Around the Block – Springing Into Awards Season

CooXooEii Black ’20 wins Rattle Chapbook Prize

ID: you indigenous man in black pants, white tshirt. black loafers with white socks, hair in 2 braids, sitting on a chair with an animal skin rug underneath him ID: graphic for book cover showing a drawing of an indiginous person
CooXooEii Black ’20 recently won the Rattle Chapbook Prize for his book, “The Morning You Saw a Train of Stars Streaking Across the Sky.” Chapbooks are books of poems less than 40 pages, and the Rattle Chapbook Prize is very competitive. There were over 2,000 entries for the 2022 Rattle Chapbook Prize, and Black, along with two other people, was chosen. Black was awarded $5,000 and his book was distributed to Rattle’s 8,000 subscribers. At CC Black was on the creative writing track for English majors, where he specialized in poetry.

“I’m super thankful for the English and art professors at CC. It was in the creative writing classes there that I realized I wanted to pursue creative writing and get into the creative field in general. They were incredibly supportive, and without their knowledge and guidance, I wouldn’t be pursuing a master’s degree in fine arts, nor would I have been blessed with this chapbook. It’s humbling to know that you have amazing people like that in your corner,” says Black.

CCE Accepting Nominations

The Collaborative for Community Engagement is accepting nominations for community impact awards until midnight on Wednesday, April 19. To nominate a student, faculty or staff member, or community organization, review awards and sample nominations here, and then simply fill out this form.

CC Offers a New Referral Tool for Mental Health Practitioners

ID: Graphic showing how to access Thriving Campus, the off-campus mental health care tool
We are happy to announce a new referral tool for off campus private practice therapists and prescribers, Thriving Campus, available to all CC students at no charge. Thriving Campus maintains a full database of both telehealth and in-person mental health providers. Students and their parents can create a free account and input detailed criteria to search for the right provider.

Other mental health resources can be found on the Counseling Center page, the Student Health and Wellbeing page, and the support resources page.

State of the Rockies Vintage Poster Contest


The State of the Rockies project invited students to submit a digital image of a vintage-style poster of a national park, monument, or forest in the eight-state Rocky Mountain region that includes a contemporary conservation message or motto. The direction each student went was only bound by the conservation of public lands topics covered in the poll.

Judges Aaron Cohick, Katja Rivera, and Kaitlin Steinfort ’22, have announced the winners of the 2023 Conservation in the West Vintage Poster Contest:

1st Place Sam Nystrom Costales ’25: Bear Lodge National Monument

The State of the Rockies poll demonstrated that there was strong enthusiasm for the current administration’s 30×30 policy, which seeks to conserve 30% of land and marine habitat by 2030. The policy supports tribal-led conservation projects and sovereignty. It is significant that 30×30 recognizes sovereignty as tribal involvement in management practices has been treated as a formality, despite the efficacy of Indigenous-led land management. At the same time, 30×30 must avoid placing the burden of protecting public lands primarily on Indigenous peoples. Highlighting this part of the 30×30 policy is important as recognition of tribal sovereignty could provide greater agency to Indigenous groups while reducing the continued harm of settler-colonialism. I represented Devils Tower (using an alternative name) because it has particularly been a site of struggle for the recognition of Indigenous land practices and sovereignty, specifically between outdoor recreationists and the nations that regard the site as sacred.

2nd Place Rafi Donohoe ’24: Protect Our Dark Skies


My visit to Great Sand Dunes National Park was the first time I had been to a dark sky preserve, and the first time I ever really saw the Milky Way. Inspired by the “Half the Park is After Dark” slogan from the National Park Service, I wanted to recreate the iconic Milky Way posters with a message about light pollution. While the artificial light may seem harmless compared to greenhouse gases or fracking, it has the power to disrupt human and animal rhythms and ruin natural habitats. Additionally, lighting is one of the largest contributors to global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and much of it is wasted. With my poster, I hope to convey the beauty of dark skies, and the importance in preserving them from light pollution.

3rd Place Sebastian Olson ’24: Pikes Peak

I focused on Pikes Peak with Garden of the Gods in the foreground for my poster. Since I came to Colorado College, I have spent many weekends exploring Colorado’s vast wilderness, but often rely on these two nearby spaces to unwind and go on a run or bike ride. As a gateway into the Pike National Forest, Garden of the Gods has much to offer, but its easy access comes with increased vulnerability. Car traffic and litter have only increased these past years since 2020. At least three-in-five people in every Rocky Mountain state support preserving public lands and national monuments, and my goal for this poster is to get this point across while still inviting people to visit these amazing locations. Our natural spaces should be accessible to people, not cars.

SMF presents ‘The Art of Perseverance: Sounds of Hope and Restoration’

ID: Poster with photos of musicians and text advertising The Art of Perseverance concert
The Colorado College Summer Music Festival opens this year’s Intermezzo Season with “The Art of Perseverance: Sounds of Hope and Restoration” on Wednesday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m. with performances by Festival Faculty Mark Fewer on violin, Phillip Ying on viola, David Ying on cello, SMF Music Director Susan Grace on piano, and featured guests CC principal voice instructor Jennifer DeDominici, mezzo-soprano, and CC violin instructor Jerilyn Jorgensen
The concert will also feature students. Poetry corresponding to the music will be chosen and read by Jane Hilberry’s poetry students: Iyanla Ayite ’25, Janeiya Porter ’26, Henry Freedman ’23, Mary Andrews ’23, Keiko Ito ’26, and Anna Heimel ’23. The music students who will participate are Lillie Gray ’26 on violin, Jacob Lynn-Palevsky ’23 on cello, and Forrest Tucker ’24 on piano.
This free concert is presented with additional support from the Colorado College Wellness Resource Center. For more information, call the Festival Office at (719) 389-6552.

Founder of Women’s Educational Society Inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame

ID: graphic with images of all the women being inducted into the CWHF Class of 2022
Since 1985 the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame has inducted 199 women of various races, backgrounds, economic levels, career choices, political philosophies, and religious beliefs, all united by their outstanding contributions to society.

In Fall 2022, Women’s Educational Society nominated Mary G. Slocum, founder of WES, to be considered for admission to the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame, and last week, Slocum was inducted. We are thrilled that Slocum’s significant contributions to Colorado College, its students, and the surrounding community have been honored in this way!

The lives of these extraordinary women are shining examples of what can be achieved with passion, commitment, spirit, and the willingness to stand tall in the face of obstacles. They are trailblazers, visionaries, women of courage, glass-ceiling breakers, innovators, and rule changers in all walks of life. Their contributions span Colorado’s colorful and storied history and have spread to touch our nation and world.

Video of the Week

Former Tigers Lorna Kollmeyer ’80 and Melanie Auguste ’09 sat down with Athletic Director Lesley Irvine to talk about their experience playing basketball at Colorado College. This is Part 3 of this interview. Parts 1 and 2 were shared in past weeks.
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