Fellow Tigers,

Photo by Jennifer Coombes

This is my favorite letter to write because I get to be the latest to welcome the Class of 2018 into the CC alumni family while introducing the Class of 2022 onto campus!

Your Alumni Association Board had a busy year. Our annual forum, held on the Colorado College campus in April, was a great success. Current members, students, staff, and faculty met for three days to discuss opportunities and methods for alumni engagement. We also learned more about CC’s new Innovation program, led by Dez Stone Menendez ’00, which seeks to position CC students to approach any challenge with flexibility, openness, and confidence. We received a summary of this year’s Big Idea startup pitch competition and an overview of several amazing projects and ideas implemented by our students, including the 2018 $25,000 winner, Chica Chocolate. Our weekend concluded with an update from President Jill Tiefenthaler who provided insight into the tremendous successes CC is realizing from the integration of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, as well as CC’s $435 million campaign, Building on Originality, including ongoing efforts to secure 180 newly endowed scholarships. It is a very exciting time to be on campus. If you have not been back to see the new Tutt Library or East Campus Housing Community, get back soon!

The Alumni Association’s other focus this year was the election of your new elected alumni trustee Tafari Lumumba ’05, and the appointment of your new young alumni trustee Jarod Rutledge ’17. Thank you all for the elected trustee and young alumni trustee nominations. Thank you also for your support and voting in the election. We are excited to see the leadership Jarod and Tafari will bring to the advancement of CC’s goals.

Tafari is a litigation associate at an international law firm in Denver. While at Yale Law School, he served as president of Yale Black Law School Students Association and, prior to law school, Tafari was anEl Pomar Foundation fellow and a Yale Legal Scholar for Goldman Sachs. Tafari began his six-year trustee term in June.

Jarod began his Ph.D. program at Stanford in genetics this summer. He graduated magna cum laude from CC in 2017 and, while at CC, Jarod led the college orchestra for four years and founded the Colorado College String Quartet. Jarod began his two-year trustee term this June.

For those of you back for Homecoming weekend (Oct. 11-14), we look forward to seeing you as we renew friendships, meet new members of the CC community, and celebrate the many successes of Colorado College.

I always appreciate hearing from you and I am excited to continue to work for you over the next year. If you have an interest in joining me in serving as an alumni board member, or if you have any ideas or questions with respect to CC, please reach out. Always remember that Colorado College is your home, so go back soon, go back often, and, if you can, please remember to give back to our school that has given so many so much.