Hello Fellow Alumni,

Rendering of East Campus housing

I must admit, I’m jealous. Jealous of the current and future CC students. Don’t get me wrong — I loved my CC experience. It’s just that, have you seen what’s happening on our campus lately? With projects underway for a new library — the first one designed for the Block Plan, and now featuring large, Pikes Peak-facing windows(!); the East Campus Housing Community; the new alliance with the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and perhaps nearest and dearest to my heart, a new on-campus hockey arena, I really want to figure out a way to be a CC student again. If you made it to Homecoming this year, I suspect you may have had a similar thought.

Rendering of Tutt Library courtyard

Many of you did make it to Homecoming. We had 1,445 in attendance this year, up more than 300 over last year, with 47 faculty members registering in advance in addition to a number who made unadvertised but welcomed appearances. I’m pretty sure our Innovation at CC group has secretly discovered a way to manipulate the weather — how else could we explain how perfect it was at Homecoming? And as always, the staff at the college prepared and expertly executed a massive array of events to fit any preference. If you haven’t been to Homecoming in a while, I highly recommend it.

While I’ve always known how beautiful our campus and our special place at the foot of Pikes Peak is, there are a number of things I’ve learned over the last year in my position on the alumni board. Some things I had already known have come vividly to the forefront for me, such as how amazing our professors are — they are not only experts in their fields but also have such interesting passions and dedication to making a difference in their students’ lives. And how they remember details about their students after so many years! They’ve created extraordinary alumni. As one of the alumni awardees noted at Homecoming Convocation, we CC graduates do things differently. It’s inspiring to talk with fellow alumni and hear about the trails they’ve blazed, living lives of such originality and contribution.

I’ve learned that running an institution like CC (as if there is another institution like CC) is no small task. I have been very impressed by the passion and excellent leadership of President Jill Tiefenthaler and her cabinet and staff, as well as that of the board members at CC. The competition between institutions for today’s top students is intense, and the college is doing a fantastic job of making foundational improvements that are necessary for the institution’s future, while responsibly managing its assets and the challenges of providing a top-notch education in a safe and thriving community — again, no small feat! Board meetings remind me of CC classrooms — filled with insightful ideas, and passionate and respectful discussions no matter how challenging the topic may be.

While we may not have the opportunity to repeat our undergraduate educations, the advancement of the college serves all of us alumni well, as the institution’s excellent standing and reputation is in all of our interests. We all have the opportunity to connect with fellow alumni and engage in energizing and educational conversation, and perhaps even work with fellow alumni. I invite you to check out Tiger Link, CC’s new professional networking platform, compatible with LinkedIn. The initial launch has been extremely successful, exceeding the target of 500 members for the first year with more than 2,000 members in just a few months! (See Connections Matter: Opportunities Abound for Career Advice, Mentoring, and Jobs)

Thank you for your engagement with CC. I invite you to stay connected, keep in touch, get involved, and give back. Join Tiger Link and your local CC Alumni Facebook group, download the EverTrue Alumni Community app, and attend a local CC event in your neck of the woods or a Block Break Away program planned for alumni and parents. You’ll be glad you did. And keep being the extraordinary person you are.

Go Tigers!