The Ruth Barton Writing Center, part of the Colket Center for Academic Excellence, provides assistance with any kind of writing project. This includes brainstorming, project planning, researching, cover letters, scholarships and applications, and more! Our services provide help for everyone on campus – students, faculty, and staff. 

When students want to talk about an essay or application before they get writing, our tutors ask questions to help develop outlines; that structure and clarity are huge assets in the Block Plan. Tutors also review near-final drafts for clarity, flow, and coherence, helping the writer imagine how their intended audience may react to their writing. Sometimes new students need to hear, “Yeah, you’re on the right track,” before turning in their first paper. Our tutors can provide that affirmation and help soothe writing anxieties.

Our tutors always represent a diverse academic group. It’s important for us to be able to provide writing help across disciplines and in such a way as to make everyone feel welcome.

As April comes to an end, we want to celebrate one of our own! Back in February, we shared that associate professor and director Nadia Guessous, of Feminist & Gender Studies and Arabic, Islamic, & Middle Eastern Studies recently published “On Tenderness, Joy, and Intergenerational Indebtedness: Reflections on the Decolonial Potentialities of the World Cup” in Jadaliyya, an independent ezine published by the Arab Studies Institute.

In the article, Guessous argues that the Moroccan team’s participation in the 2022 World Soccer Cup “challenged dominant assumptions about Moroccan/North African/Muslim/immigrant masculinity while at the same time speaking back to notions of Western superiority and benevolence through their expressions of affection and indebtedness towards their immigrant mothers.”

One of the best ways to celebrate AAHM is on a local level!

Over the next few weeks leading up to Commencement, we will be honoring the outstanding achievements of our senior students in Senior Spotlight 2023!

Gillian Lasher ’23
she/her
Major/Minor: Environmental Studies/Southwest Studies

“My favorite extracurricular activity [at CC] was working for the Collaborative for Community Engagement and being part of the Community Engaged Scholars/Leaders program. From being an intern, to attending BreakOut trips, to collaborating with Food to Power on a docuseries capstone, I have loved my time connecting with the community in meaningful ways. The CCE will always hold a special place for me; it’s where I discovered my values in community engagement and how they matter in bringing joy to others and the world. The community at the CCE will always be a second home for me and a place I’ll hold fond memories of for a long time.”

The Senior Spotlight is open to all seniors in the Class of 2023. If you are a senior who would like to be featured, fill out this form.

By Julia Fennell ’21

The Democratic Dialogue Project (DDP) facilitates both social connections and political debates between Colorado College students and United States Air Force Academy cadets, helping to reduce the military-civilian divide for the next generation of citizens and leaders.

“Being a member of the DDP means trying to bridge the gap between civilians and military in our generation. We’re all the same age, we use the same social media, we watch the same TV, play the same sports, but we live our lives in totally separate bubbles. There’s fear, distrust, and misunderstanding between these groups of people that doesn’t need to be there, and that makes both the civilian world and the military worse off,” says Tom Byron ’23, co-chair of the club.

After having a great time at the 2021 Academy Assembly Political Science Conference, Bryon realized that there wasn’t much contact between CC students and USAFA cadets, and he wanted to change that. After talking to a professor about wanting to organize a program to bring cadets and CC students together, Byron learned about the DDP club, which was started in 2015 but lapsed during COVID. With this new knowledge, Byron reached out to Elizabeth Coggins, associate professor of political science, last spring and asked for her help in restarting the club. “The mission of the DDP is essential in today’s democracy, and I believe in it deeply,” says Coggins. 

Colorado College students can join at any point in the year, and all majors are welcome. If you have questions or would like to join the club, please contact Maggie Mixer.

By Alexa Gromko

Marco Barracchia ’22 has won the Erasmus Mundus Excellence Scholarship to fund his Europubhealth+ graduate program in Spain and the Netherlands, focusing on Leadership and Governance of European Public Health. This internationally competitive graduate program received more than 1,400 applications for the double master’s degree; only 20-25 are accepted into the program each year. The Erasmus Mundus Scholarship is even more competitive, as not all students accepted into the program receive the scholarship.

“The application has been one of the most competitive I have applied to, but I never lost hope,” shares Barracchia. “I knew within myself where I was coming from and what my objectives were.”

Barracchia was an international student from Italy, which further demonstrates the successes of international students at CC. The first person he called when he opened the email announcing his scholarship? His mother.

“It’s hard sometimes to believe you made it,” he says. “Especially when you are a low-income, first-generation student raised by a single mother. She is my biggest supporter ever. After I told her about the acceptance, her tears of happiness made all the effort worth it.”