CU �鶹ӰԺ

Día de los Muertos Altar Crawl at CU �鶹ӰԺ

Julia Maclean — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 17:27:27 +0000

Día de los Muertos Altar Crawl at CU �鶹ӰԺ Julia Maclean Mon, 03/10/2025 - 11:27

Last fall’s Día de los Muertos “Altar Crawl” invited the CU �鶹ӰԺ community to engage with several altars honoring the lives of deceased loved ones. Altars were located across campus, including in the Guggenheim Building, the Koenig Alumni Center, the CU Museum of Natural History, the Center for Community and the Miramontes Baca Education Building. The crawl — hosted by the Forever Buffs Latinx group, the BUENO Center, the Latin American and Latinx Studies Center, UMAS y MECHA, Sigma Lambda Beta and the Center for Inclusion and Social Change, among others — highlighted the cultural significance of the day with moments of remembrance and celebration.

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Photo courtesy Daniela Martinez Carpizo; Nelson R. Castro; Karla Rosete Nunez

The Día de los Muertos altar crawl invited the community to honor and celebrate deceased loved ones through a series of altars across campus.

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Spring 2025

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A Solutions-Based Approach for Western Water

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

A Solutions-Based Approach for Western Water Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/04/2024 - 00:00

Philip DiStefano

Glance at a photo of campus from the late 1800s, when only Old Main stood, and it may take a moment to orient yourself. Soon you’ll spot familiar landmarks: the Flatirons rising to the west, �鶹ӰԺ Creek flowing to the north.

Far before the university’s earliest days, the natural landscape — and water, specifically — has played an important role across Colorado and the West.

More than wayfinding aids or scenic features, our rivers, reservoirs and rainclouds have defined the direction and pace of economic development, supported the agricultural needs of the nation and provided fertile ground for collaboration and conflict.

Today, water — or the absence of it — continues to be a defining factor for communities across the West. And now, CU �鶹ӰԺ faculty, staff and students are lending their expertise to help communities make smart, data-informed decisions about this precious and often imperiled natural resource.

In CU’s environmental journalism program, students and alumni are exploring how declining water supplies and climate change will impact our lives and livelihoods in the years to come.

Across engineering and the sciences, researchers are examining how water quality is impacted by oil and gas or mining operations, wildfires and other natural and human activities.

For 20 years, the Western Water Assessment team within CU �鶹ӰԺ’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) has partnered with researchers from multiple disciplines in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah to conduct innovative water research and make the findings more accessible to decision-makers across the region. The work directly aids communities seeking greater resilience in the face of climate change.

And for the last several years, instructors from CIRES also have taught a free online course through Coursera that allows students worldwide to examine scientific, legal and cultural issues around water using the Colorado River Basin as a case study. More than 3,000 people are currently enrolled.

Those are just a few examples of how members of the CU �鶹ӰԺ community are helping to address the West’s toughest questions related to water needs, bringing creativity, courage and commitment to bear as we seek to positively impact humanity.

In the face of climate change, these matters become more consequential. And it becomes even more essential that we bring diverse voices and perspectives into the conversation that have been neglected or ignored.

Too often, discussions on water in the West can leave us feeling concerned, distrustful or apprehensive.

But when I consider how CU �鶹ӰԺ’s faculty, students and staff are becoming part of the solutions, I find myself once again with reason to hope — and that’s a river that will never run dry.

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Photos by Matthew Rossi/CIRES (right); Jeroen Geeraert/CIRES (top)

Far before the university’s earliest days, the natural landscape—and water, specifically—has played an important role across Colorado and the West.

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Spring 2024

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It’s a Family Affair: Mother and Son Serve Together as CU �鶹ӰԺ Police Officers

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

It’s a Family Affair: Mother and Son Serve Together as CU �鶹ӰԺ Police Officers Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/04/2024 - 00:00

Christine Mahoney

CU Buffs often describe themselves as family, but in this case, two members of the CU �鶹ӰԺ Police Department (CUPD) sworn to serve and protect really are family.

Officer Cathy Chestnut and her son, Officer Matt Dillon, were sworn in together in October. Their shared passion for public service led them both to CUPD, where Chestnut was already serving as a police dispatcher when the pull to go back on the beat became too strong to ignore.

At the same time, Dillon was graduating from the police academy. His decision to become a police officer was influenced by his five years of service in the United States Marine Corps. Applying his service mindset closer to home meant mother and son’s paths converged.

“I am incredibly proud of Matt,” said Chestnut. “I am excited to be serving with him and looking forward to sharing my knowledge of the job to help him grow and learn.”

“It’s a privilege to be able to work here,” said Dillon. “The ability to serve this campus feels like protecting the future.”

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Photo by Matthew Jonas/Daily Camera

A shared passion for community service draws two generations to the same career, on the same campus.

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Spring 2024

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What's in My Phone: D'Andra Mull

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0000

What's in My Phone: D'Andra Mull Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/06/2023 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

A Love for Student Work

Since June, D’Andra Mull has served as CU �鶹ӰԺ’s vice chancellor for student affairs. In her role, she leads a division focused on student support and growth beyond the classroom. “Every day I get to wake up and love to do the work that I do,” she said.

How soon after waking up do you look at your phone?

Immediately!

App you wish you had the inner strength to delete?

Amazon!

Last person you called?

My best friend.

Duration of longest call last week?

57 minutes.

Location and description of last selfie?

Times Square, New York City — after a meeting with parents of our incredible Buffs.

Does anyone else have your passcode?

Yes! My best friend.

Oldest photo on your phone?

I had to look back a bit for this one. It is from Nov. 13, 2013. I was in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

What is your lock screen or background image?

My lovely six-month-old daughter, Gigi.

What do you use your phone for most?

Emails, texting and FaceTiming my daughter!

Three of your most used apps:

Snapchat

Safari

Baby+

Most-used emoji:

Laughing-crying emoji

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Photo courtesy D'Andra Mull

Since June, Mull has served as CU �鶹ӰԺ’s vice chancellor for student affairs.

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Fall 2023

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Philip DiStefano to Retire as Chancellor

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Philip DiStefano to Retire as Chancellor Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/06/2023 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

On Sept. 26, during his annual State of the Campus address, Chancellor Philip DiStefano announced his retirement as chancellor of CU �鶹ӰԺ. He has served in the role since May 2009.

DiStefano will remain in the chancellor position until a national search for his replacement is complete, he said, and then he will return to the faculty in CU �鶹ӰԺ’s School of Education, where he began his CU career as an assistant professor in 1974.

“It has been such a rewarding and humbling experience to serve as chancellor of Colorado’s flagship university for the past 15 years,” he told the crowd in the Glenn Miller Ballroom. “I am so proud of our faculty, staff and students and all that you have accomplished, and I also will treasure the many alumni, donors, parents and friends of the university I was lucky enough to meet.”

Beginning in fall 2024, DiStefano will serve as senior executive director at the Center for Leadership and continue his role as the Quigg and Virginia S. Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership.

In addition to his duties as chancellor, DiStefano — a first-generation college graduate — has served as an educator, dean and provost at the university, dedicating his career to making CU �鶹ӰԺ a nationally recognized research institution while also serving as a champion for democracy.

He intends to continue the work toward improving the university and helping students succeed, he said.

“When a Forever Buff asks themselves, ‘Am I better off for having attended CU �鶹ӰԺ?’” he concluded in his speech, “let’s make sure they can automatically and unequivocally say ‘yes’… not simply because of the dollars in their pocket, but because of the totality of their lives and the richness of the world around them.”

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Photo courtesy University of Colorado

DiStefano returning to the School of Education faculty after 15 years.

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Fall 2023

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Campus News Briefs Spring 2023

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Campus News Briefs Spring 2023 Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/06/2023 - 00:00

Eye Movements Reveal Decision-Making

CU �鶹ӰԺ research into “saccades,” a rapid eye movement from one fixation point to another, has revealed that an individual’s decision-making can be revealed in their eyes. The eye movements are nearly completely involuntary and are faster than a blink, but CU �鶹ӰԺ scientists found that when given a choice between two options, subjects tended to move their eyes faster when they looked toward the option they wound up selecting — and the more vigorous the eye movement, the more they preferred their choice. The scientists believe that more studies into saccades — particularly when they are slowed — could help doctors screen patients for illnesses including Parkinson’s Disease or depression.

Gardening Benefits Health

A first-of-its-kind CU �鶹ӰԺ study funded by the American Cancer Society found that mental and physical health could be improved by community gardening. Study participants who began gardening were likely to consume more fiber and exercise more often — two ways that can reduce cancer and chronic illness risk. They also reported diminished stress and anxiety levels, regardless of gardening expertise.

“It’s not just about the fruits and vegetables,” said study senior author and CU environmental studies professor Jill Litt. “It’s also about being in a natural space outdoors together with others.”

In Politics, Does Age Matter?

Research out of CU �鶹ӰԺ’s political science department found that age is not necessarily a factor when gaining support from voters. The study determined that voters seem to be just as willing to vote for older candidates for office as they are younger politicians. At the same time, young voters more often disapprove of the job that older politicians are doing. The reason may be that voters are more concerned with their political party winning a race than focusing on the candidates themselves, speculated lead study author and PhD candidate Damon Roberts (MPolSci’21; PhD’25).

Heard Around Campus

“Litigation can only go so far. The battle will be won or lost in the chambers of people’s hearts.”

— Naderev ‘Yeb’ Sano, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, during the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit, which took place at CU �鶹ӰԺ Dec. 2-4. �鶹ӰԺ 4,300 people representing 99 countries registered to attend the summit — co-hosted by CU �鶹ӰԺ and United Nations Human Rights — in person or virtually.

Digits: CU �鶹ӰԺ South

In November, City of �鶹ӰԺ voters upheld City Council’s 2021 annexation of CU �鶹ӰԺ South, a 308-acre property on the south edge of town that CU purchased in 1996.

1,000s

Of hours city officials, CU �鶹ӰԺ and the community spent crafting the annexation agreement

2,300

Downstream residents who will be protected by a 36-acre flood protection project to be built at the site

119

Acres dedicated to become City of �鶹ӰԺ Open Space

1,100

Approximate number of housing units for faculty, staff and non-first-year students

Acres dedicated to permanently affordable housing for anyone in the community who qualifies

2026

Anticipated completion of flood protection project, which must be complete before CU �鶹ӰԺ begins developing the site

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CU �鶹ӰԺ South illustration courtesy CU �鶹ӰԺ

Learn about research and news from campus.

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Spring 2023

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What's In My Phone: Sonia DeLuca Fernández

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 07:00:00 +0000

What's In My Phone: Sonia DeLuca Fernández Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/06/2023 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

Sonia DeLuca Fernández supports institutional change in DEI at CU �鶹ӰԺ. While launching this crucial role, she maintains a warm and humorous demeanor: “I have the best boss [Chancellor DiStefano] and best colleagues in the world,” she said. “Also, I snack all day long and can be bribed.”

How soon after waking up do you look at your phone?

Seconds — there are alarms to futz with! Since I have a horrible sense of time, I need an alarm to go off at least every 30 minutes. Not to wake me up, but to help me keep track of time. And, because I go to bed so early (around 9 p.m.), there are usually texts I need to reply to first thing (around 4:15 a.m.).

App you wish you had the inner strength to delete?

All of the random, one-off store and hotel apps.

Last person you called?

My favorite young-adult-person: my nephew, Josh.

Duration of longest call last week?

75 minutes with my best friend in St. Paul.

Location and description of last selfie?

Denver. I got to have lunch with a friend who was in town from Pennsylvania.

Does anyone else have your passcode?

Hell nah.

Oldest photo on your phone?

Dec. 9, 2015, of my cat, Dora.

What is your lock screen or background image?

The same weirdo, Dora.

What do you use your phone for most?

Podcasts and work. I’m listening to podcasts while in the car, on the treadmill and doing house chores. My favorites right now include Ear Hustle and Buried Bones. But I also take too many pictures of my cats, Dora and Diego.

Three most-used apps:

Outlook, Podcasts, Messages

Most-used emoji:

The hug emoji

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Learn about CU �鶹ӰԺ's Sonia DeLuca Fernández.

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Spring 2023

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Confronting History with Action

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Confronting History with Action Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/06/2023 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

Andrew Cowell is a CU �鶹ӰԺ linguistics professor specializing in language documentation and linguistic anthropology. In 2003, he, along with faculty and students in the linguistics department, began documenting the Arapaho language to revitalize it for current and future members of the Arapaho nation. Cowell is also the director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies (CNAIS), which, in partnership with the university and Indigenous community members, students, faculty and staff, helped develop a campus land acknowledgment that CU introduced in fall 2022.

Talk about CU �鶹ӰԺ’s land acknowledgment.

A good land acknowledgment does four things: It recognizes the current or former Indigenous inhabitants of an area. It recognizes that historically, the removal of Indigenous peoples from the land often involved severe injustices and that those historical injustices produce continuing inequities and harms in the present. And it commits to try to mitigate and address those continuing inequities and harms.

CU �鶹ӰԺ’s acknowledgment is a historical and moral document. Also very important is the commitment by CU to consult with tribes and local Indigenous people. You can’t truly address and mitigate harms unless you engage seriously with the communities themselves and get their perspective on issues and potential solutions. The big question now is, what actual concrete commitments will the campus make to back up its pledges?

How can CU continue to make amends for its early history with Native American and Indigenous people?

One important thing that has already happened is the 2021 state legislature bill providing in-state tuition for students from any of 48 tribes historically associated with Colorado, which CNAIS helped pass. The idea is that Arapaho, Cheyenne or other people would likely still be here in Colorado if not for forced removal, so they should still be eligible for in-state tuition. That has already helped greatly increase Native American and Indigenous enrollment.

As a state-funded institution, we have a broader responsibility to everyone in Colorado, and beyond, to address social issues and provide effective solutions. By reaching out to tribal communities, we can provide help with all kinds of things: language documentation and revitalization are one example, but there are so many areas for outreach and collaborative engagement with Native American and Indigenous communities.

What are some of the best aspects of having CNAIS affiliated with CU �鶹ӰԺ?

CNAIS is a teaching and research center where all students and faculty can engage. But we’re also a support center specifically for Native American and Indigenous students, staff and faculty. Since we have faculty and students from all over the campus, we connect interested folks with each other — engineers who might want to work on reservations, or tribes looking for expertise on climate change. In fact, it’s hard to imagine how CU could take on the moral commitments of the land acknowledgment without having a specific Native American and Indigenous-facing component like CNAIS on campus.

What sparked your interest in the Arapaho language?

What started out as a personal interest turned into a career choice.

My wife is Native Hawaiian, and I had learned Hawaiian and really gotten a lot out of that, so when I was hired at CU, I figured I should learn about the Indigenous languages of �鶹ӰԺ. The Arapaho were the people historically most present around �鶹ӰԺ. I realized there wasn’t a lot of published information, so I went to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming to meet some speakers who said they could use help documenting their language. What started out as a personal interest turned into a career choice. You never know where things are going to lead.

What’s important when documenting a language?

Documentation is important for languages like Arapaho that are endangered, meaning there are no longer young or middle-aged fluent speakers. In such cases, documenting natural discourse — conversations, stories, songs, speeches and so forth — is key. If you want to try and revitalize a language, you need models to learn from — Native speakers engaged in everyday language activities and interaction. I’ve recorded dozens of hours of that kind of thing, mostly on video, so you can also see things like gesture, Plains Sign Language signs, body positioning, the way people use eye contact or not as they interact — subtle features that go into actual communication.

Are there other Native languages you hope to document and preserve?

I’ve written a grammar of the Aaniiih (or Gros Ventre) language of Montana, which will be published in the next year or so, and also done a bilingual anthology of legends and historical accounts in that language. I’ve also written a grammar of the Coast Miwok language of California, which will be finished once I look at some archival materials from the 19th century. I also have created databases of the Southern Sierra Miwok language and the Central Sierra Miwok language of California. More recently, I’ve been working with the Quechua language from Peru as well.

What do you do in your free time?

I enjoy hiking, camping, snowshoeing, birdwatching — generally engaging with the natural world. I really enjoy knowing the plants, being able to identify birds and animals, and having a very detailed interaction with the environment. That helps me with the languages, too, when I’m working to document Native names for various plants or animals or Native ecological knowledge.

What else should we know about you?

Honest cross-cultural engagement is hard work but very rewarding.

I’m a progressive, church-going United Methodist. One of the things I see at CU is a tendency for many students to view organized religion as being entirely conservative or entirely detrimental in relation to things like missionaries and Native people. That component is there, and many progressive religious groups are working to confront some of the highly problematic aspects of their past involvement with colonization or conquest — in a way similar to the Land Acknowledgment movement — and I’ve been involved in that. But at the same time, many of the Native Americans I work with are themselves Christians — and often simultaneously practitioners of Indigenous religions. So I think we need to keep a nuanced understanding of the very complex role of “the sacred” and not be automatically dismissive of organized religion — or, conversely, engage in simplistic caricatures of Native spirituality. Honest cross-cultural engagement is hard work but very rewarding.

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Photos by Glenn Asakawa

Andrew Cowell is director of CU's Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies.

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Spring 2023

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CU Commencement, 1908 to Now

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 06:00:00 +0000

CU Commencement, 1908 to Now Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/11/2022 - 00:00

THEN 1908

In 1908, CU �鶹ӰԺ graduates braved a windy day to march to Chautauqua Auditorium for their commencement ceremony. They first paraded around campus, then took horse-drawn carriages to Chautauqua to complete the procession. That spring, 146 students graduated from the university.

The traditional Folsom Field commencement tradition began in 1949.

Photo by T.C. Black, Jr/Courtesy CU �鶹ӰԺ Heritage Center

NOW May 5, 2022

On May 5, CU �鶹ӰԺ was more than ready to host thousands of graduates at the first in-person commencement ceremony since 2019 - and Colorado's signature bluebird sky showed up too.

More than 9,000 degrees were conferred in the Thursday-morning ceremony.

Tom Castello (Jour'87), NBC News' Washington correspondent, delivered the commencement address.

"Never forget this moment, this place" he said. "The place that launched you. ...I never have!"

Photo by Patrick Campbell

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Summer 2022

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New Exhibit at CU Showcases CU Alumni

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 06:00:00 +0000

New Exhibit at CU Showcases CU Alumni Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/11/2022 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

On 2019, opera singer Wei Wu (MMus’13) won a Grammy for his role in the opera “The (R )evolution of Steve Jobs.” It was the same year jazz saxophonist Tia Fuller (MMus’00) received a Grammy nomination for best jazz instrumental album, the second female solo artist to ever earn one in the category.

Both are featured in the CU Heritage Center’s new exhibit, “CU Making a Difference,” which honors the lives and accomplishments of a rotating cast of CU luminaries. Also on display are three of the five Nobel Prize medals awarded to CU faculty.

The exhibit is located on the third floor of Old Main and is free to the public.

In April, Kim Christiansen (Jour’84), voice of the Denver International Airport’s famed train messages, visited the exhibit, which she is featured in.

“The other alumni featured in the exhibit are extraordinary, brilliant and changing the world,” said Christiansen, lead anchor for Denver’s 9News. “When I see their names and faces, I’m incredibly proud to be a CU grad. It’s too bad I couldn’t add ‘Go Buffs’ as a tagline to my DIA train messages.”

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Photos by Matt Tyrie

The CU Heritage Center’s new exhibit honors the lives and accomplishments of CU luminaries.

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CU �鶹ӰԺ

Día de los Muertos Altar Crawl at CU �鶹ӰԺ

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A Solutions-Based Approach for Western Water

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It’s a Family Affair: Mother and Son Serve Together as CU �鶹ӰԺ Police Officers

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What's in My Phone: D'Andra Mull

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Campus News Briefs Spring 2023

Eye Movements Reveal Decision-Making

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In Politics, Does Age Matter?

Heard Around Campus

Digits: CU �鶹ӰԺ South

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What's In My Phone: Sonia DeLuca Fernández

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Confronting History with Action

Talk about CU �鶹ӰԺ’s land acknowledgment.

How can CU continue to make amends for its early history with Native American and Indigenous people?

What are some of the best aspects of having CNAIS affiliated with CU �鶹ӰԺ?

What sparked your interest in the Arapaho language?

What’s important when documenting a language?

Are there other Native languages you hope to document and preserve?

What do you do in your free time?

What else should we know about you?

Related Articles

CU Commencement, 1908 to Now

THEN 1908

NOW May 5, 2022

Related Articles

New Exhibit at CU Showcases CU Alumni

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