At Colorado College, we have no shortage of things to be proud of. Our innovative and immersive Block Plan, our stunning location at the heart of the Rocky Mountain West, our community, and our blossoming national reputation. But what we’re most proud of, by far, are our people. Our brilliant faculty, our dedicated staff, and of course, our inspiring and relentlessly curious students – they make us what we are, make CC what it is today and what it hopes to become tomorrow.
Over the past year, we’ve been recognizing individuals with a series called “Celebrating CC People.” With seven entries so far, and more in the works, the series profiles those members of our staff and faculty who’ve had a long-term, deeply resonant impact upon our classrooms, our campus, and our community. The seven includes former college presidents, current and former professors, and inspirational staff members.
To give you a better idea about the series, why it matters, and who we’ve been featuring, here are three brief summaries of the entries we’ve done thus far:
Former President Kathryn Mohrman
As Colorado College’s first female president, Kathryn Mohrman’s tenure at the helm was a landmark one. Under her leadership, the college expanded the capacity of the Block Plan to include new departments, such as Asian Studies and Environmental Studies, implemented the First-Year Experience and Breaking Bread programs, built and opened the Western Ridge Apartments, opened the Glass House, and reaffirmed a commitment to gender equity across CC’s athletics programs. The reputation of the college grew on Mohrman’s watch, and by the time she left CC at the end of the 2001-02 academic year, the college was better positioned to tackle the challenges of the new millennium that lay before it.
Professor Owen Cramer, Classics
The last half-century has seen titanic shifts across the world. Nations have risen and fallen, empires
dismantled, wars fought, votes cast, voices raised. Today, Colorado College is almost unrecognizable from the place that welcomed Owen Cramer, professor in the Department of Classics, in 1965 – more than 50 years ago. Cramer has been CC’s constant, early on described as “a maverick” by fellow Classics Professor Marcia Dobson. Over a career of distinction and service, Cramer has re-established the presence of the classics at Colorado College, inspiring generations of students with his energy, passion, and ever-amusing tangents! Furthermore, Cramer helped establish the Department of Comparative Literature in 1993, and has also chaired the departments of Romance Languages and Spanish. Heavily involved in the local community, Cramer has reviewed classical music for a local paper, serves with the Shooks Run Trail Friends, and regularly sings tenor in the CC Choir. Most importantly, though, he continues to teach, to inspire, and to spark the best of curiosities in our students.
Barbara Yalich ’53
Colorado College is a special place. It gets into your bones, staying with you long after you leave campus. For Barbara Yalich ’53, this proved truer than for most. A graduate of the Class of 1953, Yalich returned to the college in 1971, after a storied career in public service throughout the Pikes Peak region. Serving briefly as an alumni trustee of the college, Yalich swiftly moved to her positions in the Office of Alumni Relations – first as director of alumni support and then to the director of alumni affairs. A decade in this role allowed Yalich to reshape CC’s relationship with its graduates, founding more than 20 metropolitan alumni clubs across the U.S. and Canada. In 1985, Yalich became the college’s director of development, breaking ground as a fundraiser for the college. In 1991, she broke ground again to become one of the first three women appointed to a vice presidential position within the college’s administration, as the vice president for development and college relations. Yalich continued her work until 1994, when she retired. Today, she continues to serve her local community as the civic leader of the Aging Collaborative, a grassroots effort that provides the elderly population of the region with resources and opportunities.
Over the coming year, we want to grow this series even further. To do this, we need your help. We want to hear from you, our alumni, on who you’d nominate to be featured in this series; touch base at communications@coloradocollege.edu
We hope you enjoy the series, and we can’t wait to hear from you!
