Welcome to the 2023-24 academic year! It was refreshing to gather this morning at Opening Convocation to usher in the Class of 2027 and to recognize our honorary degree recipients, Patiénce Aimée Olol Kabwasa and John Weiss ’78, P’22.
As campus starts buzzing with activity once again, I am filled with gratitude and hope for the year ahead. Our first-year students bring so much talent and promise — and they are joining a passionate, courageous, and innovative community.
To the Class of 2027, congratulations! I can’t wait to witness your journey through the Colorado College experience. By choosing CC and the Block Plan, you are already taking the road less traveled. From here, you will learn and discover so much — from the classroom to the stage, from the lab to the athletic field, from the foot of Pikes Peak to field study across the world.
We often say that CC transforms students. Perhaps more accurately, our students transform our community — and they find out more about themselves in the process. The Block Plan allows students to dive deeply into new and unfamiliar topics, and to discover what they find meaningful. The faculty, staff, and alumni they encounter along the way serve as influential role models, mentors, and examples of what a CC person can be.
Our vision at Colorado College is to ignite the passions and potential of our students, and the entire CC community, to create a more just, equitable, and humane world. All of us — students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, families, and friends — have a role to play in bringing that vision to life. Together, we will have courageous conversations across difference, take risks, fail often (and learn from those failures), and stand up for what is just.
Finally, in today’s post-affirmative-action higher education landscape, we see many institutions backing away from any commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Not at CC. Rather, we are doubling down on our efforts to build a more diverse and equitable campus, and we remain focused on expanding access to CC for students of all backgrounds. We will take new and innovative approaches, and I believe we are ready for the challenge.
I look forward to sharing more throughout the year about how each of us, on campus and around the world, can help drive this vision forward. Here’s to a wonderful year ahead!
Sincerely,
