“It’s a fundamental fact. We cannot remain a free nation if we abandon the truth. As you go out to change the world, resolve to stand in truth,” former U.S. Representative Liz Cheney ’88 told a packed Ed Robson Arena filled with 512 graduates and several thousand family members and friends. The 149th Colorado College Commencement took place on a warm, sunny Sunday morning, May 28, 2023.

Colorado College conferred degrees upon 468 Bachelor of Arts candidates and seven Master of Arts in Teaching graduates, who marched along with 37 students who graduated last August and December.

Many students received awards of distinction, including Just World Award recipient Chloe Brooks-Kistler ’23, who received the Adrienne Lanier Seward Bold and Courageous Actions Award, and Delaney Grant Kenyon ’23, who received the Margaret Liu Health Justice Award. 

In addition, four people received Honorary Degrees, including Mike Edmonds, retiring senior vice president, who joined Colorado College in 1991. As acting co-president from 2020 to 2021, he led the campus community through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and became the first Black president in the college’s 147-year history.

An astounding number of Colorado College graduates were awarded National Science Foundation grants from the Graduate Research Fellowship Program this spring, highlighting the strength of CC’s science programs and its comprehensive resources that assist in the application process.

Nine alumni have joined the ranks of the next generation of STEM leaders, with seven of them earning fellowships in life sciences including ecology, cell biology, organismal biology, systematics and biodiversity; and two in social sciences, including biological anthropology and economics.

“A graduate research fellowship is a major honor that suggests a great likelihood of success in a PhD program and a bright future in research,” says Rachel Jabaily, associate professor of organismal biology and ecology. “We had a particularly high yield compared to many of our peer institutions. Recipients of the NSF GRF have demonstrated their ability to develop a novel research proposal with significant intellectual merit and explicit broader impacts to society. I received the NSF GRF in graduate school, and it enabled me to do fieldwork throughout the Andes during the academic year," she adds.

The GRF is the golden ticket for graduate studies. The program offers three fully funded years to the graduate program of the recipient’s choice, which can be used over the course of five years. The fellowship frees recipients from other activities like being a teaching or research assistant. The applications are peer-reviewed by professional researchers using many of the same criteria as standard NSF research grants.

Ten Colorado College students spent their Spring Break road-tripping across the West Coast, where they visited numerous national parks and spent nights at different campgrounds. The trip, which was organized by Colorado College Outdoor Education (CCOE), is one of about 200 outdoor trips the CCOE hosts each year.

The purpose of the road trip was to visit as many national parks as possible. In just eleven days, students visited various sites in Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California. The group first traveled to California, where they visited the Redwoods National Park, San Francisco, San Jose, and Death Valley. They then headed to Utah, where they visited four of Utah’s five national parks: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and Arches, which was a favorite among several students.

“Outdoor Education at CC really creates an experiential way for students to apply some of the learning from the classroom into a real-world setting,” says Ryan Hammes, director of the CCOE. “The opportunities to learn and practice leadership skills in the natural world allows for personal discovery while in community with one another. Trips like this allow students to see new places and interact with each other in different ways that could never be replicated on campus. We are so fortunate to be able to provide the transportation, equipment, and affordable experiences for any student who wishes to participate on these trips.”

Sophie Ramirez ’17 recently earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant award. Through the program, she will teach English to students in Jordan for ten months beginning in September. 

“I am overcome with gratitude as I reflect on the journey that has led me to being awarded the Fulbright grant,” says Ramirez. “My heart is overflowing with gratitude for the Writing Center, particularly Roy Jo Sartin, who supported me through three rounds of Fulbright applications. Her unwavering encouragement and guidance helped me persevere. I am also grateful for the endless support and love from my friends and family. This Fulbright grant is a meaningful step in my career in international development, and I am thrilled at the prospect of using it to create a positive impact globally.”

“Growing up as the child of a migrant mother, I have always felt a strong sense of responsibility to use my education and experiences to help others,” says Ramirez. “This is why I applied for the Fulbright program in Jordan, where I hope to continue my journey of mentorship and personal development. As someone who has faced many challenges in pursuit of my own education, I believe that I have a unique perspective that will allow me to connect with and empower students in Jordan.”

After graduating from CC with a B.A. in biochemistry, Ramirez earned a master's degree in molecular chemistry from the Sorbonne in Paris, led youth development programs with the Peace Corps in Morocco, and currently works for an international architecture firm in Mexico. Her experience working with the Peace Corps solidified Ramirez’s passion for mentoring and teaching, and her travels across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa developed her love and appreciation for the cultures and traditions in this region.

What started as a way for Mackenzie Boyd ’24 and her family to give back has blossomed into a mission to end period poverty, with support from college students around the country.

“Period poverty is a worldwide epidemic that does not often get discussed,” Boyd says. “Although it is defined as a lack of access to menstrual products, hygiene facilities, waste management, and education, it is this lack of supplies that affects many people globally, causing physical, mental, and emotional challenges.”

Boyd founded Project: Distributing Dignity during her junior year at Castle View High School in Castle Rock, CO. “I was really upset that students had to miss school because of a normal bodily function. Why should they be punished just for having a uterus? It is a human right to obtain an education. I knew I needed to do something, and that is how Project: Distributing Dignity was born. Our motto is that a period should never be a barrier to an education,” says Boyd.

Now at CC, Boyd, a geology major and 2020 Boettcher Scholar, continues to grow the project. What started with sending menstrual products to the Pine Ridge Reservation has expanded to distributing products to more reservations, including the Rosebud Reservation. In March, Boyd’s project was short on time, so she and about 15 other Boettcher Scholars quickly worked to pack products. Boyd’s mom drove down that night to collect the bags and she shipped them out the next day.

Boyd and her project are making a difference. “We were told by the nurse at one of the schools we work with that 90% of students who used to miss school each month due to period poverty are now coming to school consistently,” she says.

Cormac McCrimmon ’23, Andres Madrigal ’23, and Manuel Uribe ’23 have won a Davis Project for Peace for their proposal to use art in creating social change in Brazil.

Their project will connect high school students in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, with local artists through a series of art workshops.

“Our goal is to highlight the power of art to illuminate injustice and create social change,” says McCrimmon, a history major.

“It is an honor to have been selected to receive the Davis Projects for Peace grant,” says Uribe, who majored in romance languages with a concentration in Portuguese, Spanish, and French.  “With this grant, I hope my team and I can have a meaningful, positive effect on the school we are working with and the visual artists we are inviting to lead workshops with students.

“Through the Davis Projects for Peace grant, we have the opportunity to make a sustainable impact,” says Madrigal, an organismal biology and ecology major and Spanish and Chicanx-Latinx studies minor. “We hope to nurture a vibrant artistic community that can continue to thrive long after our project concludes.”