Hello Everyone,

This Saturday will be February 29, which only comes along every four years. I’m excited to be able to share with you evidence that here at CSU, we never let that much time pass between achievements, collaborations, or extraordinary efforts on behalf of our community.

Last week, I was honored to spend the evening recognizing members of the 2019-20 cohort of the CSU Faculty Institute for Inclusive Excellence. This intensive program aims to increase “inclusive excellence within departmental culture, classroom climate, curricular redesign, and pedagogical implementation” by integrating diversity, equity and inclusion. It demands a great deal of participants, in terms of both time and the commitment that they must make to grapple with how their teaching practices might need to change. I was so proud to celebrate with this year’s “class.” The 2020-21 cohort is already underway, but I urge all our faculty to apply to the 2021-22 cohort.

We also just celebrated a landmark date for our incredible English Department, which marked their 80th birthday as an independent department with a wonderful event and the creation of a scholarship for English majors who need financial assistance to complete their degree. English at CSU was initially part of other departments that also offered stenography (!), modern languages, and history. You can donate to this scholarship fund. Today, it boasts close to 100 faculty members, who teach and pursue scholarship and creative work in literature, English education, rhetoric and composition, linguistics, and creative writing. Happy Birthday!

And that was all last week! This week, CSU’s Office of International Programs is hosting our first-ever International Symposium at the Lory Student Center, with all sessions free and open to the public. I hope to see many of you in the audience for my conversation with our Vice Provost for International Affairs, Kathleen Fairfax. Kathleen is smart, thoughtful, and funny, and she truly has a vision for what it means to be a global university today. Come engage with us at 9 a.m. on Thursday in the Longs Peak Room.

We’re also celebrating one of our coolest, most flat-out fun STEM initiatives, the CSU Little Shop of Physics.  Come on over to the Lory Student Center this Saturday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. for the Little Shop of Physics Open House in honor of their 29th anniversary.

Finally, don’t forget to tune in and cheer on our Men’s and Women’s basketball teams in the  Mountain West Tournament that starts after this weekend. Go Rams!

Wishing all of you a wonderful week—and a happy Leap Year Saturday! I’ll be back in your inboxes next week with a different kind of message for everyone: specifically, some updates on our strategic transformation!

Warmly,
Joyce