Dear Alumni, Parents, and Friends of Colorado College,

Alumni often ask me if CC students are still as passionate and adventurous as they were when they were at the college. They worry that as CC continues to receive more and more applications and becomes very selective, the character of the student body will change. I assure them that I interact with engaging and curious students, who are developing rich relationships and embracing opportunities—just like our alumni—every day at CC. Our distinctive Block Plan and our Rocky Mountain location ensure that we will always attract students with the same spirit for which CC is so well known. We continue to launch young people who will fit right into our alumni ranks—dynamic and interesting individuals with a drive to make the world a better place, and having fun doing it.

Members of the Class of 2019 in the Colorado springtime. This issue celebrates CC’s commitment to building access to our education for talented students of all backgrounds. To learn more about the CC Class of 2019, go to www.coloradocollege.edu/classof2019

Junior Amy Valencia ’17 is a political science major with an emphasis on Latin American studies. She came to CC thinking that she would study chemistry, but a class with Professor of Political Science Juan Lindau opened up a new world of scholarship on the Salvadoran Civil War, the same event which drove her father to the United States. Leadership experiences in student clubs led to Amy’s current role in CCSGA as a heads of state representative, and now Amy is planning a career in immigration law.

Junior John Silvester ’17 transferred to CC and has found it to be the right fit. This fall, he participated in a class co-taught by Associate Professor of Environmental Science Miro Kummel and Innovation@CC Director Patrick Bultema that introduced students to the newly emerging use of drones for environmental applications. John is competing in this year’s Big Idea pitch contest with a prototype of a regular iPhone camera capable of controlling a drone.

Senior Mohammad Mia ’16 was born in Zambia but his parents moved to Houston, Texas, so that their children could have the opportunities of an American education. With a self-designed major in “existential activism,” he is studying the intersection of freedom, human choices, and political engagement. Experiences such as the Newberry Library semester in Chicago and study abroad in Paris and Costa Rica helped develop skills and confidence that Mohammad drew upon this fall to lead student activism in positive and productive ways.

Interacting with our students, I am reassured that we continue to attract young people with a zest for life, who make deep commitments, and who want to act on them. Our strategic priority of providing access to a CC education through increasing resources for financial aid is critical to making sure that remains true going forward, and that students like Amy, John, and Mohammad are always able to accept the invitation to become members of our community. They are the reason why Colorado College is the special place that it is.

With warm regards,

Jill Tiefenthaler