Arts, Humanities & Culture

Wóinila: A Mural of Silence and Learning

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 20:12:22 +0000

Wóinila: A Mural of Silence and Learning Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 14:12

Julia MacLean

On March 11, CU Boulder unveiled a new mural, Wóinila: In Silence We Learn, on the second floor of the Miramontes Baca Education Building. The mural is an original work created as part of a collaboration between CU’s School of Education and the student-led Cultural Events Board (CEB).

Its title, Wóinila — a Lakota word meaning “silence” — reflects one of the first Lakota values passed down within the culture, said the mural’s creator, Danielle SeeWalker, a Hunkpapa Lakota artist from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

“We sit in silence as we listen to the land, the wind and the stars as they teach us. We learn to listen before we respond and speak,” SeeWalker said.

The painting includes scenes of mentorship, colorful hummingbirds, stars and two buffaloes.

Naisha Naik (BusAna’28) helped lead the project as a member of the CEB, which provides students with opportunities to broaden their knowledge on topics such as diversity and social awareness.

“Having this mural in the School of Education is especially meaningful. It serves as a reminder that education is not just about books and classrooms, but also about the stories, history and knowledge of our communities,” Naik told the School of Education.

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Photo by Patrick Campbell

CU Boulder’s new mural Wóinila: In Silence We Learn honors Lakota values by illustrating the power of listening, mentorship and cultural storytelling within the School of Education.

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Summer 2025

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Saving Endangered Languages

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:58:24 +0000

Saving Endangered Languages Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 13:58

Sophia McKeown

CU Boulder linguistics professors Ambrocio Gutiérrez Lorenzo and Rai Farrelly are working to preserve Zapotec, a family of languages that originated in Southern Mexico and Central America.

For most of human history, the survival of specific languages has relied on one generation passing it on to the next — a process that, in many speech communities, unfolds naturally.

But, according to a study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, around half of the world’s 7,000 documented languages are currently considered “endangered.”

CU Boulder linguistics professors Ambrocio Gutiérrez Lorenzo and Rai Farrelly hope to slow the decline.

“Languages are tied very closely to peoples’ identities and their cultures,” said Farrelly in an interview with KUNC this spring. “We believe that there is tremendous value in working to maintain and revitalize [languages].”

Currently, Farrelly and Gutiérrez Lorenzo are working to preserve Zapotec, a family of languages that originated in Southern Mexico and Central America, spoken mostly in Oaxaca, Mexico. Gutiérrez Lorenzo collaborates closely with members of the Teotitlán del Valle community who are interested in learning more about the Zapotec language and contributing to preservation efforts.

Since 2011, he has held monthly meetings with community members to discuss linguistic aspects of the language and the practical applications of his research, including the creation of small dictionaries and the documentation of local narratives.

“[Zapotec] is the language I grew up speaking, so I don’t want it to be lost with my generation,” said Gutiérrez Lorenzo. “I don’t want to be the generation that let it go.”

Besides creating real-world solutions, Gutiérrez Lorenzo and Farrelly are determined to raise awareness around the issue, both on campus and around the world. The colleagues developed a global seminar for CU’s Education Abroad based in Teotitlán del Valle, which offers CU Boulder students the opportunity to live in a rural Mexican community while learning and practicing Spanish and Zapotec.

“Maintaining languages in a community serves to strengthen intergenerational connections,” said Farrelly. “It brings together youth and elders through oral traditions that have been celebrated in many of these communities for centuries.”

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Photo courtesy Rai Farrelly

CU Boulder linguistics professors Ambrocio Gutiérrez Lorenzo and Rai Farrelly work closely with Mexican communities to preserve the endangered Zapotec language and strengthen cultural ties.

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Summer 2025

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Sundance Film Festival Finds a New Home in Boulder

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:55:04 +0000

Sundance Film Festival Finds a New Home in Boulder Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 13:55

Julia MacLean

The Sundance Institute’s first festival began in Utah in 1985. Now, 40 years later, the iconic film fest has set its sights on the Flatirons.

According to the nonprofit’s March announcement, the Sundance Institute’s board of trustees was drawn to Boulder’s small-town charm, engaged community, art focus and natural scenery.

“This move will ensure that the festival continues its work of risk-taking, supporting innovative storytellers, fostering independence and entertaining and enlightening audiences,” said Robert Redford (A&S ex’58; HonDocHum’87), Sundance Institute president and founder. “I am grateful to the Boulder community for its support, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the festival there.”

Redford started the institute in 1981 as a way to support independent filmmakers and storytellers.

Once in Boulder, the majority of the festival will be held on and around the Pearl Street Mall. CU Boulder will offer support and additional venue space.

The event will offer students — particularly those enrolled in the university’s Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts program — direct exposure to prominent filmmakers and actors.

During Sundance’s 2024 run, its economic impact was vast. Over 24,000 festival visitors attended from out of state, generating over 1,700 jobs for Utah residents and producing $132 million in economic activity for the state, according to the festival’s economic impact report.

Now, Colorado will reap the benefits.

In an interview with CU Boulder Today, Chancellor Justin Schwartz added to the hype: “We are excited for tens of thousands of festival guests to experience what we already know: Boulder is an incredible place to immerse yourself in the arts, culture, nature and history that make life worth living.”

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Photo courtesy Don Kohlbauer for Boulder Reporting Lab

In 2027 the Sundance Film Festival will relocate to Boulder.

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Summer 2025

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¿Dónde Está Boulder? The Baca Family's Three Generations of Buffs

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:34:05 +0000

¿Dónde Está Boulder? The Baca Family's Three Generations of Buffs Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:34

Patricia Kaowthumrong

"I don’t know what I would have done if my brother was not recruiting Chicano students to the University of Colorado."

As a teenager growing up in Trinidad, Colorado, during the early 1970s, attending the University of Colorado Boulder seemed out of the question for Bernal Baca (A&S’75). Instead, he planned to follow the advice of his high school guidance counselor and enter an auto mechanics program after graduation. But his older brother Richard Baca (Edu’71) intervened.

Richard, a student at CU Boulder at the time, was back home visiting his former high school. As a United Mexican American Students (UMAS) member, he was recruiting Hispanic students like Bernal to attend the university. Bernal was hesitant, insisting he wanted to become an auto mechanic — but Richard wouldn’t take no for an answer. Bernal heeded his brother's advice and applied to the school, where he was accepted and enrolled.

In retrospect, following in his brother’s footsteps to an education on the Front Range turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to Bernal — and future generations of Baca family members.

“I don’t know what I would have done if my brother was not recruiting Chicano students to the University of Colorado. That signaled to me that we had a chance,” Bernal said. “So I took that chance, and I’m glad.”

Deep Roots

Richard and Bernal earned degrees from CU Boulder and went on to achieve doctoral degrees in psychology and education, respectively. According to Richard, these feats were considered improbable at the time, given the siblings’ humble upbringing.

The Baca family’s history in the United States dates back to the 1600s, when a settlement from Spain’s Oñate Expeditionary Group landed in northern New Mexico. Eventually, the family migrated to the southern Colorado city of Trinidad, whose establishment in the 1870s by Felipe Baca and his wife, Dolores, was a catalyst for Hispanics to settle in the area.

“In essence, [Bacas] have been here for a long time,” Richard said. “We often hear the notion that ‘America came to us’ because our family was here long before the United States was founded.”

The Bacas, a family of farmers, ranchers and entrepreneurs, were influential in southern Colorado. However, after Richard graduated from Trinidad State College in 1969, he thought his only two choices in the rural town were to work in the coal mines or join the military. An unlikely opportunity arose, though: Richard was selected with a cadre of other Latino students to apply to CU Boulder under what was then called the Educational Opportunity Program, which was established in the 1960s to recruit young Latinos who might not have met all the established admissions criteria at the time.

"My brother was the one who showed me the way, and he was able to teach his own son and granddaughter the same thing. I love it."

Without this program, the thought of attending the university would have been as unlikely as eating “frijoles sin tortillas” (beans without tortillas), Richard said. “Formal admission to the university opened an educational dimension immeasurable by traditional means and inexplicable to [my] mother who had all of a third-grade education,” he wrote in a letter about his family to the Coloradan this past August.

Boulder or Bust

When Richard told his mother he was accepted to CU Boulder, she replied, “Ah, que bueno jito. ¿Dónde está Boulder?” which translates to, “That’s good news, my son. Where is Boulder?”

Over the next few years, Boulder evolved from what Richard called “a strange land” into his second home. He credits his success to living of campus with a group of graduate students and to his participation in student groups and campus activities. Richard’s tenure at CU coincided with the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s.

“At that time, the movement was really becoming strong, so I just became involved in campus activities related to Chicano students and learned more about my roots, my heritage and the importance of trying to advance ourselves as a grouping,” Richard said.

"I got my spark at [CU Boulder] because I was mentored by one of the best professors I think I’ve ever met."

As a result of initiatives such as the Educational Opportunity Program that supported Richard, CU Boulder began recruiting hundreds of students from new communities — including Native American, Mexican American, Black/African American and Asian American communities — to attend the university. Some of these students formed organizations inspired by broader civil rights movements, including UMAS.

Bernal also became involved with the Chicano Movement, joined UMAS and studied under Salvador Ramírez — who taught Chicano studies. When Ramírez moved to the Pacific Northwest, Bernal followed to help him establish the first Chicano studies program at ��Ĺ��ý State University. After a long career as a college professor, Bernal now serves as executive director at a nonprofit called Mi Centro, which provides social, cultural and educational services to the Latino community in the greater Tacoma area.

“I got my spark at [CU Boulder] because I was mentored by one of the best professors I think I’ve ever met,” Bernal said. “I feel really honored to be bestowed that university bachelor’s degree because it was the most important degree I have received.”

Passing the Torch

From left: Ryan, Alexandra and Richard Baca.

While Richard is now retired, his career in higher education, mental health, consulting and politics spanned over 40 years. He even ran for University of Colorado regent in 1994 and served as the assistant vice president of student affairs and enrollment management at Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University) in Grand Junction. Richard raised his family on the Western Slope, and his son Ryan (Bus’96) was admitted to CU Boulder in the 1990s, continuing the legacy started by his father and uncle nearly three decades prior.

Ryan’s daughter, Alexandra (Bus’28), is the latest Baca family member to become a Buff. She moved into student housing at CU Boulder’s Cheyenne Arapaho Hall in fall 2024. Like her father, Alexandra was admitted to the Presidents Leadership Class, which Ryan said was key to his success as a student and later as a management professional. The university also offered her scholarships from the Latinx Association and the Business and Engineering Women in Leadership program.

“I don’t know another place I would want to go to for a university experience,” Bernal said. “My brother was the one who showed me the way, and he was able to teach his own son and granddaughter the same thing. I love it.”

While Richard, Ryan and Alexandra each experienced the university in different eras, they’re united by their love for the beautiful campus, Boulder’s ever-evolving cultural scene and their love for Colorado Buffaloes football.

The legacy they continue to nurture is one we know Alexandra’s late abuela would definitely be proud of.

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Have a CU Boulder family legacy to share? Email us at editor@colorado.edu with your story.

CU Boulder is involved in several programs in Trinidad, Colorado. Visit the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship for more information.

Illustration by Emiliano Ponzi; Photo courtesy Richard Baca

Attending CU Boulder changed Bernal Baca's life and sparked a multi-generational family legacy.

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Spring 2025

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The Stories that Sustain Us: Phaedra Pezzullo's Unique Approach to Sustainability

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:30:53 +0000

The Stories that Sustain Us: Phaedra Pezzullo's Unique Approach to Sustainability Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:30

Joe Arney

When you’re trying to change the world — in Phaedra C. Pezzullo’s case, by improving the environment — you need more than scholarly publications to create impact.

It’s why one of her favorite stories involves the fact that her first solo-authored book, Toxic Tourism, inspired the lyrics to a punk-rock song by the band The Holland Dutch.

“Something like that reaches people in more profound ways than just talking about policy or politics,” said Pezzullo, CU Boulder communication professor in the College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI).

In early 2025, Pezzullo opened CMCI’s Sustainability and Storytelling Lab. And while an academic lab in a formal university setting may sound out of step for someone whose work galvanizes protesters and inspires musicians, she sees it as an exciting next step in the shifting conversation around sustainability.

“The lab is already becoming a space where people from a range of disciplines who study sustainability — students, staff, faculty and community partners — can build relationships and consider the role of storytelling in the field,” she said.

“Something like that reaches people in more profound ways than just talking about policy or politics.”

As with any university lab, creating high-impact learning opportunities for students is key.

Activist Becomes Academic

Pezzullo’s formative educational experiences inspired her teaching philosophy. While a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she interviewed activists and community members in Warren County — known as the birthplace of the environmental justice movement — where landfill toxins were poisoning the water source serving a predominantly Black community.

Listening to their voices and adding her own to the cause helped Pezzullo to see how a single story could unlock millions of dollars to clean a landfill. Cleanup work began as she completed her studies.

“I became hooked on stories,” she said. “When we put storytelling into practice in service of complex problems, like sustainability, we discover why communication is captivating.”

It’s part of why Pezzullo doesn’t limit her storytelling to scholarly publications. Her public-facing work on sustainability includes a podcast, Communicating Care, where she explores sustainability issues like plastic bag bans, disability justice and environmental treaties with other voices from the field.

One of these voices was Emy Kane (IntlAf’13), managing director of Lonely Whale, an organization that raises awareness about and offers alternatives to problematic plastics through partnerships with brands and engagement with companies, scientists and the global youth movement.

“When we put storytelling into practice in service of complex problems, like sustainability, we discover why communication is captivating.”

“What inspired me most about Phaedra is her commitment to sharing stories borne from empathy and action,” said Kane. “I’m thrilled to see my alma mater support her platform and research so that the next generation of leaders are equipped with the stories they need to reimagine the systems that run our world.”

Conversations on the podcast helped inform Pezzullo’s 2023 book, Beyond Straw Men: Plastic Pollution and Networked Cultures of Care, which won three national book awards. Highlighting success stories, she said, is important to counteract the defeatism and fatalism that typically accompany sustainability stories — and she’s seeing such sentiments rising, even in her classroom.

Oftentimes, in the wake of a victory, “people point out just how much is still wrong with pollution, with our climate, with the world,” she said. “Success isn’t that there won’t be more disasters — it’s that, with more thoughtful choices, future disasters may be less impactful. And that is a more challenging story to tell.”

Science Demands Better Stories

Amid news of rising temperatures, invasive microplastics and melting glaciers, it might seem frivolous to talk about sustainability in terms of good storytelling. But experts argue that we’ve struggled to make progress on environmental issues because the deeply scientific nature of these problems makes it hard for the general public to relate.

Robert Cox — Pezzullo’s mentor at UNC Chapel Hill, where he remains an emeritus professor — credited his protégé with laying the basis for how understandable stories can change the course on climate.

“All the work being done to communicate climate science in the public sphere is now being talked about in terms of relatable stories that demonstrate the impact of climate change,” said Cox, a three-time president of the Sierra Club environmental organization and co-author (with Pezzullo) of a textbook on the discipline. “Those stories resonate far beyond just the pages of an academic article. Phaedra’s work really laid the basis for the importance of narrative, of storytelling, to make complex environmental issues approachable.”

“Success isn’t that there won’t be more disasters — it’s that, with more thoughtful choices, future disasters may be less impactful. And that is a more challenging story to tell.”

In her lab, Pezzullo is searching for that impact by forging partnerships within CMCI and CU Boulder to bring different kinds of expertise to the challenge of impactful storytelling — something she’s already doing as director of the university’s graduate certificate in environmental justice. She’s lectured at universities across the globe and has collaborated extensively with Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment on climate change. In the meantime, she and her students build digital “story maps” that illustrate how Colorado communities are affected by environmental and climate injustice.

Pursuing Stories with Confidence

Independent reporter Anthony Albidrez (MJour’24) took a foundational course in environmental justice with Pezzullo to better understand how journalism supports sustainability through storytelling and rigorous news reporting standards.

Because of his class experiences, Albidrez turned a course project about a stream cleanup in Honolulu, where he lives, into a report detailing how the local unhoused population was blamed for a mess that, when cleaned, amounted to 16 tons of trash being removed from the Makiki Stream.

“I don’t think a group of homeless people can drag tons of trash into a streambed, but from my research, they were receiving the brunt of the blame,” Albidrez said. “Phaedra’s course helped give me the confidence to go beyond the government numbers and explanations and find the real story.”

Pezzullo’s ability to encourage that sort of intellectual curiosity is what Cox most appreciates about her impact. Though he’s quick to credit her with pushing the boundaries of their field, Cox most admires how Pezzullo has guided the next generation of thinkers as they seek to advance sustainability through storytelling.

“So many of her students are pursuing academic, business and nonprofit work in this area, and that speaks to her strength as a mentor,” Cox said. “She is such an unselfish person in terms of contributing her labor to the field of environmental communication — and that’s the kind of champion a story like this needs.”

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Illustrations by Scott Bakal

Professor Phaedra Pezzullo aims to make sustainability issues more relatable by integrating storytelling into environmental communication.

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Spring 2025

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Día de los Muertos Altar Crawl at CU Boulder

Julia Maclean — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 17:27:27 +0000

Día de los Muertos Altar Crawl at CU Boulder Julia Maclean Mon, 03/10/2025 - 11:27

Last fall’s Día de los Muertos “Altar Crawl” invited the CU Boulder community to engage with several altars honoring the lives of deceased loved ones. Altars were located across campus, including in the Guggenheim Building, the Koenig Alumni Center, the CU Museum of Natural History, the Center for Community and the Miramontes Baca Education Building. The crawl — hosted by the Forever Buffs Latinx group, the BUENO Center, the Latin American and Latinx Studies Center, UMAS y MECHA, Sigma Lambda Beta and the Center for Inclusion and Social Change, among others — highlighted the cultural significance of the day with moments of remembrance and celebration.

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Photo courtesy Daniela Martinez Carpizo; Nelson R. Castro; Karla Rosete Nunez

The Día de los Muertos altar crawl invited the community to honor and celebrate deceased loved ones through a series of altars across campus.

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Spring 2025

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CU Opera Songbirds Hit the High Notes

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:47:05 +0000

CU Opera Songbirds Hit the High Notes Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 13:47

Helen Olsson

In June, two renowned opera singers from CU were inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Cynthia Lawrence (Mus’83; MM’87) studied music at CU and went on to share the stage with Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti more than 70 times. Keith Miller (Art’97), on the other hand, was a star football player who pivoted to opera after graduation. They have both performed stints as principal artists at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Soprano, equestrian, stunt woman

“When I heard about [the Hall of Fame induction], I couldn’t believe it,” Lawrence said. “To be recognized is beyond an honor.” But the honor is no surprise to those in the singer’s orbit. Lawrence has performed with virtually every opera company in Colorado and worldwide, from Paris to Prague, with legendary performers like Plácido Domingo and Mirella Freni.

"Cynthia has a world-class voice. People say she was kissed in the throat,” said acclaimed tenor Mark Calkins (MMus’87), who met Lawrence at CU. (They married in 1985.) “She won the Metropolitan Opera contest in 1984 at age 23 — a stunning achievement.”

Lawrence credits her success, in part, to her time at CU. “It’s a great school with great facilities. Barbara Doscher was one of the best voice teachers in the world,” said Lawrence. She also points to her background as a competitive equestrian. “If you’re nervous on horseback, that horse may dump you in the dirt,” she said. “In opera, you also have to keep your nerves underneath you. That discipline, concentration and preparation made me a better performer on stage.”

In addition to jumping horses, Lawrence credits childhood time on the trampoline with her ability to perform dramatic free-flying leaps in Puccini’s “Tosca.” Lawrence, who insisted on doing her own stunts, perfected numerous daring feats on stage. She frequently plummeted backward (into a hidden foam pit), and her most notable stunt was a 26-foot forward jump at Royal Albert Hall.

Bass-baritone, athlete, thespian

Keith Miller grew up on a beet farm in Ovid, Colorado, a town so small that its high school football team consisted of six players and there was no school choir. A football scholarship recipient and three-year starter as a fullback, Miller played opera music in the locker room and sang in the shower.

He was inspired by varsity players singing the CU fight song on the sidelines. “These guys, my idols, were singing like they were warrior poets,” he said. Not long after the 1994 Michigan game, when CU made one of the greatest comebacks in Buff history, Miller took his then-girlfriend to see “Phantom of the Opera” in Denver. “I felt the same emotion at the opera that I had during the Michigan game,” he said.

In 2001, while working out with the Denver Broncos at North Dakota State University, Miller took refuge from a snowstorm in a music practice room. “I started singing along to “Don Giovanni” — and someone knocked on the door.” He was offered a scholarship on the spot. He declined, but decided it was time to start following the music. On the way out, he saw a flier for the Pine Mountain Music Festival in Minneapolis and decided to audition. Suddenly, Miller had a dozen job offers to sing and decided to pursue singing full-time.

The next fall, Miller enrolled at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and, after graduation in 2006, auditioned for the Met in New York. He made his debut at the opera’s opening-night gala. At the reception, he bumped into someone who remarked, “Wonderful performance,” in a familiar Scottish accent. It was Sean Connery.

Beyond the Hall of Fame

Today, the inductees are still showing off their versatility. Miller serves as founder and CEO of CedoHealth and has recently moved back to Colorado to re-engage with the Crested Butte Music Festival (CBMF). (For six years, he served as director of opera and oversaw the CBMF’s Opera Young Artists Program.) He also has his sights set on film acting. “There are things out there creatively I want to do,” he said. “My journey’s not done.”

Meanwhile, Lawrence works as the endowed chair professor for voice and opera at the University of Kentucky, where she’s teaching the next generation of opera singers. “I love teaching. When students have that ’Aha’ moment, when they finally get it — that’s the prize.”

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Illustration by Chris Buzelli

This year, CU songbirds Cynthia Lawrence (Mus’83; MM’87) and Keith Miller (Art’97) made the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.

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Fall 2024

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New Buffs Are ‘06 Babies

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 17:25:21 +0000

New Buffs Are ‘06 Babies Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 10:25

Jessi Sachs

This fall, the incoming class of 2028 moved into CU dorms, charged their laptops for class and downloaded syllabi via smartphones. To prove just how much time flies, here are the stories that were shaping the world in 2006, the year many of these first-year students were born.

Politics:

Democrats win control of both the House and Senate in midterms.
Samuel Alito is sworn in to the Supreme Court as an associate justice.
The War in Iraq continues into its third year.

Tech:

Twitter, now known as X, launches and cofounder Jack Dorsey posts first-ever tweet: “just setting up my twttr.”
Google purchases YouTube for $1.65 billion.
The PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii hit consumer markets.

Science & Climate:

Pluto is downgraded to a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union.
NASA’s Stardust mission ends, making it the first spacecraft to bring samples from a comet to Earth.
California passes the Global Warming Solutions Act.

Culture:

High School Musical airs for the first time on Disney Channel.
NSYNC’s Lance Bass comes out as gay in a People magazine cover story.
Pop star Britney Spears and then-husband Kevin Federline file for divorce.

Top Music & Film:

“Bad Day” (Daniel Powter)
“Temperature” (Sean Paul)
“Promiscuous” (Nelly Furtado and Timbaland)
“You’re Beautiful” (James Blunt)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Cars
X-Men: The Last Stand

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Collage by Connor O'Neill

To prove just how much time flies, here are the stories that were shaping the world in 2006, the year many of these first-year students were born.

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Fall 2024

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A Legacy of Volunteering: CU in the Peace Corps

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 17:19:57 +0000

A Legacy of Volunteering: CU in the Peace Corps Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 10:19

Kelsey Yandura

Last year, CU Boulder ranked No. 4 on the list of all-time top Peace Corps volunteer-producing universities in the nation. These photos are just a few glimpses into the experiences of 2,100+ CU Boulder alumni who have served abroad since the agency’s founding in 1961.

Julia Leone (IntlAf’22) currently works in Madagascar as a health volunteer.

Pamela Civins (Engl’86) served in Nepal as an education volunteer.

Lee Belstock (A&S’63; Law’66) volunteered in Peru doing community economic development.

Ryan Van Duzer (Jour’03) worked in youth development in Honduras.

Page Weil (CivEngr’05; MS’15) helped design and construct local water systems in the Philippines.

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Photos courtesy Julia Leone, Lee Belstock, Page Weil, Pamela Civins, Ryan Van Duzer

Last year, CU Boulder ranked No. 4 on the list of all-time top Peace Corps volunteer-producing universities in the nation. Take a peek into the experiences of 2,100+ CU Boulder alumni who have served abroad with the Peace Corps since 1961.

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Fall 2024

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Muriel Sibell-Wolle: Artist, Professor, Ghost Town Guide

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Muriel Sibell-Wolle: Artist, Professor, Ghost Town Guide Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/16/2024 - 00:00

Kelsey Yandura

1942

When Muriel Sibell-Wolle traded the East Coast for the foothills of Boulder in 1926, she was immediately spellbound by the region’s rich natural beauty, declaring she planned to stay "until they kick me out." She began teaching fine art at CU Boulder and went on to lead the department for nearly 20 years.

One of the first and most prolific ghost town guidebook writers in the nation, Sibell-Wolle visited and sketched over a thousand mining towns in the American West. Here, Sibell-Wolle is pictured with her lithograph “Gladstone, Colorado,” which is now part of the CU Art Museum collection.

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Photo courtesy Floyd Walters Colection, CU Heritage Center

CU fine arts professor Muriel Sibell-Wolle visited and sketched over a thousand mining towns in the American West. She is now known as one of the first and most prolific ghost town guidebook writers in the nation.

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