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People attending the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ commencement ceremony May 11 at 8:30 a.m. in Folsom Stadium will join a crowd of about 20,000 and should plan an early arrival. Stadium gates will open at 7 a.m. for seating. No tickets are required for the ceremony, which will be held in Folsom Stadium regardless of the weather. The access road called Stadium Drive, north of the Dal Ward Athletic Center, will be closed to all traffic between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on May 11 for the graduation procession.

More than 1,200 elementary school students from the Â鶹ӰԺ area will participate in an annual festival at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ aimed at teaching them where drinking water comes from and how to protect and conserve the valuable natural resource. The 15th annual "Operation: Water Festival" will take place 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 16 at the University Memorial Center on the CU-Â鶹ӰԺ campus.

Three years after a head injury nearly left her paralyzed, University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ senior Alexis St. Jean will graduate on Friday, May 11, with a bachelor's degree in environmental design-design studies.

For 30 years University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ professors have introduced Colorado children to the exciting world of science as CU Wizards by imploding 55-gallon drums, popping balloons with lasers and cooking eggs without heat. On Saturday, May 19, CU-Â鶹ӰԺ will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the program following the scheduled CU Wizards show "Waves That Changed the World" at 9:30 a.m. in Duane Physics room G1B30.

Highlighting the best teachers at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ, students have selected four faculty members to receive the 2007 Teaching Recognition Awards. The recipients are senior instructors Sally Elliot, Janet DeGrazia, Brett King and Ray MacFee. Every spring since 1962 students have voted for outstanding teachers in the only CU-Â鶹ӰԺ faculty awards program chosen and administered by undergraduate students. The program is conducted by the Herd, the student arm of the CU-Â鶹ӰԺ Alumni Association, and is based on student nominations and online voting.

Three years after a head injury nearly left her paralyzed, University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ senior Alexis St. Jean will graduate on Friday, May 11, with a bachelor's degree in environmental design-design studies. When St. Jean came to Colorado from Georgia to start college at CU-Â鶹ӰԺ in 2001, she took full advantage of the outdoor activities in Colorado, including snowboarding.

The ATLAS Institute's Assessment and Research Center at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ is a lead institution in a newly formed national alliance that will engage underrepresented minority students in computing. The Empowering Leadership Alliance is supported by a $2 million, three-year grant from the National Science Foundation.

University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ researchers are among a group of U.S. innovators who traveled to France in early May to share their expertise with French researchers who want to develop virtual speech and language therapists.

Sixteen renewable energy and sustainability research projects involving faculty and students at the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ and scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory have been selected for funding beginning this summer.

For the first time, seniors graduating from the University of Colorado at Â鶹ӰԺ can sign a pledge vowing to be socially and environmentally responsible citizens of the world they will enter after receiving their degrees on May 11. Graduates who sign the pledge will be recognized during the ceremony by the green cords they will be wearing over their graduation gowns.