The CC Mock Trial Program launched its competitive season at Stanford University in Palo Alto, facing off against national-caliber rivals such as the University of Texas, UC Santa Cruz, and Stanford. With just one team, comprised of seasoned members, they navigated a complex case problem and secured an impressive fifth place finishwith a record of five wins and three losses. Julia Fenn ’24 and Abi Anderson ’26 earned Outstanding Attorney and Outstanding Witness awards, respectively, showcasing their prowess in a highly competitive field. A special thanks to Judge Regina Walter ’80, coach emeritus of the mock trial program, who flew to Palo Alto with our students when the head coach was called away unexpectedly. Regina coached the program beginning in 2013 through her retirement from the position after the 2020-2021 season.

Heading to the University of Houston tournament less than five days after returning from Stanford, the CC team competed as two groups against nearly every active mock trial team in Texas, providing an invaluable learning experience for new members. Despite being the sole non-Texan team, both CC groups secured a record of three wins and five losses, with all eight new members delivering commendable performances in their debut college mock trial competitions. The outstanding witness awards once again went to Julia Fenn and Abi Anderson, while Kiersten Whitmore ’24 clinched the Outstanding Attorney award in her first tournament competing in that role!

Mock Trial’s back-to-back successes in these tournaments not only solidifies their national standing but also underscores the program’s commitment to excellence and the development of emerging talents within its ranks. Congratulations!

Winter Commencement, set for Sunday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m., is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate those students who complete their undergraduate studies prior to the May Commencement ceremony. This year’s event will take place in-person in Shove Memorial Chapel, and the ceremony will include remarks from President L. Song Richardson and a Commencement address from Professor Steve Hayward. President Richardson will read the names of the graduates. 

Faculty members who would like to march in the ceremony must sign up no later than December 14, 5 p.m.

By Alexa Gromko

CC is now a designated Hunger Free campus. The Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) conveyed the designation on its Social Determinant of Student Success site in October, after CC met all of the criteria from the organization’s Hunger Free Campus Checklist.

The distinction comes on the heels of CC’s collaborative effort to create The Pantry, a Campus Activities resource that supports students facing food insecurity by providing nutritious fruits, vegetables, and shelf stable meals.

CC is one of 22 colleges and universities in the state designated as Hunger Free campuses. READ THE FULL STORY »

Please join us for two days of incredible art created by local artists, art making activities, and music! The 2023 Arts and Crafts Fair is next week, on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 8-9, in Worner Campus Center. The Arts and Crafts fair celebrates local and regional creative makers working in a variety of media. This fair is unique in that it brings together artists at all different points of their practice and careers, including CC students as well as artists in the community.

We welcome artists with disabilities. If you have disability-related accommodations, throughout the application process or as a participant of the fair, please reach out and let us know. You can find our campus Accessibility Guide here. Send all questions to Arts and Crafts Director Rebecca Parker at rparker@colloradocollege.edu.

Schedule of Events:
Friday, Dec. 8 from 4-8 p.m., with an early preview for CC students, staff, and faculty beginning at 3 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 9 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

*Parking is available for fair attendees in the Ed Robson Arena Parking Garage.

By Miriam Roth

In the world of earth and environmental sciences, faculty and investigators recognize a problem with self-replication in their disciplines due to a historical tendency to recruit students whose traits and backgrounds resemble their own. CC Geology Professor Dr. Christine Siddoway is aware that the issue is even more of a concern for polar science and is determined to study this further in her ongoing work with bedrock geology in Antarctica.

Siddoway has a vision of change. She believes in nurturing the next generation of polar researchers without pushing them into the same molds that have stifled innovation for years. “I’ve been offering courses that provide opportunities for Antarctic research,” she says. “And the students can choose to register for these courses based on their own interest in the subject, rather than through persuasion from me.” 

Unlike traditional lecture-based classes, Siddoway’s students delve into experiments with uncertain outcomes. They learn techniques and use specialized instrumentation to obtain data, then gain firsthand experience in interpreting the data. Siddoway believes that hands-on experience is the key to sparking genuine interest in polar studies.

Siddoway, her students, and CC alumni have joined in developing a ground-breaking geospatial resource for Antarctic research, opening up new ways to understand the frozen continent. They, and an international team coordinated by GNS Science, Aotearoa-New Zealand, created GeoMAP Antarctica to be the first detailed digital database that collates all the existing geological data of Antarctica. READ THE FULL STORY »

Join us for our First Friday celebration December 1 from 5-8 p.m. Enjoy the stunning ambiance offered by the FAC’s chic, historic venue.

About Another Way is Possible
RAWtools is a local organization dedicated to helping people solve their problems without guns and violence. Their work is focused on community involvement in the process of turning guns into garden tools and art. Another Way is Possible, on view in the Hybl Gallery December 2023-January 2024, contains items that tell the story of the transformation of guns to garden tools, art, jewelry, and other things. The opening reception will involve live metal forging demonstrations in the FAC’s courtyard.

About Spur
Spur (Travis Duncan and Jerry Cordova) have been playing their unique blend of Americana folk music at locations around the Pikes Peak region over the past year. Jerry joined Travis on piccolo guitar for the release of his solo album, From the Mouth of Pikes Cave, at Gold Camp Brewing in December of 2017. Since then they’ve played at the ROLL Bike Art Festival at Buffalo Lodge, the Starlight Spectacular, the Muscular Sclerosis Alliance Benefit Concert at Hillside Gardens, Pikes Peak Art Council, Council of Neighbors and Organizations, Tap Traders, and Trails End Taphouse.

About # of flesh
A one-night only pop-up photographic exhibition of personal projects from 12 student photographers from University of Colorado Colorado Springs, on view in the Kircher Gallery. Artists identified a topic that is meaningful and resonant for them, and committed to being immersed and focused on that topic for the semester-long project. Themes for the projects include: examination of the carceral state on loved ones who live on the outside; rural resilience; the experiences and bonds of siblings that live together as adults; Black joy and liberation; visions of disassociation; gentrification; the human body as a site of strength and contemporary beauty; alternate visions of life’s outcomes if other paths were taken; what living with a diagnosis looks like to both the person assigned it and those that are closest to that person; dreams lost to Covid; what stagnancy and being stuck could look like if it was a living entity; and confronting the deep fear of being alone for one’s life.

Join us Friday, Dec. 8 from 5-7 p.m. in the Screening Room in Cornerstone Arts Center for a screening of the film American Homeboy.

American Homeboy is a documentary film directed by Brandon Loran Maxwell that explores the complex origins of pachuco and cholo culture which sprouted from American soil more than 100 years ago in response to wartime sentiment, social alienation, and government discrimination only to become a pop culture phenomenon. 

The film screening will be followed by a conversation and light reception. This event is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are encouraged as space is limited.  

This program is co-presented by the Colorado College Southwest Studies Department and the Fine Arts Center Museum in conjunction with Mi Gente: Manifestations of Community in the Southwest. For more information and to register, visit our website.