Serving the community since 1926
WEEK OF JANUARY 4, 2024
VOLUME 97 | ISSUE 5
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From suffrage to open mic
Polis wants colleges to hold tuition below inflation, but budget doesn’t provide funds BY BRIAN EASON THE COLORADO SUN
News and a state and national suffrage leader. Many of her associates joined in her drive to create a press club west of the Mississippi that represented women writers. “The DWPC was created as a refuge, a safe haven and a meeting ground for women who believed in the power of the written word, and still do,” said Corinne Joy Brown, a DWPC past president, journalist and author. The club’s name is a little misleading. Though television and print journalists are members today, so are novelists, essayists, communication specialists, poets, Substack writers, podcasters, screenwriters, editors and more.
When Gov. Jared Polis released his proposed higher education budget last month, he told the Joint Budget Committee his goal was to make college more affordable by holding in-state tuition increases to 2%. But the governor glossed over a key detail: His spending plan doesn’t actually provide Colorado’s colleges and universities enough money to do so. In early budget writing discussions for the 2024-25 fiscal year, funding for higher education has emerged as a major divide between the state’s Democratic governor and lawmakers on the JBC who say Polis’ plan doesn’t provide enough funding. Polis’ proposal does give the college governing boards a slight funding bump — $41 million, or a 2.9% increase over the $1.4 billion budgeted this year. But after a decade of low state funding and falling enrollment, that won’t come close to covering the cost of holding tuition increases to half the rate of inflation, as the governor has called for. Rising costs mean colleges and universities will have to increase spending by more than what Polis is proposing just to maintain the status quo, lawmakers learned this month in a budget committee briefing. Salaries, benefits and other costs are projected to go up 3.8% next fiscal year, a figure that could rise even further if institutions of higher education implement a new pay plan for state workers.
SEE OPEN MIC, P4
SEE TUITION, P5
Former Rocky Mountain News journalist Minnie J. Reynolds played a major role in organizing the Denver Woman’s Press Club COURTESY OF THE DENVER WOMAN’S PRESS CLUB and became its first president.
Denver Woman’s Press Club remains a hub for women writers as it enters its 125th year BY DIANNE BLOMBERG SPECIAL TO COLORADO COMMUNITY MEDIA
Celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, the Denver Woman’s Press Club remains an integral part of Denver’s literary scene. The DWPC started during the Suffrage Movement to give women a safe location to voice opinions, share ideas and support each other as writers. Today, that support and
encouragement has spread to the community at large through its popular Open Mic Nights, which take place in the tiny house in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Founded in 1898, the club has been located at 1325 Logan St. since 1924. Once surrounded by stately homes of the time, it now sits alone, flanked by parking lots. It is the sentry of history and represents the strength and perseverance of women writers. “The club has been a dynamic spirit affecting cultural and social issues vital to our community and our country,” said Charlotte Hinger of Fort Collins, who is a member and best-selling author. The club was founded by Minnie J. Reynolds, an early political writer at the now defunct Rocky Mountain
CALENDAR: 9 | VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 12
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HOOVES AND HORNS Reindeer magic transcends the holidays P12