After a 30+ year career at the college, Mike Edmonds, senior vice president, will retire in May 2023.
Edmonds changed the landscape of Colorado College, illustrating the power of inclusive leadership. He is the first Black leader to have served as president in the college’s history and has been integral to advancing the college’s institutional initiatives, including the college’s commitment to antiracism, creating greater access for students, and the partnership with the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. He served and mentored countless students through his many years leading Student Life.
“I have seen my students become parents and their children become my students,” Edmonds says. “That’s been a remarkable blessing. One of my favorite R&B singers, Dorothy Moore, said it best: ‘Ain’t it funny how time slips away.’”
In celebration of Edmonds’ career and the impact he has made on CC, the college has established the Mike Edmonds Legacy Fund to provide resources for future generations of students of all backgrounds and allow access to all CC has to offer. CC Trustees Susie Burghart ’77, Phil Swan ’84, and Amy Shackelford Louis ’84 each have given $500,000 to launch the Mike Edmonds Legacy Fund.
Edmonds was inducted into the National Speech and Debate Association Hall of Fame, as well as the Gold Key Society at Emory University. He also received the Delores Taylor Arthur award from the Holy Cross School in New Orleans and the Martin Luther King Award from James Logan Forensics in California. Two campus spaces are named in Edmonds’ parents’ honor, a first floor classroom in Tutt Library called the Frank Jr. and Hattie Mae Edmonds Experimental Classroom and the Hattie Mae balcony at Cornerstone Arts Center.
Edmonds hails from Clarksville, Tennessee, and holds a bachelor of arts, master’s, and Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi, where he serves on the Liberal Arts Board and sits on the Ole Miss Campaign Steering Committee. He also completed a post-graduate institute at Harvard University and is a graduate of the Center for Creative Leadership. Until his retirement, Edmonds will continue to oversee the Fine Arts Center and work on external partnerships and relations critical to Colorado College.
To support this fund, visit https://2cc.co/edmondslegacy
