We’re thrilled to honor and celebrate the Class of 2022. The 2022 Commencement ceremony is coming up Sunday, May 22, at Robson Arena. The event will be live-streamed so you can cheer on our grads from wherever you are. Share how you’re honoring CC graduates! #ColoradoCollege2022 

CC welcomes Cassie Luna as our new Sexual Assault Response Coordinator. Luna (they/them) brings 10 years of experience working in the anti-sexual and domestic violence movement. Cassie’s work is rooted in anti-oppression values, survivor-centered experiences, comprehensive and holistic prevention, and direct service. Prior to joining the CC community, they worked at RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, where they developed and delivered tailored trainings and education on sexual violence to a wide range of audiences across the country. While Cassie recently moved to Colorado with their partner and dog (Mango), they spent the last decade in Boston, MA, where they advocated for systemic change for survivors of sexual violence and LGBTQ+ survivors of domestic violence. Cassie is passionate about building communities where we take care of each other and hold one another accountable. In their free time, they love mountain biking, rock climbing, and baking! Cassie earned their master’s of social work, with a focus in macro practice, from the Boston University School of Social Work.

The SARC is the campus advocate for anyone harmed or affected by sexual and other gender-based violence, and serve as a confidential resource for all students, faculty, and staff.  Their office is located in room 233 of the Yalich Student Services Center (second floor inside Health and Wellbeing), and can be reached at sarc@coloradocollege.edu or (719) 227-8101 (office). There is also an advocate on-call 24/7 at (719) 602-0960.

Commencement is this weekend, and we’re honoring the outstanding achievements of another senior student in our #ColoradoCollege2022 Senior Spotlight!

he/him

Major: Neuroscience

Q: Are there any achievements/classes that you’d like to shout out?

A: Go do Intro to Human Anatomy ASAP! Crazy class, I wish I would have taken it earlier.

Q: Tell us about your favorite extracurricular activity and explain why it was important for you at CC.

A: Mock Trial! I made amazing lifelong friends … My two years in mock trial are definitely the highlight of my college life.

Q: What are your plans for the future after graduation?

A: I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my life, but right now I’m going to do a master’s in biomedical engineering … Just can’t wait to learn more about everything, though it’s possible that I end up in a completely different position in the future. Still learning and looking forward!

Grace Andrews ’22, a sociology and history major, has been accepted into Teach for America. Teach For America is a nationwide organization that recruits promising leaders to teach for at least two years in a low-income community. Andrews will spend the summer completing educational training before doing a practicum at a summer school. Then, starting this fall, she will teach social studies to seventh- to 12th-graders in a New York City school.

At Colorado College, Andrews has been a proactive learner and leader, driven by her passion for investigating the practices and structural contours that reproduce inequality in the K-12 education system.

“I realized the life-changing power of education when I was a little girl. I was able to express myself and explore my interests and identities in ways I never could at home,” Andrews says. “I am excited to be a part of Teach for America because I can jumpstart my career as a teacher and recreate for my students the inclusive and impactful education I received. I plan to educate on the power of learning for positive social change at the individual, community, and societal levels. My dream is to help students develop a toolbox to respond to issues in productive and effective ways.” 

During Fall 2021, several Colorado College students from the class The Future and Sustainability of Local News visited Crestone, CO, and stayed at the college’s Baca Campus during their internship at the local paper. While there, they met with staff of The Crestone Eagle, read archives of area newspapers at the local museum, interviewed residents about where they get their local news and information, and met with a public official to talk about the efficacy of a potential sales tax grant to support local journalism. 

Throughout their intensive course at CC, students studied the various causes of a broken business model in the local news industry nationwide that has led to fewer reporters, slimmer coverage, and disappearing local news outlets. Students also studied potential solutions for how to fix these problems, hearing from some innovators in Colorado and across North America who are working on the crisis facing local news.  

In April, two senior students, Sierra Romero ’22 and Sabrina Brewer ’22 embarked on a new internship program at CC’s Journalism Institute to learn how The Eagle operates, to help write the news, and to work on the paper’s digital operation while staying at the Baca campus. 

Jennifer Eytcheson, The Eagle’s intern program manager for this collaboration, explained the newspaper cycle and operation with the interns, helped them get started with interviews for the articles they were writing, set up a tour of the Mountain Mail printing company, and took them onsite to take photos for their articles. The first of two of their articles appeared in this month’s issue covering potential local impacts of a Live Nation Seven Peaks festival that expects 20,000 visitors to Villa Grove in September. In the June issue, they’ll have a compelling take on the preservation of the Sand Dunes National Park.

The City of Colorado Springs Fire Department implemented a burn ban to address drought conditions, exceptionally dry fuel moisture levels, and increased grass fires on undeveloped areas. This burn ban prohibits recreational fires, portable or fixed outdoor fireplaces fueled by solid materials (wood, pellets, or charcoal), fireworks, and hot work activities such as welding, brazing, or torching without a permit issued by CSFD. Please contact CC Environmental Health and Safety at lscott@coloradocollege.edu or (719) 389-6678 to discuss permitting for any activities that may be taking place in any building on campus where hot work activities such as welding, brazing, or torching is needed. 

Additionally, the following restrictions are in place for our remote campuses in Divide and Crestone:

It only takes a spark to start a fire under these extremely dry conditions. Please make sure to check with local agencies before going camping or spending time outdoors to make sure you’re aware of and follow area restrictions.