2023 Colorado College Commencement Ceremony

Around the Block – Commencement Season is Here!

Commencement is Right Around the Corner
ID: Commencement banner showing students in camps and gowns, smiling at the camera with text saying Class of 2023 Commencement
It’s hard to believe, but our seniors are in their final few weeks at Colorado College! Commencement is set for Sunday, May 28, at 8:30 a.m., in Ed Robson Arena.

Volunteers Needed

We’re in need of faculty, staff, and student volunteers to support Commencement events. Serving as a volunteer gets you access to Ed Robson Arena for the ceremony, even if you’re not a ticketed guest of a graduate (and for current students, volunteering allows you to stay on campus for a few more days). Email Brenda Soto at bsoto@coloradocollege.edu for more information and specific opportunities.

Baccalaureate Blessings

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to share their well wishes and words of celebration for graduates as part of this special Colorado College tradition. Together, these messages form a communal blessing, sharing both individual and collective love, blessing, and hope for the graduates as they journey forth from Colorado College. Submitted messages will be displayed during the Baccalaureate ceremony on May 27, as well as online. Click here for instructions and ideas for submitting a message!

Senior Spotlight 2023
ID: Senior Spotlight photo of a young caucasian woman standing with feet on one side of a large red boulder and her hands on another. She is wearing dark shorts, a dark tank top, a backpack, and hiking shoes, looking at the camera
Over the next few weeks leading up to Commencement, we will be honoring the outstanding achievements of our senior students in Senior Spotlight 2023!
Sarah Senese ’23
she/her
Major: Organismal Biology & Ecology

Q: Tell us about your favorite extracurricular activity at CC.
A: Dance Workshop has been and will always be my favorite CC club/event. I’ve been in eight dance workshop performances, one per each semester, and this last one was a tough goodbye. There isn’t another campus event that brings so many people together quite like DW, and it’s been such an honor to show even my “never-danced-before” friends the joy of the stage.

Q: What are your plans for the future after graduation?
A: I will be going to the Headwaters of the Everglades to be a research fellow at the Archbold Biological Station for the next year!

The Senior Spotlight is open to all seniors in the Class of 2023. If you are a senior who would like to be featured, fill out this form.

Have a Sneak Peek at this Season’s Summer Music Festival
ID: 2 women and 3 men dressed in formal wear with their instruments, looking at the camera
On Thursday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m., the twice Grammy nominated Imani Winds, who have led both a revolution and evolution of the wind quintet through their dynamic playing, adventurous programming, and imaginative collaborations, will be concluding the Intermezzo Season with a concert at Packard Performance Hall.

The New York-based wind quintet formed in 1997 and has since released four CDs and earned two Grammy nominations while collaborating with numerous high-profile artists and touring across the world.

Tickets are free for students, staff, and faculty, with the Gold Card. Add this to your calendar.

CC’s Corey Hutchins Named Educator of the Year by Journalism Society
ID: middle age caucasian man woth short dark hair, a black and white checked shirt, wearing a silver wedding ring, sitting at a desk with a pen in one arm, in front of a wall with blocks of color and illegible text.
The Colorado chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has named Colorado College’s Corey Hutchins as the 2023 Educator of the Year. 

Hutchins has been serving as co-director of the Colorado College Journalism Institute since the fall. Prior to that he was interim director, a visiting instructor, and the institute’s journalist in residence. He has been teaching at the college since 2017. 

“Corey is tireless in his devotion to the craft of journalism,” said Steve Hayward, professor of English, who nominated Hutchins for the honor. “And more so when it comes to teaching it to our students.”

Earlier this month, the Journalism Institute was featured as a case study in higher education by the Center for Community News at the University of Vermont. Last week, CC journalism student Chloe Brooks-Kistler won the top journalism award from the Denver Press Club — the second time a CC student has won the top award since Colorado College became eligible for the scholarship in 2019. 

Student Seed Innovation Grant Winner Explores LGBTQ Communities in Europe
ID: photo of a very happy and smiling young caucasian man, wearing jeans and greenish jacket, standing on a mountain with a beautiful rainbow in the back, arms outstretched.
After earning a Student Seed Innovation Grant (SSIG), Finn Mott ’24, was able to spend the last semester traveling around Europe and writing about the LGBTQ communities he found there. “This Student Seed Innovation Grant gave me the freedom to exist in the world that I have never existed in before and that is so very special,” said Mott.
Mott applied for a SSIG to backpack around Europe and explore the LGBTQ communities through the medium of poetry. He was already planning on studying abroad in Denmark, the first country to legalize same sex marriage, but wanted to connect more deeply with both the place and himself. Although the task of writing about such a large community across so many cultures was originally daunting for him, he realized that as a part of the LGBTQ community himself, all he had to do was tell his own story. 

Niyanta Khatri ’17 Finds Continued Success as a Sales Growth Leader in Tech
ID: women of color with long dark hair, wearing a green and blue short sleeve shirt with her hands in the front pockets of her jeans, standing in front of a wall with ivy, smirking at the camera

By Megan Clancy ’07
If you’re looking for an example of a CC alum making big strides in the world of tech, while also working hard to improve the world, you’d be hard pressed to find a better one than Niyanta Khatri ’17. Khatri was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal and then moved to Pune, India before coming to CC to major in math and economics.
“The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about liberal arts education in the tech world is interdisciplinary thinking. The education I got at CC encouraged this kind of thinking,” Khatri says. “Individuals with this dynamic background are able to draw on multiple disciplines to be able to solve complex problems and develop innovative solutions.”
During her time at CC, Khatri was one of a trio of students who founded a QR code company called Ogugu for The Big Idea pitch competition. Ogugu is now part of Dar Teknohama Business Incubator, the fastest growing accelerator in Tanzania. Khatri has since gone on to become a sales growth leader, working for Logitech — a company she started with as an intern while still at CC — and being an advocate for women of color in the tech industry.
Khatri is now developing a business accelerator in Nepal that allows women entrepreneurs to apply for grants and then take them through a mentorship process focusing on their product and bringing it to market. The long-term goal? “It’s going to be a platform for women to women, that focuses on allyship and mentorship but also really helping women taking their businesses to the next level,” Khatri says. She notes that there are a lot of women out there who have amazing talent and an amazing product, but just no network and no resources. Her goal is to help that marginalized group.

What’s it like being Black in a newsroom?

Join Journalism Institute visiting instructor Venneikia Williams for a film screening and conversation about being Black in an American newsroom. Venneikia is currently leading a class with Media 2070 at CC called “Diagnosing the Media System: Lineages of Harm to Futures of Care.”
The 15-minute documentary “Black in the Newsroom” follows the journey of a talented young journalist who finds herself unfairly targeted and underpaid while fighting to tell Black stories in a major local newsroom. Come see this important film on Thursday, May 11, 6:30 p.m., in Cornerstone Arts Center screening room.
Following the film screening, the Colorado Association of Black Journalists will host a networking event at the Southern Colorado Public Media Center at 720 N. Tejon St. Refreshments served. Add this to your calendar. No RSVP required. 

Photo of the Week
ID: 10 young female presenting students wearing their graduation stoles, standing together and smiling at the camera

Graduating seniors receiving their Commencement stoles during the Honor Council end-of-the-year luncheon, held at Taste Restaurant in the Fine Arts Center at Colorado College on May 3.
Photo by Karen Obrzut, Faculty Employment Specialist/Office of the Dean of the Faculty
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Join Us for a Community Conversation on SCOTUS and Affirmative Action

Dear CC Community, 

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy ordered businesses working for the U.S. government to treat workers and people applying for jobs “without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” He said the businesses should take “affirmative action” to make this happen. Colleges soon followed. 

This June, the Supreme Court will decide on two affirmative action cases, both of which have the power to potentially alter the landscape of higher education. The plaintiff in both, Students for Fair Admissions, is challenging race-conscious admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The possible ripple effects from the case rulings range from CC not being allowed to consider race or “lived experience” in our admissions practices, to how we create certain curriculum, to how we distribute financial aid to our students. 

In a 2019 Pew Research Center survey, 73% of American adults said colleges should not consider race or ethnicity as part of a college’s admissions decisions, and three years later American public opinion on the topic remains nearly unchanged, with 74% holding the same position. However, race-conscious admissions tend to lead to more diverse college campuses, and research shows that diversity benefits all students. A 2019 study by the American Council on Education found that racial and ethnic diversity in education and the workforce leads to greater productivity, innovation and cultural competency.

Please join President L. Song Richardson, professor Doug Edlin, and panelists Rosalie Rodriguez, senior associate dean for student equity and inclusion, Christina Leza, associate professor for anthropology, and Karen Kristof, associate vice president and dean of admission, as they discuss the origins of affirmative action, the cases currently in front of the court, and the possible ramifications of the Supreme Court decisions next month for Colorado College. 

This Community Conversation will take place Monday, May 8, at 3:30 p.m. in the Cornerstone Screening Room. To ensure maximum participation, we are asking supervisors to allow any employee to join the 90-minute event if possible. If you wish to participate virtually, you can join the discussion via the Zoom webinar. Register in advance.
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Our New Vice President for Student Life/Dean of Students

Today at CC Digest for Students

A Daily Digest for Colorado College

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‼️ PRIDE OUTSIDE & Denaya Shorter tomorrow and Friday!
Students one and all,
Pride Outside is back for another year and better than ever! As part of a collaboration between the Butler Center, Office of Sustainability, and Outdoor Education, join us for an afternoon on Yampa field to celebrate the end of the year and the LGBTQIA+ and ally community with live music, drag show, crafts, a gear sale, yard games, giveaways, information tables from a variety of queer & non-binary outdoor organizations, and many other activities!

Aanndd…drumroll please for

Denaya Shorter

TOMORROW, Outdoor Education is hosting a free luncheon with special guest Denaya Shorter, BIPOC environmental leader and outdoor enthusiast, in Bemis Great Hall at noon to share her professional and lived experiences navigating the intersection of identity, equity, and environment.
In this interactive discussion, we will explore how race and identity shape career journeys and experiences and examine the obstacles and opportunities of challenging the status quo in the environmental industry. Denaya will provide insights and practical strategies for overcoming these barriers and building a lasting and fulfilling career. 
Sign up for the luncheon HERE.
And there’s more!
After the luncheon, students, staff, and faculty are invited to join Denaya a rejuvenating nature walk and talk at Bear Creek Nature Center to explore sense of place and take some time to reconnect with the campus spring wildlife and greenery, and each other.
Disconnect from the hustle and bustle of campus life to hold space for reflection, exploration, and conversation. Transportation is provided by Outdoor Education. Please register for the nature walk and talk HERE.
Read more about the events and Denaya here!
Feel free to out to us with any questions!
Kindest regards,

Koray Gates

Marketing Coordinator

Jake Hams

Marketing Coordinator
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