By Julia Fennel ’21

Grace Witulski ’25 cites her Colorado College education as a reason she was hired for a 12-week paid internship with Tallgrass Energy, an energy and infrastructure company with headquarters in Denver.

“CC definitely prepared me for this internship,” says Witulski, a Political Science major and Journalism minor. “Through taking different political science classes, I was able to develop stronger reading and writing skills that undoubtedly prepared me for this internship. The fast pace of the Block Plan also aided me in being able to work in the fast-paced environment of this specific position.”

Read the full article for more information on Witulski’s internship.

Let’s talk about Mental Health and Wellness! Please join Cabinet Members and CC’s Mental Health and Wellness Task Force on Thursday, Sept. 28, from 1-2 p.m. in Gaylord Hall, in a community conversation on how Mental Health and Wellness is essential to a thriving community. This event is part of the Work of the College Series and a follow up to the Mental Health and Wellness Webinar from Sept. 15. Register for the event in advance.  

By Julia Fennell ’21

As always, CC is dedicated to continual improvement, including evolving its practices when needed. That’s why, for the first time since CC returned to in-person classes in 2021, CC offered an all-virtual block, allowing students to receive the same prestigious CC education from wherever they are.

Jim Burke, Director of Summer Sessions, says the decision to offer a remote-only Block C was influenced by discussions with faculty members, many of whom expressed positive feedback about remote instruction and its effectiveness in supporting their teaching style and pedagogy.

“For some faculty, remote instruction provided opportunities to enhance student engagement through breakout sessions and online discussion boards,” Burke says. “It was our intention to preserve the progress made during the COVID period by offering Block C remotely. By offering a selection of remote courses, we aim to accommodate all students and enable them to maintain degree progression and enroll in high-demand courses that may not have been available to them during the regular academic year.”

The course offerings for Block C were curated based on student demand and taught by faculty who are comfortable with remote instruction, ensuring a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Read the full article.

By Alexa Gromko

“I’m doing now what I wanted to do originally,” says Colorado muralist Emanuel Martinez as he applies fresh paint to his 37-year-old mural, Arte Mestiza, which spans the concrete wall of the parking lot of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College. “I am representing the artists whose work I am painting with more color, greater detail, and better accuracy.”

Thanks to a fifty-thousand dollar grant from the National Endowment for the Arts gifted to the Fine Arts Center for this restoration project in June, Martinez is breathing new life into Arte Mestiza with an explosion of color, lending a newfound vibrancy that makes every panel in the two-thousand square foot mural pop.

“Murals belong to everybody. They’re public property,” Martinez says. “They reflect the community and tell a story.” They are also part of his mission, the Chicano/a/x Community Murals of Colorado Project, which is trying to save all of the murals that have been painted in the state since the late 1960s.

Students from the CC Art Studio Foundations Drawing course, taught by Senior Lecturer and Artist-in-Residence Jean Gumpper, spent a class listening to Martinez describe his technique, in which he uses a fishing rod tipped with a piece of charcoal to map out the boundaries so that the large mural is sketched to scale. He then paints it one square foot at a time, working in a grid pattern. The students had practiced the method in class and were amazed by his talent.

Read more about this exciting venture.