Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/Colorado College

Last February, CC announced The Clement Challenge — A unique giving opportunity that invited supporters to cast a vote with their donation in how we would allocate $2 million dollars of the extraordinary unrestricted bequest received from the late CC alum William “Bill” Clement ’42. And the CC community rose to the challenge!

With the help of over 2,000 generous supporters, we achieved our goal of raising $2 million by the end of 2024. Each dollar was matched with an allocation from Clement’s high-impact gift for a cumulative impact of $4 million across the annual fund areas designated by our supporters. The majority of donations, 91%, were made to the general annual fund to support programs that enhance the CC experience on the Block Plan, student scholarships, and faculty resources for teaching and research.

Each and every gift helps CC fulfill its mission and we extend our sincere gratitude to all our wonderful supporters. Read more about the campaign.

CC will be hosting the families of our students for Family Weekend, Feb. 21-23. While the weekend’s schedule of events is specifically for students and their families, everyone’s role in creating a welcoming atmosphere on campus is appreciated. A warm greeting or helpful directions can make all the difference for visiting families.

Thank you for helping us showcase the spirit of CC and making our guests feel at home!

STUDENTS: Visit the 2025 Family Weekend Event website for more information or to register. (Deadline Sunday, Feb. 9)

Carissa Sherman ’21 in her home office, where a Navajo rug made by her grandmother hangs. Photo provided by Sherman

By Julia Fennell ’21

As a proud member of the Navajo Nation, Carissa Sherman ’21 is using her Diné heritage and passion for helping people to combine Indigenous knowledge with Western science. While some may think that the best way to pursue a career in a STEM field is to attend a research-focused large university, Sherman, a former Molecular Biology major, has shown that a small liberal arts college like CC prepares students just as well as larger universities.

Sherman is a fourth-year PhD candidate in the Human Medical Genetics and Genomics Program (HMGGP) at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU-AMC). She is examining population-level pharmacogenetic variation and doing community-based participatory research on perspectives of genetics research. By looking at the ethical, cultural, legal, and social implications of genetic research, Sherman is attempting to find possible ways to advance equity in public health medicine.

READ THE FULL STORY »

Photo provided by Melanie Auguste ’09

By Megan Clancy ’07

As a student-athlete at CC, Melanie Auguste ’09 was an All-American basketball player, setting record after record and earning the National Player of the Year Jostens Award in her senior year. After graduation, Auguste, an Economics major, began to climb the corporate ladder at Nike – a perfect fit for the woman whose dorm rooms at CC always featured a raised bed to accommodate her ever-growing collection of Nike sneakers. Last year, she became Nike’s Global VP & GM of Women’s Sports.

“I structure my approach to work a lot like the Block Plan,” Auguste says. “I do deep dives with my team or identify specific projects that will be the focus for the week. Approaching our projects in this way enables us to analyze opportunities, research possibilities, and build strategies faster and more efficiently than if we let it draw out over short meetings week over week.”

READ THE FULL STORY »

By Teddy Doggett ’28

If you have never used handmade pottery, you are probably part of a very small group in your bloodline. Long before humans invented the wheel six-thousand years ago, people began shaping and firing clay to create pottery. Modern day archeologists have found pottery dating back to twenty-eight thousand years ago. Jump ahead several thousand years, and there is a strikingly widespread use of pottery as both functional and decorative across distant cultures. Odds are, your distant ancestors lived in a community that used pottery as vessels for water, food, and valuable materials, often boasting culturally significant artwork. Anthropologist Prudence M. Rice specializes in studying behavior and culture through pottery. In the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, Rice prefaces her article by revealing how Anthropologists widely believe that pottery “represents a sophisticated merging of previously separate domains of human knowledge and experience: resources, technological processes, and needs” (Rice, 1999). Today the craft of pottery is far less valued. The brand Mainstay offers a ‘Glazed White Stoneware 12-Ounces Mug’ at Walmart for the incredibly attractive price of $1.12. From a practical standpoint, spending a couple hours to create a mug is beyond senseless. At federal minimum wage, a full work day would earn you enough cash to buy fifty-one Mainstay mugs. Still, countless students at Colorado College spend several hours a week attending Clay Club Open Sessions. Why do students move in herds to the studio instead of working out, studying, partying, or maybe even getting a job—don’t they know about the Walmart mugs?

READ THE FULL STORY »

Monica Indrebo, Rachel Deon, and Caryn Lawler from the President’s Office volunteer at Habitat for Humanity during the 2025 Week of Action on Thursday, Jan. 16. Photo by Jamie Cotten

Declaring a major is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make in your undergraduate career. It can also be a daunting one to make! Thankfully, you’re not alone; your faculty and staff advisors are here to help. Additionally, in this issue, we’ll talk about the upcoming Majors Fair, hear from our student workers about their major declaration journey, and more!

Majors Fair
Wednesday, Jan. 29, 12-2 p.m., Worner Student Center
Talk to faculty and students from departments across campus about what majors and minors are right for you! Lunch will be served. Check in for a chance to win an Amazon Gift Card!

Starting this year, the Advising Hub is offering Academic Coaching sessions! In academic coaching appointments, our role is not to simply provide advice or direction but to collaborate with you on your journey and help you in the areas that you want to grow, not just areas you might be struggling in. We believe that Academic Coaching can make a significant difference in your college experience, contributing to your personal and academic success.

You can learn more about Academic Coaching by visiting this website or emailing your Hub Advisor to set up a coaching appointment. Additionally, we’re hosting two bite-sized coaching events this semester!

Summer plans can be stressful. Do you do something related to law or politics or policy? How do you find that internship? Who should you talk to? The reality is what you do over the summer doesn’t matter to law schools. They simply want to know you did something. Finding the end of YouTube is not a great option. Schools understand if you have to work and need to make money. Working a service job is fine and not something to worry about. With that said, if you want to work in the legal field to see what the world is like, then great. Having that confirmation before applying to school can be important for those that are wavering if law school is in their future. Let’s talk about it and see what you’re thinking.

Have you checked out the new LSAT class the career center is offering? This is almost too good to be true. This class is flexible and works with your schedule. Not only that but the class is free. Let me say that again… the class is free. Applying to law school is expensive so take advantage of this incredible opportunity while you can. This is open to juniors and seniors. Timing for the class is important, so let’s chat.

– Gretchen Wardell, Pre-Law Advisor
Make an appointment here!

Happy New Year Pre-Health students! The spring semester is underway and there are a few opportunities headed your way. Please mark your calendars.

– Jane Byrnes, Pre-Health Advisor
Make an appointment here!

Health Professions Club Meetings

Pre-Dental Club Meetings

Pre-Vet Club Meetings

Personal Statement/Health Professions Retreat
Friday, Feb. 21 – Saturday, Feb. 22, Baca Campus. RSVP here!

Please sign-up for the Pre-Health Professions Personal Statement Retreat sponsored by Pre-health Advising in the Advising Hub! We will be leaving in CC vans from Shove Chapel Circle at 2 pm on Friday, February 21st, and we will return to Shove at 4 pm (ish) on Saturday the 22nd.

Chris Schacht, Director of the Ruth Barton Writing Center and Jane Byrnes, Health Professions Advising Manager, will be leading us in multiple workshops designed to help students applying THIS UPCOMING CYCLE.

Upperclassmen applying this cycle will be prioritized for this trip because the content will be the most helpful for these folks. However, please fill out this form regardless to join the waitlist. Attendance will be capped at 24 people, so sign up early to guarantee a spot! This trip is free to attend.

Sign up using this link.

Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities

Sign up using this link. Email Jbyrnes@coloradocollege.edu for more information.

We asked our student workers how they discovered their major path. This is how they answered…

For me, picking a major was mostly based off of research and figuring out what I was passionate about. I knew from a pretty young age I wanted to do something involving the brain, but I knew being a doctor or surgeon was not for me. So I did some research and found out about the field of neuroscience. It was a field that aligned not only with my interests in the brain but my desire to do science and scientific research. I also knew I wanted to be in a field that helped people, and neuroscience seemed like a perfect fit. After that it was a matter of finding programs that had what I was interested in, and that’s how I found CC! Doing your research, as well as being open-minded about your future, is a big help when picking a major. Don’t be afraid to try new things and to take risks! Know what you’re passionate about and find what makes you excited to learn.
– Emily Silva, class of ’26

When I got to CC in August, I was relatively uncertain about the degree path I would pursue in the coming years. Initially, I had set my sights on the BESoc major because I felt it would be flexible enough to allow me to discover something I was really passionate about, and explored my interest in both business and economics. However, I was feeling a bit underwhelmed by this idea and wished I had a more specific niche to work toward. Luckily, my FYP classes in blocks one and two really opened my eyes to how much I enjoy political science as we discussed topics of political philosophy and democracy. I was able to express my interest in the department to both my faculty and hub advisor by way of in-person meetings, and they were extremely helpful in guiding me toward a major that felt exciting. About the time I was drafting my spring schedule, I decided to work toward the International Political Economy major; that way, I can continue to explore topics of both political science and economics, as well as take electives in business and finance. I switched my fourth block to Intro to International Relations to make sure I felt good about this path, and it quickly became my favorite class I’ve taken at CC so far! I worked with my faculty advisor to maximize my spring semester to fulfill pre-reqs and gen-eds, and she showed me the steps I should take to declare my major later this semester/next year. I am very grateful for my awesome advisors and the opportunity to explore different classes and subjects at CC!!
– Addison Ordner, class of ‘28

When I transferred into CC, I found myself torn between the three majors I had been working towards with absolutely no desire to finally choose: Political Science, Creative Advertising, and Economics. I had loved exploring the big ideas in all of them—how policies shape communities, how creativity influences people, and how economies connect us all. Choosing just one felt limiting and overwhelming, especially since I’ve always been passionate about understanding a bigger picture. Additionally, I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself down a narrow career path. Then, I discovered that the BESoc program would allow me to merge my passions seamlessly – through courses like Consumer Marketing and Financial Accounting, I’ve been able to build a strong foundation in business while complementing my background in advertising and economics. At the same time, the “society” component has given me the flexibility to engage with topics that spark my curiosity about the world around me. For anyone struggling to balance multiple passions within business, I highly recommend exploring BESoc —it’s a dynamic and fulfilling way to connect the dots between diverse areas of study.
– Reyana Leise, class of ’26

The Office of the Dean of the College invites faculty to submit proposals for the Faculty Student Collaborative Research Grant. The aim of the program is to fund summer collaborative research between faculty and students in order to support faculty in their scholarly activities and to provide students with first-hand research and scholarly experience through collaborating with research-active faculty. Students will present their research at the Summer Research and Internship Symposium (to be held at 2026 Family and Friends Weekend – details of the date and time to come) and will also have the opportunity to participate in co-curricular summer research programming during the summer and fall.

The awards are competitive and based on proposals submitted by faculty members. Research projects may include support of on-going faculty research or of a student-initiated research project designed in collaboration with the faculty member that will further the faculty member’s research.

Information about the grant

Eligibility: Tenure-track, adjunct, lecturer, and returning one-year visiting faculty members are eligible to apply. Students must be degree-seeking CC students in good standing who will return to for at least one semester after the summer.

Application procedure and deadline: Faculty should upload completed applications as Word documents or pdf files to the Dean of the College Canvas page and the Faculty Student Collaborative Grant Module. Please email Lisa Schwartz to be added if you are not already. The submission portal on Canvas will be open for application uploads on Monday, Jan. 27 (second Monday Block 5) and will be considered on a first come first served basis until funds run out. Awards will be announced by Monday, March 24 (first Monday of Block 7). Information can be found on the Faculty Student Collaborative Grant website, or contact Lisa Schwartz by email or phone at 719-389-6685.

Duration: The summer research should be carried out under the direct supervision of the faculty mentor over the time period of the research award. The student cannot be concurrently taking courses or holding more than half-time employment. The standard award is for eight weeks of research, but faculty may request that the research duration be shorter than eight weeks. We will accept proposals for research collaboration from four to eight weeks in duration.

Award. Individual grants of $4,800 will cover one research student’s fellowship stipend. Student researchers conducting less than eight weeks of research will receive a fellowship stipend of $600/week instead.

Faculty responsibilities: Faculty members supporting collaborative research projects should foster mentor-apprentice relationships with their students and expose students to the processes of scholarly inquiry. The Office of the Dean of the College expects that faculty members and their student researchers will be in frequent contact with one another.

Each faculty member is responsible for designing and implementing a meaningful research experience for the student researcher. The student will develop a solid understanding of the research question, such as the theory and methodology in forming the research, the methods, skills, and technical knowledge required to complete the research and share its findings.

Faculty and students have the option of registering for the summer research experience as an internship via GS198. It carries zero credit but will show up on transcript as a completion grade (pass/fail track) when the student has completed the research experience in the summer. Contact Andrea Culp if you are interested in learning more.

In addition to the Research Symposium, we encourage faculty members to help students identify additional opportunities to present their research at national and regional professional meetings or at undergraduate research conferences. The student can apply for the Conference Presentation Grant. Students are also encouraged to present their research at the Colorado Springs Undergraduate Research Forum in Spring of 2026.

Student Responsibilities: The student will commit to researching full-time during the time period of the award under the direction of the faculty mentor. Vacation time or time spent taking courses should be worked out in advance with the faculty sponsor. These “non-research” periods do not count towards the duration of the research commitment.

Student research assistants will have the opportunity to participate in the Student Collaborative Research (SCoRe) summer programming. SCoRe provides co-curricular opportunities for academic and career-related development as well as extra-curricular activities to complement the research experience.

The student is expected to participate and present at the Research Symposium. Students may present individually or in groups if applicable. Accommodation can be arranged in advance for students who will be away from campus for unavoidable college-sponsored obligations (e.g., study abroad, academic field trip, athletic team travel). Students are also encouraged to present their research at the Colorado Springs Undergraduate Research Forum in Spring of 2026.

Don’t forget to attend Spring Conference tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 24, from noon-2:30 p.m. in Robson Arena. All faculty and staff members are invited. This year, we will have activities, games, and prizes available for participants in the spirit of community and connection.

Please bring your black CC nametag if you have one, and feel free to wear CC swag! 🐯

Our event schedule is as follows:
Noon: Check-in, grab lunch, find a seat (there will be no assigned seating)
12:05 p.m.: Table Trivia 
12:45 p.m.: Welcoming Remarks and President’s Leadership Awards
1:15 p.m.: CC Community Fair 
2 p.m.: Raffle Prizes and Closing 

If you have any questions, please reach out to Keragan Ettleman. We look forward to kicking off the year with you! 

One slice of my musicological research considers the role of the “greatest hits” album in manufacturing and maintaining an artist’s legacy—the careful selection and presentation of the highlights of their work as part of communicating a creative narrative aimed at diehard fans and casual listeners all at once.

It should come as no surprise, then, that I was delighted to discover an acronym for change-making within Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs): HITS. The Hub-Incubator-Temple-Sieve (HITS) framework offers four general strategies for enhancing educational development opportunities that can be applied at the organizational level, benefiting individuals and the collective. You can learn more about how Mary C. Wright’s book Centers for Teaching and Learning: The New Landscape in Higher Education explains how HITS has been applied to more than 1.200 CTLs across the country.

Over these next four blocks, I’ll use this space to outline the four key strategies of HITS, starting here with the letter “H.” According to Wright’s survey of more than 1200 CTLs, a hub strategy is the most applied theory of change. As the name suggests, centers acting as hubs serve as conveners, connectors, and coordinators within their institutions. They bring faculty, staff, and students together to foster collaboration, share resources, and create a cohesive learning environment. The Crown Center for Teaching takes pride in connecting our academic community, and we do so in numerous ways: Crown Lunches, Block Breakfasts, Educator Learning Communities, Creative Courage Cohorts, Educator Development Days, Mentoring Alliance Program, Scholarly Research and Writing Groups, and Instructional Coaching. Each program functions as its own hub while serving—perhaps to extend this metaphor further than necessary—as a spoke to the Crown Center itself. Whether you are a Crown superfan or are experiencing our collection of tracks for the first time, I hope our exploration of the HITS framework this semester provides you with a little more insight into the work we do to support innovative pedagogy across CC. And I invite you to consider how we can serve as a hub for your continued educational growth and development. If you have ideas for additional hub-related activities we can support, don’t hesitate to be in touch!

Sincerely,

Ryan Raul Bañagale

Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Crown Center for Teaching 

In talking to faculty and staff, we often hear regret over the loss of opportunities for social connection on campus. Technology, the pandemic, the pressure for everyone to do more—for whatever reason, our daily lives have become increasingly fragmented. The Crown Center hopes that hosting where colleagues from across campus can convene will help us all forge new relationships and feel more connected to existing friends. So please join us to share knowledge and a meal together.

Crown Faculty Lunch: Possibility Books

Monday, Jan. 27, 12:30 p.m-2 p.m. *lunch provided
Tutt Library, Room 105
Click here to register

Experience Possibility Books (PB), a brief daily pedagogy for classes across disciplines. Spend time over lunch adapting the prompts to align with any course. Outcomes of using PB include increased sense of community, well-being, creative thinking, and engagement with course content.

Over a thousand students across all disciplines have used PB.  Materials are provided by C&I for each class using this method.  Open to anyone teaching a course at CC.

Crown Faculty Lunch: Writing Letters of Recommendation

Hosted by the Health Professionals Advising Committee
Thursday, Jan. 30, 12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.*lunch provided
Tutt Library 317
Click here to RSVP

Join a session focused on writing letters of recommendation hosted by the current Health Professions Advising Committee (Jane Byrnes, Eryn Murphy, Sara Hanson, and Amy Kohout). This session will cover what makes an excellent letter of recommendation, as well as strategies for managing lots of requests and gathering the most useful information from the students we write for. While our committee sees many letters focused specifically on medical and dental school applications, this session might be useful for both newer letter writers and seasoned recommenders from all divisions, writing to support students pursuing a wide range of opportunities. 

Creativity & Innovation Workshop: Perception and Creativity at FAC

Hosted by  Jessica Hunter, Associate Director of the Crown Center   
Thursday, Feb. 6, 2 p.m. -3:30 p.m.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College
Click here to RSVP

Although remaining open and receptive when faced with ambiguous situations is a component of creative thinking, we typically make decisions about unfamiliar things quickly. This session features exercises designed to help participants build their tolerance of ambiguity so they can eventually make more creative decisions.     

Block Break Breakfast

Thursday, Feb. 13, 8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Cossitt Lounge

Responding to a request for more informal space to converse about all things teaching, the Crown Center for Teaching hosts Block Break breakfasts. Come grab a bagel and some coffee or tea. Join your Crown Center colleagues for conversation and support. We welcome all to enjoy a bagel on us! No RSVP is required.

At Crown, we continually seek inspiration from peer institutions as we consider how Centers for Teaching and Learning can act as hubs to unite people, practices, and ideas. The UVA Teaching Hub provides an excellent example of a CTL acting as a repository for innovative and effective teaching practices by providing carefully selected resources for faculty. We encourage you to check out their website and listen to Associate Director Derek Bruff talk about their process for selecting faculty resources.

Shout out to Corey Hutchins, Manager of the Colorado College Journalism Institute, for this article in The Conversation that highlights CC students’ involvement in a project about Colorado local news sources.

CCE: PEAK (Publicly Engaged Actionable Knowledge) Project 

Are you interested in transitioning a course you are teaching this summer to community-engaged learning, but need community connections? If so, you are invited to participate in the Publicly Engaged Actionable Knowledge (PEAK) Project by filling out this brief interest form by the end of Block 5 (Sunday, Feb. 16).  The PEAK Project bridges campus knowledge to community impact by connecting CC educators to nonprofit partners for community-engaged learning classroom projects.  

For a limited time, those who participate in the PEAK Project and are successfully “matched” will be eligible to receive project development stipends ($500 each for faculty and community partners) to honor the time, capacity, and thought-work that goes into developing community-engaged learning projects. This funding is generously provided through the Bonner Foundation’s Community-Engaged Learning Initiative, through which the CCE received a grant. Funds will be offered until grant funding is exhausted. 

GLOBAL ED : Pondering the Idea of an Off-Campus Block? 

If you’re thinking about leading an off-campus block, the time to get Global Education involved is in the conception stage, even before you start to consider a proposal. We can assist you with ideation, modeling, use of site, partnerships, logistical support, staffing, and budgeting.  We are happy to have one-on-one meetings to discuss your idea or you can attend a Build a Block Away Workshop to bounce your ideas off others. The next BABA Workshop is Thursday, Mar. 6 in Armstrong 210. Email Allen Bertsche to RSVP. Finally, there is a great resource in Canvas. Search for the course titled “Build a Block Away” for resources, guidance, and college policy about off-campus blocks. If the 1-on-1 option is your preference, just reach out to Dr. Bertsche to schedule an appointment to discuss your idea and how it might become a CC Block Away. 

Every year, CC enrolls an academically-accomplished student body that encompasses a wide variety of interests, talents, and backgrounds. At this Work of the College Series session, you will learn how the Office of Admissions utilizes a holistic evaluation process that builds the incoming class each year. Join Tony Cabasco, Vice President for Enrollment, in South Hall Commons on Thursday, Feb. 6 from 3–4 p.m. Register in advance for this event. 

 For more information on the series, or to check out the schedule of events for this academic year, please visit Work of the College Series.

The Work of the College Series is a year-long program of events with four goals: (1) clarify organizational structures and decision-making processes; (2) offer campus constituencies the opportunity to dialogue with leadership about campus affairs; (3) increase decision-making transparency in hopes of building trust; and (4) build community.

The Work of the College Series consists of: