Around the Block – Kudos to Our CC Community

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Don’t forget to turn your clocks back this weekend, Saturday Nov. 4 before going to bed.

Come Listen to Stories from Keller Family Venture Grant Awardees

ID: infograqphic listing details about the forum
Last year, over $120,000 in Keller Family Venture Grants were awarded to 110 CC students to pursue individual research projects. Some of these students traveled globally and others engaged in research domestically.

Come hear their stories Thursday, Nov. 9, 4:30 p.m., in the Richard F. Celeste Theatre in Cornerstone Arts Center.

For more information about Keller Family Venture Grants and to see examples of student projects, please visit our website. Add this event to your calendar.

CC Coding Team Wins Top Prize at Harvard Hackathon

ID: students wearing red Hackathon shirts and pants, standing in front of a screen, arms around each other, looking at the camera

Left to right: Kylie Bogar ’27, Primera Hour ’25, David Prelinger ’25, and Ronan Takizawa ’26
By Alexa Gromko
It’s a high-tech Cinderella story that showcases CC students’ ability to think big and find solutions to life’s problems utilizing their intelligence, raw grit, courage, and determination. One in which this small, liberal arts school took on some of the biggest names in the Ivy League and won!
Four CC Computer Science students, who met just two weeks ago, participated in their first hackathon together and won first place.
Ronan Takizawa ’26, Primera Hour ’25, David Prelinger ’25, and Kylie Bogar ’27 decided to participate in HackHarvard, a student-run hackathon where 100 teams of coders built a project with a prompt in a certain amount of time. They presented their idea, demonstrated how it works, and then a team of judges decided who won. There were about 600 participants from colleges and universities all over the country, including Harvard, Stanford, Penn, Rutgers, Boston University, and many more.

Congratulations to the CC Speech and Debate Team!

The CC Speech and Debate Team hosted 10 schools last weekend at their annual tournament. CC took 2nd place overall, with several individuals placing in the top 3 for their events. In a field of 32 debaters, Aidan Boyd ’25, took first place overall, with a perfect 7-0 record. Bella Houck ’27 earned 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in Dramatic Interpretive, Poetry, and Impromptu, respectively. Sophia Murphy ’27 took 2nd place in Impromptu, while Skye McCrimmon ’24 earned 2nd place in Extemporaneous Speaking and 4th place in Impromptu alongside Ben Rodriguez. Go Talking Tigers! 

CC Joins College Presidents for Civic Preparedness

By Julia Fennell ’21

Colorado College President L. Song Richardson has joined a group of 20 college and university presidents who are committed to promoting free speech and civil discourse on college campuses across the country.

College Presidents for Civic Preparedness is an initiative created by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars this past summer. It brings together a group of college presidents with differing perspectives who are all working to address the challenges of making sure young people are well-informed and committed citizens.  

Freedom of expression and speech is a critical part of the Colorado College experience, and more importantly, prepares young people to be global citizens committed to creating a more just, equitable, and humane world.

“Colorado College is a community dedicated to open dialogue, civil discourse, and academic freedom,” said Richardson. “We foster courageous conversations across difference so that our graduates are well prepared to lead in a diverse democracy. Our goal is never to tell students what to think, but rather how to think, critically and with an open mind.”

Daniel Patrick O’Connor Memorial Lecture, Change Everything: Racial Capitalism and the Case for Abolition with Ruth Wilson Gilmore

ID: Infographic about the Change Everything: Racial Campitalism & the Case for Abolition event
This lecture will explore concrete possibilities for people involved in undergraduate and graduate education programs to think about how abolition involves all spheres of human existence — not only, even if urgently, police and prisons. Inspired by and drawing on legacies of liberation movement scholarship and organizing, the talk will explore a number of inter-disciplinary dimensions, institutional forms, and internationalist solidarities that come clearly into focus when we use an abolition lens.

This lecture is Thursday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. in the Richard F. Celeste Theater in Cornerstone Arts Center. Add this lecture to your calendar.

Taking Action to Boost CC’s Mental Health and Wellness Commitment

Lesley Irvine, Vice President and Director of Athletics, will be a panelist at the national Mental Wellness and the Modern Coach Symposium on Monday, Nov. 6, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum. This event will explore mental wellness and the modern coach. Together, with coaches, experts, and sports administrators, the schedule of events will address the unique mental health stressors facing coaches and chart an evidence-informed path forward with actionable takeaways for sport influencers.

In addition to the symposium, Irvine will be presenting with Margaret Sabin, Strategic Advisor and Past President, Children’s Hospital, about the CC partnership with Children’s Hospital and the mental health and wellbeing of our student-athletes. Come listen to what Irvine and Sabin have to say on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 5:30-7:15 p.m., at Notes. The event is free, but registration is required.

Fine Arts Center Corner

Enjoy First Friday at the FAC!

ID: 2 caucasian men and one caucasian woman, sitting in chairs with their guitars at their legs, outside.

Photo by Eli Epstein, @elis_lens
Join us at the FAC for our First Friday Art Party celebration, Friday, Nov. 3, 5–8 p.m., for:

  • FREE museum admission
  • Music by Grapefruit Moon
  • Art in Deco Lounge by Adana Dysart
  • Drinks and snacks available for purchase
  • FREE downtown shuttle, THE ZEB, running along Tejon Street to downtown art galleries

Grapefruit Moon is a Manitou Springs-based band featuring Tom Tritsch and Jane Turnis on acoustic guitars and David Moorefield on bass. Their vocal harmony and crisp guitar work create a fresh sound merging contemporary folk, indie, alt-country, and pop with a tinge of blues.

Grapefruit Moon performs upbeat crowd-pleasing tunes by Michael Franti & Spearhead, Tom Petty, Ryan Adams, Van Morrison, Vance Joy, The Civil Wars, Kacey Musgraves, The Paper Kites, Caamp, Avett Brothers, Tom Waits, Beatles, Portugal the Man, Talking Heads, Death Cab for Cutie, Grateful Dead, Donovan, The Band, Houndmouth, Paul Simon, and more.

Immediately after our Art Party, head into Taste Restaurant for an evening of musical performances from 8-10 p.m. The bar in Deco Lounge will be open until 9:30 p.m.

Photo of the Week

ID: a group of students sitting around a firepit in the dark, making smores

Students enjoying smores around a bonfire at Cheyenne Mountain State Park during NSO on Wednesday, Aug. 23. 
Photo by Mila Naumovska ’26 
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