Alumni Association

Dear Alum,

The weather here has turned brisk and the leaves have mostly fallen. As I contemplate the upcoming holiday season, I think of giving as much as receiving. The university is a fine place to think about giving. If you’re near Boulder (and half of all CU alums live in Colorado), there’s an extensive list of ways to volunteer listed here. Some are discussed in this newsletter. If you’re more far-flung, there are 35 CU chapters and clubs from Spokane to Boston listed here. Enjoy yourself as you make new CU connections and give to the university.

Please give some thought to writing an article for CU Voices, featuring your reminiscences about CU and thoughts about life. Send ideas to editor Marc Killinger. If you’ve moved or changed e-mail addresses, let us know. And don’t forget you can always find the latest CU happenings at www.cualum.org. Connect with other alums at the My CU Network. If you’re having trouble viewing this e-mail newsletter, you may view it online here.

This photo of Folsom Field looking west during the KSU game on Oct. 18 was taken by Alex Benison (Bio,Psych’05), a PhD candidate in neuroscience, from the stadium’s Byron R. White Club Level. See more of his photos here.

Programs

You’re Forever a Buff!

The CU-Boulder Alumni Association extends a warm welcome to our new Forever Buffs. All CU-Boulder alumni are now members of the Alumni Association, free of charge. So check out your benefits, get connected to friends and volunteer to help by going here. If you don’t already have a CU-Boulder Alumni Association membership card, please visit the My CU Network to obtain a member ID number electronically to access your benefits. We hope to CU soon, and welcome!

Zoolights is Dec. 5

Gather with friends, family and fellow Buffs at the Denver Zoo for some holiday fun and a sneak preview of Zoolights. We will have a live animal demonstration for CU guests in the treetops room as well as warm drinks and refreshments (included in the admission price). For information go here or contact Becky at 303-492-2879.

CU night at the National Western Stock Show

Lasso your family and friends for this year’s CU Night at the National Western Stock Show on Jan. 23. Your $10 ticket includes entry into the grounds, petting zoo and, of course, the ProRodeo. The show includes rodeo clowns, bucking broncos, a stagecoach show and our favorite, Mutton Bustin.’ Tickets are only $10. For more information and to purchase tickets go here, or contact Becky at 303-492-2879.

Greet graduates at commencement

The Alumni Association invites alums to be part of the commencement ceremony for the winter graduating class of 2008 on Dec. 19 from 8-9:30 a.m. Marshals will congratulate CU graduates and welcome them to their Alumni Association in Coors Events Center with a pre-commencement continental breakfast. For more information contact Scott at 303-735-2893. For other CU volunteer opportunities go here.

Boulder chapter celebrates the holidays

Join the Boulder Alumni Club and the College of Music for their annual holiday party and concert on Dec. 7 starting in the British Studies Room of Norlin Library. Silent auction, pre-concert hors d’oeuvres and beverages begin at 1:30 p.m. The Holiday Festival begins at 4 p.m. Register here before tickets are all gone or contact Deena for more information.

Your gift to CU counts

Make a contribution to the University of Colorado today and increase the value of your degree. For every alum that makes a gift to CU, no matter the size, our ranking in college guide books is positively impacted, and so is the value of your degree. Go here and make your contribution today. Contact annual giving here.

Class of 1959 reunion in May

For those who remember when Johnny Horton’s “The Battle of New Orleans” topped the Billboard chart, get ready for your 50-year reunion May 7-8. Look here for the tentative 2009 schedule or contact Scott at 303-735-2893 or 800-492-7743. View fun photos from last year’s reunion here.

Annual GLBT Alumni holiday party

Join the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Alumni chapter on Dec. 5, 6-9 p.m., at Koenig Alumni Center for good food and drink, old friends and new and their famous door prizes. Contact Marc at 303-492-2280 or see their website.

Celebrate the university’s heroes

Help honor CU’s faculty, staff and alumni champions by nominating worthy candidates for the 2009 Alumni Awards. The deadline for nominations is Feb. 16. The awards reception and ceremony is May 6 in Old Main. For information on the four awards go here or contact Clark at 303-492-5640 or 800-492-7743.

Volunteer for the board of your Alumni Association

Looking to use your skills and time to give back to CU? Join the Alumni Association board of directors where you’ll help guide association activities. The board meets three times per year in or near Boulder. The deadline for nominations for three-year terms is Feb. 16. For information contact Linda at 303-492-2279, 800-492-7743 or check out board information here.

Yes, it’s easy to order your transcript!

The CU registrar is pleased to announce their new online transcript ordering service. It’s meant to be much more “alumni friendly” than previously. See it here. Questions? E-mail here.

Senior auditors registration in January

Colorado residents age 55 and older may audit CU courses for $10 a semester through the Alumni Association. Spring semester classes begin Jan. 12. Registration times are Jan. 20, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. and Jan. 21, 8 a.m.-noon. Go here or call 303-492-8484 for general information. To find and plan your classes, go here.

Biotech endowment celebrated

Thanks to local Colorado entrepreneur Bill Freytag and his wife, Janet, who established a $5 million endowment to support CU-Boulder’s Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology that will bring researchers from different disciplines and different labs together to solve complex biomedical problems. “It is a privilege for us to support an initiative that will accelerate scientific discovery,” says Bill Freytag. Here’s more information.

Athletics

Men’s and women’s basketball ready to host CSU

Your Colorado women’s basketball team will take on in-state rival Colorado State on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. Admission is only $1. CU Athletics and FSN Rocky Mountain are also giving out free CU T-shirts, which will get you into all of the Buffs remaining non-conference games for free! Get your $1 tickets today at CUBuffs.com. Coach Jeff Bzdelik and the men face the Rams on Wednesday, Dec. 10. Tickets for this game start at just $10 and can be purchased here.

Post election Plati-‘Tudes

Associate Athletic Director David Plati (Jour’82) found the time to squeeze in his first Plati-‘Tudes since the summer and it’s his usual potpourri of all things CU with his thoughts on other things in the sports world. Check it out here.

Contest Corner

Win a CD of CU-Boulder College of Music’s Boulder Buff: A Tribute to Glenn Miller. For your e-mailed answer to be considered, please include your mailing address.

Question: CU’s first freshmen class entered in
A. 1876, B. 1878, C. 1879
Hint: The answer is on the Ringing in the New CU history website. And congratulations to Lee Wilson (Geol’74) of Basalt, Colo., for knowing that Arnett was the first dorm to be transformed into a fully residential dorm on the model of the Flagship 2030 strategic plan for CU’s future.

Buff Photos

Hank Brown receives El Pomar award

Hank Brown (Acct’61, Law’69) will receive the Ben S. Wendelken Special Trustees Award at the 2008 Awards for Excellence ceremony of the El Pomar Foundation in Colorado Springs. Brown is recognized for representing the highest level of achievement in nonprofit service to Colorado, most notably for his leadership at the Daniels Fund and CU. El Pomar contributes $25 million annually through direct grants and Community Stewardship Programs to support Colorado nonprofit.

David Parrish remembered

A memorial commemorating the visionary qualities of former CU student David Parrish was inaugurated in June. He was tragically killed by two robbers while he tried to defend his mother (on right in the photo), in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. David’s sister Lesley is on the left. The memorial consists of six life-sized eagles mounted to the same number of trees, as well as an eagle arch. David cared deeply about protecting children in the Third World from easily-preventable diseases. So does a nonprofit, Sole4soles, that now has a David Parrish site selling flip-flops with a Flatirons logo designed by David and Lesley.

Coloradan gets around

Richard Spelts (Acct’61, Law’64) is shown at the southwestern tip of Africa with a Coloradan magazine. He reports that as of September 2008 the Coloradan had gone with him and his wife, Gayle Spelts, on 10 standard safaris plus one elephant-back safari in a total of four countries in Africa: South Africa, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. “We’re still recovering from jet lag after 20,000 flight miles,” he adds.

Send your photos and stories to Marc Killinger.