CCASCA members gathered April 26. Back row, from left: Lynda Aguado Duran ’08, Jamie Torres ’99, and Raymond Jones ’67. Front row, from left: Gianina Horton ’14, Nancy Hernandez ’96, Jason Clark ’07, Raidel Moreno ’17, and Kim Sanchez Cawthorn ’97. CCASCA co-founder Johanna Leyba ’94 is not pictured.
Dear Fellow Alumni,
Building college graduation rates among talented first-generation, low-income, and ethnic minority students is a national challenge. We, as CC alumni, can have a meaningful impact through active involvement with the CC Alumni Association, groups such as CC Alumni and Students of Color Association (CCASCA), and our regional chapters and activities.
As our country’s demographics have changed, Colorado College — like virtually all other colleges and universities — has become much more diverse economically and ethnically. For CC and its peers, attracting and graduating a diverse student body is essential to building and retaining academic excellence and to equipping our students to succeed. It is essential to the future of our country that we help ensure the success of all of our talented students.
CC has staff members and systems to recruit a strong, diverse student body and to support and nurture them to maximize their success. Nevertheless, these are areas where passionate, engaged alumni can have an enormous impact. The CCASCA, started in Denver, is an outstanding example of what can be accomplished through alumni leadership.
This is the story of a highly successful CC alumna — Angela Cobian ’11, a first-generation college student who served as president of CC’s Student Government Association, taught for the Teach for America program, and just completed a Fulbright Fellowship as well as a term as CC’s Young Alumni Trustee.
This is also the story of alumni and staff who helped make Angela’s CC experience and success possible. She writes:
“When I was 16, and a sophomore at Englewood High School (southwest of Denver), I received a flier about a summer program called ‘College Ahead.’ CC graduate Nancy Hernandez ’96 was coordinator of the program, and I am convinced that this program was the sole reason I ended up applying to college and selecting CC. The program allowed students from underserved communities to come to CC and take a class on the Block Plan. More importantly, the program taught us practical skills like applying for the FAFSA, for the ACT/SAT exams, and to college.
“As a first-generation American, my family did not have the institutional knowledge to understand how to apply to college or how to pay for it, much less what liberal arts colleges were. After the program, I ended up applying exclusively to liberal arts schools — but Colorado College was a no-brainer. When I got to CC, I was able to reconnect with Professor (now Dean) Sandi Wong, whose course I took during the College Ahead program. Nancy and I remained in contact sporadically over the years, until she, Jason Clark ’07, and Johanna Leyba ’94 founded CCASCA with the generous support of Angela Hines ’82, P’12, P’12, P’13, then CC’s associate director of Alumni and Parent Relations.
“My relationship with Nancy came full circle in the spring of 2013, when she came to my second- and third-grade classroom in Denver on behalf of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. She spoke about college admission, her time at Colorado College, and how the students’ families could pay for college with scholarships. After visiting the campus and hearing from Nancy, my former students all want to be CC Tigers!”
Members of CCASCA mentored Angela. CC faculty led the summer academic program that captured Angela’s imagination and opened her eyes to possibilities. CC’s Alumni Association Board (AAB) contributed and raised funds for Student Leader Scholarships, one of which was awarded to Angela in recognition of her accomplishments as a CC student. (The AAB awards several scholarships annually to reduce the student loan burden of some of our most outstanding students.)
Angela’s story highlights the power of alumni relationships. Exert your power, get involved, give back, and help change lives. I’ve cited just a few of the ways that we as alumni can make a difference. Visit the AAB page (www.coloradocollege.edu/aab) or CCASCA page (www.coloradocollege.edu/alumniofcolor ) or contact an AAB or CCASCA member or the CC Alumni Office to learn more.
Christine Moon Schluter ’65
President of the Alumni Association Board
Chris
P.S. Come to Homecoming Oct. 9-12 and participate in a celebration of diversity and inclusion hosted by the college and CCASCA — see information on the CC or CCASCA websites.
