CC-COS Day of Service

Yesterday, I enjoyed greeting hundreds of volunteers at the Colorado College-Colorado Springs Day of Service. What a wonderful way to express our liberal arts commitment to the civic good!

CC students (including athletic teams, fraternities and sororities, student government, the Chinese Student Association, President’s Council, and many others) were joined by CC faculty, staff, alumni and many Colorado Springs neighbors. Together, they donned gloves and muddied themselves in trash pickup along four miles of Monument Creek that flanks the west side of campus — and you can see the results.

The CC-COS Day of Service was part of a larger city wide effort called “Creek Week.”  Thank you to all the volunteers who worked together to improve our community!

Visiting Writers Series Hosts Marlon James

Marlon James, winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize for his powerful novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, was on campus on Monday. James spoke to a full house at Block 2’s First Monday, worked with students in a special afternoon session, and offered a public reading in the evening.

This visit was part of the 2016-2017 Visiting Writers Series. Next up – Canadian novelist Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer (winner of the Sidney Prize and author of All the Broken Things) on Tuesday, October 4 at 7 pm in Gaylord Hall (Worner Center).

Thanks to Professor Steve Hayward (pictured below with Marlon James) for his great work in organizing the Visiting Writers Series!

Chetan Ghate ’93 Appointed to India’s Monetary Policy Committee

The Reserve Bank of India named three outside experts to its Monetary Policy Committee, a new model for India. Among the them is CC Economics graduate Chetan Ghate ’93, who was a strong advocate of the new framework. Professor Chetan of the Indian Statistical Institute is a macroeconomist with a research focus on “economic growth, fluctuations, economic development, and monetary and fiscal policy in developing and emerging market economies.” A recipient of the prestigious Mahalanobis Medal, the National Award in Quantitative Economics awarded by the Indian Econometrics Society, Chetan was recognized as the best research economist in India under the age of 45 by the Indian Econometric Society.

Chetan keeps up with his CC mentor Esther Redmount and shared news of his success. Congratulations Chetan!

Books on the Rock

Over the past weekend, I joined a dedicated group of CC alumni, parents and friends for the first “Books on the Rock” on Nantucket. This weekend experience of reliving the intellectual engagement of the Block Plan and enjoying Block Break fun was modeled after the very successful “Books on the Beach”, which has brought CC alumni and parents on the West Coast together for decades. Professor Emeritus of English Dan Tynan led an engaging discussion of Moby Dick and the group toured Nantucket’s Whaling and Lifesaving Museums before donning their CC hats for some time on a tall ship. Thanks to the Keller and Shackelford families for their warm hospitality!

Block Break Newsletter

Dear Alumni and Parents,

The 2016-17 academic year is underway as Block 1 draws to a close. As always, Colorado College is an incredibly dynamic place! As I walk across campus, I see signs of progress as our new library takes shape before our eyes and the northeast corner of campus has been transformed from a parking lot to a construction zone for our upper-class housing village that will open next fall. These projects, and many others, are guided by our strategic plan. We first presented “The Colorado College Plan: Building on the Block” in 2013; since that time, we’ve implemented many of the plan’s initiatives. The plan also articulates our essential strengths as an institution. As the only national liberal arts college in the region, our location is one of those strengths and our vision includes more fully embracing our special place of learning in the Southwest.

One recent development on campus is an exciting opportunity that aligns perfectly with nurturing our sense of place: a new partnership with the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. This alliance will help us to deeply embed the study of the Southwest into our curriculum, through the study of the arts, and interact with the Colorado Springs community in new ways. The alliance presents new opportunities to further diversify our curriculum and build an inclusive community.

Since the announcement, we have embarked upon a 10-month long strategic planning process that will guide the integration of the FAC with the college. CC faculty and staff are joining with FAC staff and patrons to develop plans for each of the three program areas of the Fine Arts Center. Over the next three years, we will implement the plans, focusing on one area each year, beginning with the museum, then on to the Bemis School and finally, the theatre. We will officially take over the operations of the FAC next summer, with the name changing to the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College.

The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College will continue to provide excellent arts programming for the Colorado Springs community but it will now also provide special opportunities for our students. We envision bringing visiting scholars and artists, creating new internships in museum studies and collection management, and supporting new ways to enhance teaching and research opportunities for our talented faculty. Even if you are far from campus, I invite you to become involved in this process through the web. Please stay informed about the process and share your ideas with us. The next time you are on campus, I encourage you to visit the Fine Arts Center.

CC is known for its creative and innovative thinkers. We just got word that CC alumna Anne Basting ’87 has received a 2016 MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “Genius Award.” This follows John Novembre ’00 being named as a Fellow in 2015. CC can now claim two MacArthur “Geniuses” in two years!

As we turn our thoughts to Block 2 just around the corner, I am excited about the progress in our mission to offer the finest liberal arts education. Thank you for everything you do to support our success!

Best regards,

President Jill Tiefenthaler