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.

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.

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!

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.