This year Fall Conference is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 15. This event signifies the start of the academic year and serves as an opportunity for faculty and staff to connect with one another over food and in topical sessions. And we are now looking for proposals for these sessions.

The AEC is particularly interested in topics that exemplify CC’s commitment to innovative liberal arts learning. We’re excited to receive proposals co-led by faculty and staff, but welcome submissions from anyone in the campus community. 

Please submit your proposals for Fall Conference sessions using the questionnaire on the AEC website by Wednesday, Apr. 23.

If you have questions or wish to discuss ideas, don’t hesitate to contact AEC Chair John Horner, AEC Chair.

Please join us on Monday, Mar. 24 from 11:15 a.m.-noon in Kathryn Mohrman Theatre for the rescheduled Sonderman Presidential Symposium event with Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Wesley Lowery, “Building a Multiracial Democracy.”

In the 1960s, the Civil Rights marchers in Selma created a multiracial democracy. For the first time in American history, democratic participation was not limited based on racial caste. In the half-century since, our nation has grappled with what it wants to be. Do we want to embrace our newfound status as a multiracial democracy, or do we want to return to a racial caste system as we were for most of our history? Lowery will speak on the work of building a multiracial democracy amid the rise of nativism and racial division, looking at the unique tensions of this moment and how they correspond with similar periods throughout American history. 

Wesley Lowery is one of the nation’s leading reporters on issues of race and justice. He is the executive editor of The Investigative Reporting Workshop, a journalist-in-residence at the CUNY Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, and a contributing editor at The Marshall Project. He began his career covering politics, but was sent to Ferguson, Mo. in 2014 to cover the police killing of Michael Brown for the Washington Post. In the years since, he’s chronicled the early years of the Black Lives Matter movement, writing a bestselling book and launching Fatal Force, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning real-time national database of people shot and killed by the police.

This event is sponsored by CC’s Department of Political Science, and is the final event in the 2024 Sondermann Presidential Symposium: Democracy in This Moment. Thank you to the Fred A. Sondermann Memorial Fund, Marianne Lannon Lopat Memorial Lecture Fund, and McHugh Fund for their generous support of this event. For more information, visit our webpage.  

Add this event to your calendar.

Spring is just around the corner and we have seniors on campus who are but a couple short blocks from the finish line!

More than a ceremony, Commencement and CC’s other end-of-year events present an opportunity for the campus community to celebrate achievements, reflect on experiences, and collectively look ahead to the bright futures that await our graduates. 

Please take note of the dates below and keep a close eye on your inbox and the Commencement 2025 webpage for additional details to come.

Sunday, May 18, 8:30 a.m., Ed Robson Arena 

Commencement Speaker
The College is pleased to welcome Mike Shum ’07, an award-winning filmmaker and journalist, back to campus to deliver the 2025 Commencement Address. A Sociology major with minors in Film Studies and African Studies, Shum has built a distinguished career covering some of the world’s most pressing stories. His work—featured by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, National Geographic, and PBS Frontline—spans investigative journalism, broadcast television, and feature documentaries.

Shum’s career has earned him numerous accolades, including nominations and awards from the National News & Documentary Emmys, the NAACP Image Awards, the Tribeca Film Festival’s Audience Award, and the Nieman Foundation’s Worth Bingham Prize. He recently returned to CC as a visiting instructor and received the Alumni Association’s 2024 Spirit of Adventure Award for his commitment to a life of intellectual, social, and physical adventure. See Shum’s full bio.

We look forward to the valuable insights Shum will share with our graduates as they head into their next chapter.

In addition to Commencement, other related events and festivities include:

Tuesday, May 6, 11 a.m., Shove Memorial Chapel
This is CC’s opportunity to honor outstanding students and faculty. The annual program includes departmental awards, all-college awards, faculty teaching and professorships, and awards from the CC Student Government Association. All members of the campus community are welcome to attend and a livestream of the ceremony will be available online.

Saturday, May 17, 3 p.m., Shove Memorial Chapel
Baccalaureate is a centuries-old graduation tradition, providing an opportunity to reflect on this rite of passage, hear from a faculty member, and celebrate our talented students. Students and their invited guests may attend in person (two guests per student). Seniors who have applied to graduate will receive an email as we get closer to the ceremony with instructions for how to claim tickets to the Baccalaureate ceremony through Ticketmaster. A livestream of the ceremony will also be available online.

Faculty must register in advance to march in the Commencement 2025 events, including the Honors Convocation, Baccalaureate, and Commencement ceremonies. Please use this link to register to march.

Spring 2025 regalia rental requests are due by Tuesday, Mar. 25 at noon. The Dean of Faculty’s office will be paying for the rentals this year. Please use this link to request your regalia from the CC Bookstore.

For questions, reach out to Sarah Nurmi, Assistant Director of College Events at snurmi@coloradocollege.edu.

Want to get involved and be a part of the Commencement excitement? Please consider signing up to volunteer! To learn more or sign up, please contact Jenna Malone on the College Events team at jmalone2024@coloradocollege.edu or (719) 389-6935.

A limited number of standing-room-only tickets will be available for staff and faculty who are not marching. Stay tuned for more information on how to claim a ticket. 

Livestreaming will also be available online for Commencement, Honors Convocation, and Baccalaureate events. 

As members of the CC community, we share pride in the achievements of this year’s graduating students and all CC alumni who’ve crossed the Commencement stage before them over CC’s 150 years. 

Students, thank you for supporting each other throughout your time at CC.

Faculty and staff, thank you for the work you do each day to contribute to our campus community, and for welcoming the hundreds of friends and family members visiting campus for these special celebrations.

The finish line is just a couple blocks away – you’re almost there!   

Commencement is just 10 weeks away! 

In the weeks ahead, you will receive periodic Commencement emails with important information leading up to the big day. Please keep a close eye on your inbox and the Commencement 2025 webpage to ensure you have all the information you need to plan for this important occasion.  

First things first – Don’t forget to apply to graduate!  

Graduating seniors must submit their application to graduate by Friday, Apr. 18 in order to walk in the ceremony this spring. If eligible, you will find the link to the application on your student menu in Banner SSB. It only takes a few minutes to opt in to the ceremony, provide height information for a gown, and confirm other important details. Please also record your name in Canvas to ensure proper pronunciation at the ceremony.  

IMPORTANT: You will not be able to claim guest tickets for Commencement or Baccalaureate events until you complete the registration process. 

Sunday, May 18, 8:30 a.m., Ed Robson Arena 

Commencement Speaker
The College is pleased to welcome Mike Shum ’07, an award-winning filmmaker and journalist, back to campus to deliver the 2025 Commencement Address. A Sociology major with minors in Film Studies and African Studies, Shum has built a distinguished career covering some of the world’s most pressing stories. His work—featured by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, National Geographic, and PBS Frontline—spans investigative journalism, broadcast television, and feature documentaries.

Shum’s career has earned him numerous accolades, including nominations and awards from the National News & Documentary Emmys, the NAACP Image Awards, the Tribeca Film Festival’s Audience Award, and the Nieman Foundation’s Worth Bingham Prize. He recently returned to CC as a visiting instructor and received the Alumni Association’s 2024 Spirit of Adventure Award for his commitment to a life of intellectual, social, and physical adventure. See Shum’s full bio.

We look forward to the valuable insights Shum will share with our graduates as they head into their next chapter.

In addition to Commencement, other related events and festivities include:

Tuesday, May 6, 11 a.m., Shove Memorial Chapel
This is CC’s opportunity to honor outstanding students and faculty. The annual program includes departmental awards, all-college awards, faculty teaching and professorships, and awards from the CC Student Government Association. All members of the campus community are welcome to attend and a livestream of the ceremony will be available online.

Saturday, May 17, 3 p.m., Shove Memorial Chapel  
Baccalaureate is a centuries-old graduation tradition, providing an opportunity to reflect on this rite of passage, hear from a faculty member, and celebrate our talented students. Seniors who have applied to graduate will receive an email as we get closer to the ceremony with instructions for how to claim tickets (up to two guests per student) to the Baccalaureate ceremony through Ticketmaster. A livestream of the ceremony will also be available online. 

Academic departments typically hold receptions on the Saturday afternoon following Baccalaureate, at locations on and off campus. Stay tuned for more details on the Commencement website and watch for an invitation directly from your academic department. 

Each graduate will have an opportunity to claim an anticipated maximum of five seated and two standing-room-only guest tickets for Commencement, subject to availability. Students will be able to access these free, general admission guest tickets via their CC Ticketmaster Account Manager at the beginning of May, with specific instructions to come via email. 

A livestream of the ceremony will also be available online.   

On behalf of the entire CC community, we are so proud to honor the many accomplishments of the Class of 2025 and our MAT graduates!