, Oxford, and London
July 20-29, 2025
Travel with Douglas Edlin, McHugh Professor of American Institutions and Leadership, as you explore the artistic dimension of politics and the political dimension of the arts in Britain.
September 19-30, 2025
Join Professor Pamela Reaves, a historian of religion in the ancient Mediterranean world. Visit Istanbul, Cappadocia, Izmir, Ephesus, and Nicaea (today’s Iznik), where the First Council of Nicaea met in A.D. 325.
Crosscurrents: Rome, Amalfi Coast, and Naples
October 18-31, 2025
Dr. Susan Ashley, CC Professor Emerita of History, will introduce you to the secular and religious histories of this extraordinary region of Italy.
Boston Presidential Update April 23, 2025
Colorado Springs Garden Party June 3, 2025
Homecoming 2025 October 3–4, 2025
TigerLink is the official alumni networking platform for CC alumni. Connect with fellow alumni current students, and parents in your area and around the world. Join now!
Contact alumni@coloradocollege.edu to find out how you can volunteer!
Learn more about Tiger Travel opportunities » Join TigerLink »
Join the LinkedIn CC Official Alumni Group »
Department: Chemistry & Biochemistry
Professor: Dr. Margaret Daugherty
This course focuses on selected metabolic diseases and current health topics as related to protein structure and function. Special emphasis on the presentation of scientific literature related to current understanding of how protein structure impacts health.
From Prof. Daugherty:
My current research interests focus on how disordered regions of proteins give rise to loose associations among proteins, in a phenomenon called liquid liquid phase separation (LLPS). A major focus of the class is investigating the role of LLPS in health and disease, from the aspect of protein structure. This class challenges students to design and experimentally test hypotheses using
a model protein. Our main focus is on a region of a DNA binding protein that plays a major role in gene transcription, and is of medical relevance. Students read current literature on the computation approaches and experimental techniques for investigating both protein structure and the LLPS phenomenon. ❉
Crabtree, M. and Nott, T. “These Organelles Have No Membranes.” The Scientist, December 1, 2018.
Wang, B., Zhang, L., Dai, T. et al. “Liquid–liquid phase separation in human health and diseases.” Sig Transduct Target Ther 6, 290 (2021).
Books Published by CC Alumni, Faculty, Staff,
Looking for your next favorite read? Pick something from this bookshelf filled with Tiger authors.
Title: Louise Dupin’s Work on Women, Selections
Author: Angela Hunter ’94
Genre: Literary Critique/Feminist Theory
Published: July 2023
Title: Jimmy’s Faith: James Baldwin, Disidentification, and the Queer Possibilities of Black Religion
Author: Dr. Christopher Hunt, CC Assistant Professor, Religion
Genre: Literary Critique/Religious Studies
Published: December 2024
Title: The Last Hanging of Ángel Martinez
Author: Kate Niles ’84
Genre: Mystery
Published: October 2024
Title: To Those Who Overcome: How and Why the Book of Revelation Applies Today
Author: Dr. Darren Schwartz ’85
Genre: Religion
Published: September 2024
Title: Strong and Free: My Journey in Alberta Politics
Author: Ted Morton ’71
Genre: Non-Fiction/Politics
Published: September 2024
Title: Without Her: a chronicle of grief and love
Author: Rebecca Spiegel ’12
Genre: Memoir
Published: September 2024
Title: Kūkai: Japan’s First Vajrayāna Visionary
Author: David Gardiner, CC Associate Professor of Asian Studies and Religion
Genre: Religion
Published: July 2024
Title: All Our Yesterdays
Author: Joel H. Morris ’97
Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: March 2024
Title: The Pause Effect: Now You Can Lead and Belong
Author: Megan Broker ’93
Genre: Self-Help/Business
Published: May 2024
Title: Nothing Serious Can Happen Here: Photographs from Macau
Author: Adam Lampton ’00
Genre: Non-Fiction, Photography/Art
Published: 2024
Title: Universally Adored and Other One Dollar Stories
Author: Elizabeth Bruce ’74
Genre: Short Stories
Published: January 2024
Title: The Prism of Human Rights: Seeking Justice Amid Gender Violence in Rural Ecuador
Author: Karin Friederic ’99
Genre: Current Events/Feminist Analysis
Published: August 2023
Title: Pakistan & American Diplomacy: Insights from 9/11 to the Afghanistan Endgame
Author: Ted Craig ’87
Genre: History/Current Events
Published: April 2024
Title: Fictions of Pleasure: The Putain Memoirs of Prerevolutionary France
Author: Alistaire Tallent, CC Associate Professor, French & Italian
Genre: Feminist History
Published: December 2023
Visit The Peak online for summaries of each title »
GARY ZIEGLER ’63: Gary is an explorer, mountaineer, sailor, cowboy, and sometime philosopher. His speciality is adventures. He lives in an 1873 log house 11 miles east of Westcliffe, Colorado.
1963: In October 2023, a group of Tigers from the class of 1963 gathered in Philadelphia for five days of fun and frolic. The group included Kathie Bruce Murphy, Kate Berthrong Durham, Isabel Williams Shanahan, and Heather Kirk Thomas. They say the highlight of the trip was their visit to Glenna Goodacre’s sculptural Memorial to the Irish Famine Emigrants, not only for its artistry but also because they all attended CC with the artist. In addition, they visited local museums and parks and ate and drank extremely well. They stayed downtown in lovely Rittenhouse Square and enjoyed walks in the neighborhood. All their great memories of CC came up over the visit. After Philadelphia, they drove to visit Marty Breternitz Walton in Hagerstown, MD.
BEN EASTMAN ’63: Since retiring from teaching secondary schools, Ben Eastman has been learning to paint (watercolor), traveling with his wife Lori, following CC Hockey, and helping lead a chapter of The Compassionate Friends, a support group for parents of sons or daughters who have died.
1963-65: A group of CC friends reunited for a sunset boat cruise in New York. Pictured: Trev Jones ’63, Joan Schmitz ’64, Henry English ’64, Sue Heidelberg Lotz ’64, Christina McInerney ’65, Ellen Price ’64, Traer Sunley ’64.
DEIRDRE SULLIVAN ’69: Deirdre Sullivan attended a Halloween party held in Oceanside, CA. Revelers brought food and beverages for a chilly but fun outdoor potluck dinner.
1972-73: Graduates from 1972-73 gathered at the Denver home of Michael and Paula Frease to celebrate a Colorado visit by Californian Ted Schachter. Pictured: Front (L-R) Ted Schachter, Ed Winograd, Cindy (MacLeish) Eley, Rhonda (Smith) Crossen. Middle (L-R) Georgianne (Gee) Preskar and David Rollman. Back (L-R) John Silver, Paula (Philips) Frease and Michael Frease.
BARBARA S. HOVERSTEN ’74: Hoversten has taken a big step forward in her work as an aviation photographer by exhibiting and selling her photographs.
JAY ENGELN ’74: Jay Engeln was the recipient of the 2023 William Holleman Award for Meritorious Service to the United Soccer Coaches Foundation. Following completion of his term as president of the United Soccer Coaches, the largest soccer coaches association in the world, Engeln took on the challenge of resurrecting the United Soccer Coaches Foundation.
Starting with a budget of only $200 in 2001, the Foundation to date has given out over 300 soccer education grants and scholarships to underserved communities totaling over $500,000. Many of the grants, especially in inner city locations, are also tied to supporting student academic achievement in school. The first grant from the Foundation was actually in partnership with CC and the Taos Pueblo Community Center to help address obesity issues amongst Native American youth through the development of youth recreation programs in their communities. Engeln, former CC soccer coach Horst Richardson, and CC soccer alum Alec Rekow ’87, held soccer coaching clinics for parents supporting the implementation of a youth soccer league for the eight New Mexico pueblos located north of Santa Fe.
ZACH MILLER ’75: Zach Miller ’75 received the William Lee Knous Award from the University of Colorado Law School. This award is Colorado Law’s highest alumni honor and is given in recognition of outstanding achievement and sustained service to Colorado Law. Zach has practiced environmental, water, and natural resources law since 1980 and is a partner at Davis, Graham & Stubbs LLP.
BETH BRAKER ’77: Beth Braker recently retired from her faculty position in Ecology at Occidental College, and is serving as President and CEO of the Organization for Tropical Studies. OTS is a scientific research, education, and capacity-building organization with operations in Costa Rica and South Africa.
1977: Perfect fall weather in the Twin Cities was ideal for a mini-reunion for CC grads Anne Woodward White ’77, Patti Freudenburg ’77, and Linda Henn ’77. (Linda’s wife Deb Pieczonka pictured as well.)
DOLORES ATENCIO ’77: Dolores Atencio, visiting scholar at the University of Denver Latinx Center in the Sturm College of Law in Denver, Colorado, is a recipient of the 2024 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. Atencio received the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, given annually by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, at a ceremony and reception during the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting.
“We applaud the achievements of this amazing group of women, who have and will continue to inspire all of us in the legal profession, including the next generation of women lawyers,” said Karol Corbin-Walker, chair of the Commission on Women in the Profession.
RODGER GURRENTZ ’78 AND CHRIS TREESE ’78: In May 2024, Gurrentz and Treese floated down the Colorado River, through the Grand Canyon together.
ELLEN L. GOLDSCHMIDT ’78: Ellen Goldschmidt’s exhibit, Color and the Art of Forgetting, was shown at Blackfish Gallery in Portland, OR throughout August 2024. The invented environments in Goldschmidt’s color-drenched paintings invite us to travel inward to a place where we may find relief from the grief of contemporary life. Inspired by the improvisational structures and bold colors of artists, such as Amy Sillman and Anna Kunz, she has crafted complex and layered spaces— resting and hiding places for our world-weary souls.
1984: A group of 1984 alums during CC Homecoming Weekend 2024, celebrating the induction of Deborah (Deb) Nalty ’84 into the CoSIDA Academic Hall of Fame. Pictured (L-R): Tom Dillon ’84, Lisa Peterson ’84, Lori Ksander, Tim Hughes ’84, and David Wipper ’84.
MATTHEW P. WILSON ’84: Riding his BMW 1200GS has been one of the highlights of being retired from the National Park Service after 27 years as a curator in the Intermountain Region. Of course he had to add a CC Tigers decal to the front windscreen and he gets lots of compliments on it. Now Matthew is the Vice President of the BMW Motorcycle Club of Colorado, which was organized in 1972 and is one of the largest such chartered clubs in the country by the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America. Too bad the 150th CC Sesquicentennial and Homecoming was held in November — otherwise he would have ridden to the celebrations. Matthew says it seems like his time at CC was 150 years ago…are you sure it was 1984, not 1884?
1986-88: A group of happy CC alums met up at Winter Park ski area, in early March 2024. Pictured L-R: James Kirchhoff ’86, Jim Gile ’86, Pam Bercutt ’87, Chris Thorne ’86, Mike Ramsey ’86, Colley Moe ’88, and Dan Moe ’86.
on family law, Collaborative Family Law, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Diane ran The Conflict Resolution Center helping families overcome their struggles of sharing children after divorce. She has now opened The Center for Peace and Forgiveness where she teaches clients the “how-to” of forgiveness as one of 40 individuals worldwide trained in this technique. She has introduced forgiveness to the Kansas courts as the new ADR tool, giving judges and attorneys a new tool to bring resolution and peace to high conflict litigants.
GINNY SISSON ’88: Ginny had a full visit to Colorado in October 2023. She had an amazing visit with Professor Peter Blasenheim in Colorado Springs and was fortunate enough to spend some time with EJ, class of 1987 and a former classmate at the The Taft School. She then traveled out to see Betsey Biggs and her wonderful daughter, Hazel.
JANE (JACOBSON) TOWNSEND ’89: Townsend was recently named Vice President of Advancement at Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprofit press based in Minneapolis. Milkweed‘s mission is to identify, nurture, and publish transformative literature, and build an engaged community around it. If you haven’t heard of Milkweed, you may have read or heard about Braiding Sweetgrass, their sleeper bestseller.
LISA GARDNER ’90: Lisa Gardner ’90 P’19 hung out with Jacquie Amacher, CC Visiting Executive in Residence and P’24 at DU’s Family Weekend where their younger daughters are roommates at the Chi Omega house!
Hi Ibiza were memorable.
DIANE SHERWOOD ’83: Diane has retired from the practice of law after more than 25 years, having focused primarily
KATIE GRANT GOLDMAN ’92: Katie Grant has won a 2024 SoCal Journalism Award for her piece about creating an equitable set for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing cast and crew published in Produced By magazine. She interviewed 12 people for the piece including Marlee Matlin, most of them were done on Zoom with an ASL interpreter. This article was her first original pitch ever to be accepted for publication after writing on assignment for years.
ANGELA HUNTER ’94: The French-American Foundation awarded its Translation Prize for non-fiction to a book cotranslated and co-edited by Angela Hunter (Louise Dupin’s Work on Women: Selections; published by Oxford UP in 2023). The book was also selected for the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women and Gender’s scholarly edition in translation award.
LAURA (HICKS) HENGELS ’97: Laura Hicks, class of 1997, married George Hengels on June 3, 2023, in Glenview, IL.
CHRISTOPHER ELLIS ’00: In December 2024, Chris was voted Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA), based in Hong Kong. SOPA was established in 1982 to recognize and celebrate the highest standards of journalistic quality and integrity in Asia. Today, the SOPA Awards for Editorial Excellence are regarded as the gold standard against which Asia’s best journalists and publishers are measured. Chris is Vice President for Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, and is based in Singapore.
JEREMIAH JOHNSON ’08: Jeremiah Johnson ’08 married Valerie Peifer on June 30, 2024 in Manitou Springs! Many CC
alums were in the wedding party and attended the celebration. They gathered for a CC group picture while the bride had her dress bustled for dancing. Back: Laura Dow ’08, Elan Jimenez ’06, Elsa Frey ’08, Jackie Welch ’08, Becky Poore ’08, Andrew Sterling ’08, Jeremiah Johnson ’08, Aimee Thomson ’08, Joe Seguin ’08. Front: Stephanie Brink ’07, Alice Gallmeyer ’08, Courtney Winn ’08, Trevor Johnson ’13.
WILLIAM M. COPP ’08: William M. Copp ’08 and Emma Copp celebrated the birth of their son, Miller Moore Copp, in June 2024.
ANDREW SALAZAR ’14: Andrew Salazar ’14 has joined Caplan & Earnest’s litigation practice. Prior to joining Caplan & Earnest, Salazar served as a law clerk in Boulder’s 20th Judicial District; as a law clerk for Hoffmann, Parker, Wilson & Carberry, P.C.; as a judicial extern for the Colorado Court of Appeals under Chief Judge Steve Bernard; as a student attorney for the University of Colorado’s Criminal Defense Law Clinic; and as an intern for Colorado Supreme Court Justice William W. Hood.
WEBB ’16 & EVAN MEGA ’15: Quinn Webb ’16 and Evan Mega ’15 married Aug. 17, 2024 with many Tigers in attendance.
Ann Enstrom Scott died December 23, 2024, at the age of 99 in Loveland, CO. Ann graduated from CC in June 1946 with a degree in Business Administration and Banking. While at CC she was editor of the CC Tiger Yearbook, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma, and chosen an outstanding graduate of the Class of 1946. After graduation she married and had three children. 15 years later, she returned to college to become a junior high English teacher. After teaching for seven years, she decided to sell real estate while living in Montrose, CO. Ann and her second husband, Stephen Scott, retired and moved to Grand Junction where Ann had grown up. Later, they moved to Fort Collins to be with family. Ann was a 50+ year member of P.E.O. and an elder in the Presbyterian Church. She is survived by a daughter (Lee Ann DeGrassi), son (Chet Dykstra), and son (John Scott). She is also survived by eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
John “Jack” Stephen Pfeiffer, age 94, passed away surrounded by family in hospice care on March 9, 2024 following a fall and the discovery of an advanced cancer condition.
Jack was born in Durango, CO on April 26, 1929 to Gladys Bendure Pfeiffer and Odd Christopher Pfeiffer, the third of their five children. In 1947, Jack followed his two older brothers, Bill Pfeiffer ’49 and Dick Pfeiffer ’50 to CC. His mother had attended CC in 1920, so the Tiger tradition was well-established in his home.
As a senior at CC, Jack was honored with the Sonny Price Award for participating in more activities and services than any other senior student on campus. While at CC, Jack was introduced to Eleanor
(Ellie) Ebersole ’51. Jack and Ellie fell in love, in due course were married in 1952. Together, they created a loving family that included three daughters – Susan, Jean, and Catherine ’82.
During that time of devotion to family, Jack developed and honed his career in law. His law practice provided Jack with the means to support his family, to share his talents, and to be a part of a profession that promoted the rule of law as a foundational feature of civilization.
Jack will be remembered as an advocate for law but also, in reflection of his Sonny Price Award, as an unwavering fan of, and participant in, all activities involving his extended family. If he had his druthers, he would never miss a game, meet, dance, concert, graduation, birth, baptism, wedding, or funeral. Jack is survived by his wife Sue, his two daughters: Jeanie (Drew) and Cathy ’82 (Patrick); Sue’s four children – Carey, Kendall, Bo (Heidi) and Chris (Rachel); 8 grandchildren – Stephen (Bela), Krista [MAT ’10] (Ryan), Elle ’12 (Max), Lindsay, Rayne (Bryan), Zoe, Poppy, Iris and Cordon; six great-grandchildren – Inaya, Manali, Cathryn, Margaret, Oliver, and Rylee; and numerous beloved nieces and nephews.
Joan Burke Tutin Weiss, age 94 years, died peacefully at home in Cedar Grove, NJ on December 26, 2024. Born October 6, 1930 in Boston, MA, she was a 1948 graduate of the Cambridge School and graduated from CC in 1952. She attended the Art Students League in New York following college. She married Jay Kenneth Weiss on September 9, 1952. When he was deployed to Marrakech, Morocco during the Korean War, she traveled there with their firstborn son, Samuel. A devoted mother, she waited until her youngest son graduated high school before earning a Master of Library Science degree from Rutgers University in 1987. Prior to earning her MLS degree, she worked at the West Caldwell Public Library, the Montclair Public Library, and was a volunteer assistant at the Lincoln Elementary School Library in Caldwell for 18 years. She worked for 15 years at the Irvington, NJ public library as a reference librarian.
Throughout her adult life she fought for causes consistent with her beliefs: integrated housing through the Human Relations Council of
West Essex, NJ; reducing nuclear weapons through the NJ chapter of National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE); and promoting peace as a life member of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
She was an avid participant in athletic activities, moving from field hockey as a student to downhill skiing in Vermont; tennis and running, including 10K races. Joan was a talented watercolor painter. After a hiatus as an artist, she resumed painting in retirement.
She is survived by three children, Samuel S. Weiss (Judith Garb Weiss), Wendy R. Weiss (Jay B. Kreimer), Benjamin J. Weiss, six grandchildren, Schuyler S. Weiss, Bryony Weiss, Ben J. Kreimer, Lee M. Kreimer, William J. Weiss, Nathanial O. Weiss; and four great-grandchildren
Theodore “Ted” Robinson Boardman passed away at home in Lake Forest, IL on June 12, 2024. He was 93.
Born December 16, 1930 at Evanston Hospital to Frances Louise Robinson Boardman and Ronald Peck Boardman Sr., Ted attended Northwood School among other high schools and headed west to CC and then to University of Denver, majoring in Theatre. He married Anne Marie Carton Boardman with whom he had three children and a life-long friendship.
Ted’s career was as diverse as his friend group through life. He prospected for uranium in the West after college. He later served in the Navy Reserve for four years from 1951 to 1955. He was an early investor in Chicagoland’s Channel 26 which added cultural diversity to residents’ television viewing. He additionally championed the Black Hills Central Railroad, preserving a steam locomotive experience for tourism in South Dakota in 1957. In the early 1960s, Ted founded the Bath & Tennis Club in Lake Bluff with his father. Ted also worked for two decades as a stockbroker at EF Hutton & Company.
Ted is survived by two of his three children, Carolyn Frances Zuccareno (Tom) of Carbondale, CO and Robert Bradford Boardman (Juanita) of Lake Forest, IL, and six grandchildren.
and children Zach, Emily, and Abby), Kristi Doshan (husband Mark and children Maddi, Michael, and Alex), and Nancy Phinney (husband Scott and children Charlie, Grace, and Sophie).
Ken was born in Swan Lake, Manitoba, Canada in 1936 and alternated his time between hockey, baseball, and duck hunting, depending on the season. His athleticism landed him a coveted full ride to CC to play hockey.
Ken moved to Minnesota from Canada with his bride in 1966. After a short stint at 3M, he went on to found an advertising company, Kolesar and Hartwell, which was one of the most significant highlights of his career.
In addition to his professional endeavors, Ken had many passions. He loved the water and spent 15 years living on Lake Minnetonka and kept a boat on that lake until the summer of 2023. For many years, his summer evenings were spent taking his girls water skiing after work. Another highlight was his annual summer trip to Les’ Loft, the family cottage at West Hawk Lake in the Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba, which he helped build.
Ken also loved to ski in the mountains and enjoyed many family trips to Beaver Creek and Snowmass. Many of his friendships were formed around water and snow and Ken and Barb loved to travel throughout the Caribbean. Ken adored his wife and his girls. He said his family was his greatest accomplishment.
Kenneth George Hartwell, age 87, of Edina, MN, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on April 17, 2024, after a courageous fight against cancer. Ken is survived by his loving wife of 60 years, Barb, and daughters Lisa Gardner (husband Anj
Thomas C. Malone, iconic scientist, leader, family man, and friend, passed away peacefully with his wife and two children at his side on February 24, 2024 after a fall at his home. He was 80 years old. He was a University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences (UMCES) Emeritus Professor following a distinguished career in biological oceanography, holding various regional, national, and international leadership positions throughout his career. He has been described as a thoughtful leader, a passionate science advocate, an avid cyclist (in younger years), and a “distinguished hippie.”
Tom attended CC for his undergraduate degree in Zoology, graduating in 1965. It was at CC that he met the love of his life, Mary Lou, whom he married in 1964. In 1965, Tom and Mary Lou moved to Hawaii where Tom obtained his master’s degree in Oceanography. In 1971, he earned a PhD in Biology from Stanford University.
Following his PhD, Tom, Mary Lou, and their children, Kelley and Michael, moved to the New York City metropolitan area where
Tom taught and conducted research at City College of New York. Tom later held positions at Columbia University’s Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory and the Dept. of Energy and the Environment at Brookhaven National Laboratory before moving to Maryland in 1982 to accept a job as a research faculty member at the University of Maryland’s Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, MD. He was elected chair of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Studies (UMCES) faculty senate. Tom became the director of the Horn Point Laboratory, a position he held until 2001.
In 1992 he became the director of EPA’s Multiscale Experimental Ecosystem Research Center of the UMD Center for Science. In 1998, Tom was elected President of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, and he chaired numerous scientific committees established to improve our understanding of coastal seas around the world. In 2003, he became the director of Ocean US’ Office for Sustained and Integrated Ocean Observations. That same year, CC awarded Tom an alumni award for “outstanding achievement in one's chosen field, excellence through unusual success or contribution, and research that has advanced a profession and improved people's lives.” After his retirement in 2010, Tom continued to publish scientific papers, edit books, and serve on various science advisory boards.
Tom is survived by his wife, Mary Lou Malone (Meadows) of Easton; daughter, Kelley K. Moran (Jeff) of Easton; son, Michael M. Malone (Sherri) of Huntersville, NC; sisters, Ruth Ortega (Jose) and Martha Walker (Bill); five grandchildren, Michael Malone-Whaley and Alex Moran of Easton MD, Carlee Malone of Chapel Hill, NC, Matt Orlove (Maggie) and Megan Orlove (Ross) of LA, CA; two great-grandsons, Julian and Jack of LA, CA; godson, Cullen Murray-Kemp of Charleston, SC; and many nieces and nephews.
Ann Stewart Sullivan died on December 17, 2022 in San Diego, CA. Ann was born in Plainfield, NJ on November 29, 1947. She graduated from Woodbury High School in 1965 and from CC in 1969. She was a beautiful, gentle, and kind soul who supported everyone she met.
Sullivan’s passions in life were music performance, teaching elementary school, riding horses, and fostering stray animals. Ann played bass viola da gamba in Early Music Ensembles, bass guitar in rock bands, and hammered dulcimer in Celtic groups. Ann taught several years in elementary school classrooms and later devoted herself to special education classes. There wasn’t a single child she could not reach and encourage to learn. She was well loved by students, colleagues, and parents for her tireless support and devotion to teaching.
She is survived by her spouse, Deirdre Sullivan of ’69 and her daughter, Wendy Sullivan Green, storyboard artist at DreamWorks in Burbank, CA.
Scott passed away peacefully at his home in WinstonSalem, NC on October 11, 2024. A gentle, patient, and opinionated man, Scott grew up in Winnetka, IL and graduated from New Trier High School in 1965. He developed his passion for sailing during his early years by building his own sailboat and sailing in Lake Michigan, just a few blocks from the family home. At the urging of his dad, Scott joined Ship Ten where he honed his technical sailing skills.
Scott attended CC during the height of the Vietnam War, graduating in 1969. Begrudgingly, he followed his dad’s advice again and enrolled in ROTC while at CC to train for a rank of Second Lieutenant, increasing his chances of a relatively favorable assignment in Vietnam. He was ordered to serve in the Psychological Operations unit in 1970 and was stationed in Da Nang and Hue.
Scott returned to the U.S. with a Bronze Medal and started his civilian life in Colorado Springs as the owner of a bookstore, The Bookworm. Scott later sold his bookstore and moved to WinstonSalem, NC, where he applied his technology expertise to working for Apple selling the first desktop Apples to schools and then forming his own computer consulting business.
In 1990, Scott married his love, Donna Oliver, and together they embarked on a life full of laughter. They would be joined by a succession of beloved pets and an eventual child, Kelsey (b. 1992). The threesome plus their wild menagerie formed a tight family unit, enriched by his vibrant imagination and irrepressible humor. In his later years, Scott made his dreams of a life at sea come true by buying his sailboat and house in Oriental, NC.
Scott was happiest when he was with his family, on his sailboat, or building a very complicated model ship. A Renaissance man, he regaled those lucky enough to know him with his poignant observations on human life and his unending knowledge of books, movies, and art.
He is survived by his wife, Donna; his daughter, Kelsey; his siblings Steve, Barbara, and Anne; his nieces and nephews Julie, Jeff, Susan, Sally, Katie, Nicholas, and Chris; and his grandnieces and grandnephews.
Andrew “Ad” Adgate Duer IV, was an entrepreneur, adventurer, loving father, and friend. He passed away unexpectedly while visiting one of his daughters and her family on February 24, 2024 at the age of 68.
The son of Andrew Adgate Duer III, a Baltimore attorney and World War II veteran, and Phyllis Bolton Duer, a World War II nurse, Ad was born in January 1956 and raised in Owings Mills, MD. He graduated from Gilman School in Baltimore and went on to earn his BA in Political Science (International Relations) from CC and his MBA in Finance from the University of Puget Sound.
He spent his post-college years in finance, helping to build, turnaround, and consult for many businesses. He moved back to Maryland in the mid 2000s and eventually settled in Easton, MD. In recent years, he spent intermittent time in Ukraine where he found purpose and community in teaching students English. Ad was a past member of the Greenspring Valley Hunt Club and a member of the Society of the Cincinnati.
In his own words, Ad was “a writer, a poet, an actor, and a creative.” He was a vibrant, spirited, wildly intelligent, eccentric, complex, brave, and deeply loving man. Ad is survived by his daughters Avery (Scott) and McKay (Matt), his five grandchildren, and his sisters Margaret (Harsharan) and Bo (David).
Michael Baer Bechtol passed peacefully December 9, 2022 in Sonoma, CA after a courageous twenty-year struggle with Parkinson’s disease. Mike majored in History at CC and went on to a very successful career in the reinsurance industry. He is predeceased by his father, Paul Bechtol, Professor of Economics at CC from 19571979, and survived by his daughter Lucy, son Jonathan, brothers Tod ’71 and Tom, sister Susan Ryan, mother Carol Hamburger, and his wife Michelle.
Nancy died peacefully in her home in Eugene, OR on May 29, 2024. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1994 and she passed away from metastatic breast cancer. Through all the years she lived with cancer, Nancy modeled how to live a full and compassionate life.
Donations in Nancy’s memory may be made to the Amos and Vesta Showalter Scholarship Fund at CC. Nancy created this fund to honor her parents and provide resources to CC students who are the first in their families to attend college.
Susan Maile Jewell passed away on July 2, 2024. She was born in Honolulu, and her name came from the fragrant Hawaiian leis. Maile loved dogs, cats, horses, beaches, travel, languages, and teaching aquatic exercise. She lived in Naples, Italy. Settled in San Diego after getting an MSW in Saint Louis. Maile worked as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and as an educator in the fields of Hospice, Family Medicine, and Maternal and Child Health. Maile provided and trained in animal therapy, working mainly with Collies and Newfoundlands. Her family, friends, and her “Four-Legged Critter Gang” are eternally grateful for her generosity, activism, advocacy of animal and human rights, and the sight of her beautiful blue eyes.
James “Jim” Robert Regan returned to God on June 9, 2024, in his treasured backyard in Denver, CO. He had just celebrated his 68th birthday. He lived for his family and the relationships he maintained with his beloved patients over his forty-two years as a practicing physician in Internal Medicine. James illuminated both flyfishing and the practice of medicine as artforms. Generous, empathetic, charming, and witty as can be, he will be remembered widely.
Born to Betty and Ramon on May 31, 1956, Jim grew up in Detroit, MI. In Detroit winters, he and his brother John would transform their backyard into an ice rink and play hockey for hours. He attended MacFarland Elementary School and graduated from Catholic Central High School in 1974.
Jim studied pre-med at CC, played hockey as a walk-on, and was captain for the junior varsity team. He graduated in 1978 Magna Cum Laude and attended Wayne State University back home in Detroit
for medical school. In 1988, with his first wife, he became a father to Page who he lovingly adorned with the moniker “Bug” from birth.
After divorce and losing his dear mother Betty to a battle with cancer, it was at a CC reunion in 1993, Jim’s life was changed upon meeting his bride, Nita. Nita was his partner, best friend, and confidante. They celebrated the births of two sons during their marriage, Stephen in 1997, and Brett in 2000. He certainly loved dancing with his Nita, turning everyone’s heads, always. They will have been married twenty-nine years on August 12.
Jim embodied an ethic of service and mastering his craft. From his first private practice on Gilpin St. in Denver, he was also always involved in volunteer work in service of healthcare providers and foremost, patients. In 2000, he was proudly appointed as the President of the Denver Medical Society after having served in various positions, following which he served as Chairman of the Board. He was a member of the Colorado Medical Society beginning in 1983, serving as chair of several task forces, on the Board of Directors in 2003, and as Treasurer from 2006-2009. He was involved with the American College of Physicians since 1997 when he was awarded a preceptorship. He was recognized as a Fellow of ACP in 2005, something he considered a great honor. Fellowship in the American College of Physicians is a peer-reviewed and peersupported credential that is a public reflection of excellence within the internal medicine profession.
His practice shifted over the years. After practicing at the Gilpin Medical Clinic, he joined a physician group downtown for several years, then later transferred to the University of Denver where he made lasting relationships with colleagues and provided care for college students. After leaving DU, he was pleased to return to private practice in Highlands Ranch, CO.
In addition to the thousands of lives Dr. Regan touched as a physician, his colleagues, friends, and students, he is remembered by his wife Nita; his children Page (36), Stephen (26), and Brett (24); his sister Kathy; his nephew and godson James Regan, wife Danelle and kids Carson, Mia, and John. He’ll be remembered by his god daughter and niece Cate Muzaffar, her husband Isfi and kids Maziar and Fearon; his nieces Meg and Courtney Regan and sister-in-law Jerri. He’ll be remembered, too, by his father-in-law Robert “Grandpa Bob” Orsi, his sister-in-law Nanette Makrauer and brother-in-law Scott Makrauer. Lastly, he’ll be missed by his sister-in-law Valerie Woodstra, brother-in-law Todd and their kids Lance and Lauren.
Betsy Edens Johnson, gardener, activist, publisher, passionate homemaker, and friend to all she met, died peacefully in her home on September 28, 2024 after a long journey with frontotemporal dementia. Raised in the Chicago suburb of Barrington Hills, IL, Betsy was the middle daughter of entrepreneurs Ralph, a tent manufacturer, and Sidney, a bookstore owner. After marrying Bill Densmore of Worcester, MA, she made Williamstown, MA her home for 41 years. She and Bill co-published The Advocate, a newsweekly for the Berkshires and Southwestern Vermont from 1983-1992.
Betsy loved CC and was responsible for introducing a half dozen or more people to become Tigers over the years, including a nephew, a niece, and her daughter Eliza Densmore ’15.
Marc Alan Pettygrove passed away December 19, 2022 surrounded by loved ones in Minnesota after battling complications with diabetes and prostate cancer. His selfconfidence, sense of humor, and charismatic personality left a lasting impression on those he touched.
Marc earned his bachelor’s in business and was awarded a full scholarship to play hockey for the CC Tigers, assuming a leadership role as Co-Captain during his sophomore year. He was also a member of the USA U-20 World Jr. Team (1979) and played for the Pinebridge Bucks ACHL (1982-1984) after a brief foray skating in Germany.
In addition to his athletic prowess, Marc exhibited talent and appreciation for the arts, especially after taking classes from his friend and then Art Professor, Carl Reed. He married Lisa Rosenthal
’84, with whom he remained close friends throughout his life. Marc was a successful real estate agent serving as manager of a MN Edina Real Estate office and later worked as a Redcoat Supervisor for a Delta subsidiary, which enabled him to pursue a passion for world travel, culinary curiosity, and adventure.
He was adored by colleagues and supervisors alike in whatever arena he showed up. His enthusiastic spirit combined with his sensitivity, enabled strength of character to be equaled by compassion and care for others. Marc later married Johanna Henjum ’02 and is survived by his beloved children Georgia and Calvin Pettygrove, whom he undoubtedly considered his greatest achievement.
Robert John “Bob” Allison of Saint Paul, MN, died peacefully May 5, 2024, at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, MN. Bob was born December 11, 1958 in Evanston, IL. He was a graduate of Barrington High School (1977), CC (1981), and University of Minnesota Master’s Program in Addictions Counseling (2019).
Bob had a deep love for family, fishing, nature, and dogs, but his deepest love was for Jesus. Bob honored Jesus’s grace and mercy in his published memoir, Saved by the Prince of Peace: Dungeon to Sky – Victory in the Face of Overwhelming Odds.
Bob had a keen mind and a passion for deep conversation. Although he was a successful rare coin and precious metals salesman, he felt called in his later years to become a licensed alcohol and drug counselor. Bob reached out to the homeless of St. Paul and used the example of his personal struggles to bring others to sobriety.
Bob is survived by former wife Rochelle Schmidt of St. Paul, MN, stepson Louis Garcia, step-grandchildren Mick and Natalia Rose, and his beloved Westie dog, Freddy.
Bob is also survived by siblings Terry (Allison) Klocker, Karen (Allison) Trom, Charles F. Allison IV, James Allison, Thomas Allison, and an extensive Allison-Evans clan.
Michael departed this world on April 2, 2024, following a tragic bicycle accident. Michael’s sudden and unexpected exit at the early age of 43 has left a void in the hearts of his family and friends in Colorado, Washington, DC, and California. Michael will
be remembered for his caring nature, his adventurous spirit, and his get-it-done attitude towards all aspects of life. He is survived by his parents, Allen and Kathy; his sister, Alex, and her partner, Chris Crawfurd; his brother David Goldstone ’08, his wife Katie, and their children Henry and Levi; and countless friends.
Michael was born in Boulder, CO. While earning his degree in Economics and Political Science from CC, he worked in the family garage learning mechanics. Immediately after graduation, he was part of a group that paddled canoes the length of the Mississippi River while holding events to register youth voters.
Michael then studied law at the University of Denver. Upon receiving his Doctor of Law (JD), he joined the United States Department of Energy Golden Field Office as a summer intern for the Office of Chief Counsel. He continued as a law clerk during his final year of law school and finally became a full-fledged attorney in that office. Over the past 17 years, Michael has been an advocate and advisor for many offices in DOE, including the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Office of Technology Transitions. He was beloved by his DOE family of clients and colleagues for his creative and quick legal mind as well for his fun, kind, and caring nature.
Michael fit an impressive amount of living into his 43 years. As an outdoor enthusiast, he spent much of his time exploring. He loved connecting with his friends while skiing, hiking, rafting, cycling, and a host of other activities. He spent countless days in the canyons of the American southwest, rafted the Grand Canyon twice, backpacked for weeks in a remote part of the Canadian Rockies, and had countless other adventures. In recent times, he did a backcountry ski trip in the Sierras, a multi-day Utah road biking trip, a ski trip in Japan, and took his nephews on their first raft trip on the Platte River, to name a few.
Michael always lived his truth, acted with decisiveness, and made a positive impact on those he touched. He was an inspiration to those who knew him. His legacy will continue to thrive in the experiences of friends and family whose lives he impacted. His time here was cut short in years, but his legacy is a triumph in living a full life.
As we look back on 150 years of CC, we note a lot of big moments. But for many Tiger alums, it was the small moments that left the biggest memories. So we asked you, what's your favorite memory from your time at CC?
Taking about six or seven library books into Palmer the evening before a paper was due, finding an empty classroom, spreading out all the books across a table, compiling the paper, and not leaving until it was finished. There wasn't one clock in the building, so time didn't matter, only the paper mattered, and that was the focus and the advantage.
Emory Ellsworth ’86
One of my favorite memories during my time at CC was my second Block Break of sophomore year. I started CC in 2020, locked up in Loomis with very few opportunities to socialize. Eager to make new friends after an isolating year, Greta Cahill '24 and Alexandra Haymons '24 suggested we go on a backpacking trip. The week before Block Break, we asked dorm neighbors and partygoers if they wanted to join our trip. When Block Break came along, we rallied a total of eight tigers to head out to the San Luis Valley to camp up at Willow Lake. The trip was a total success!!! We summitted Challenger Peak, jumped into the icy lake, and had plenty of laughs. After four days together in the wilderness, fueled by peanut butter and honey wraps, we all became very close friends. I feel so lucky that such a spontaneous trip helped me finding my core group of friends. I am still friends with many of these people today, and I can't imagine what my college experience would have been like without them!
Sydney Morris ’24
As an incoming first-year student and future History major, I chose a three block Patterns in Nature course to fulfill my CC science requirements. Little did I know that within a week I'd be at the Outdoor Rec center outfitting myself with gear and saying, "Hi, my name is Ellen. Want to share a tent with me?" "Science class" meant boarding a bus for several multi-day trips to South Park, Estes Park, the Sand Dunes, the top of Pikes Peak with a hike all the way down to Manitou, and some other spots whose names now escape me. I came to Colorado from Southern New Jersey and had camped with the Girl Scouts in the Pine Barrens, but this was all incredibly new. Those Rocky Mountains can be pretty intimidating, but the full immersion in the Block Plan and the great outdoors blessed me with great memories and life lessons I carry with me today. My husband loves the Grand Canyon and if it hadn't been for those Colorado hikes, I wouldn't have been prepared to hike the Canyon with him multiple times. I remember my astonishment that a bright moon casts shadows. I remember seeing the magnificence of a night sky without lights nearby. I remember being starving and how absolutely delicious peanut butter, bananas, and chocolate chips taste on whole wheat bread. I remember a fellow classmate playing the guitar by the campfire as we sang "American Pie.” I remember how small and insignificant I felt and realizing that's actually okay when you realize this beautiful Earth was made for us to appreciate by an amazing Creator. Thanks to my professors who were patient with a shy, teenage girl just stepping out to explore the world. Thanks, CC!
Ellen Gilmore Hoffman
Stargazing on the roof of Shove Chapel remains my very favorite CC memory, although I have several close runners-up. These include the view from the Continental Divide and singing “God Bless America” at Shove on the first anniversary of 9/11. I also loved having my grandmother as a guest in my English Lit course on Jane Austen! And what can compare to the discovery of a previously unknown Ancestral Puebloan site on an archaeological trip? We called it Birthday Pueblo as we stumbled across it on the birthday of one of the students. Lastly, I will never forget sketching a CC student-Mayan villager soccer game while surrounded by curious Mayan kids asking about my drawing. So many amazing memories!
Hayley
Booth ’05
My senior year, we got a huge springtime dump of snow. A student arranged a van to shuttle people up Pikes Peak for skiing. It was a perfect blue-sky day with fresh snow, and such a rush to be skiing and see Colorado Springs down below. It was a perfect CC memory. ❉
Sonja Colianni ’00
For 150 years, Colorado College has been more than a place—it’s been a journey.
CC has equipped generations of students with the skills to focus intently, think expansively, and emerge ready to take on opportunities with confidence and purpose. Our alumni are changing the world and showing the transformative power of a CC education.
As we honor CC’s sesquicentennial, we also look toward the future.
Your generosity fuels the mission of Colorado College, empowering students and faculty to tackle the big questions, make lasting impacts, and shape the world with intention. And every dollar matters.
Here’s to 150 years of impact—and to the limitless possibilities ahead. Show your support today.
Support Limitless Possibilities that only the Block Plan can provide.
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Thank you for being part of our legacy.
