December 31, 2021

Dear CSU Community,

I know that many of you watched in horror the emerging stories yesterday of fires burning down hundreds of homes and businesses in Boulder County—and the crisis is still ongoing. We are hopeful, as emergency responders are, that the diminishing winds and predicted snowfall will help control the situation, but thousands of our neighbors in Boulder County—and many members, family members, and friends of our CSU community—will have lost everything they owned.

Our hearts, our prayers and messages of support, and our commitment to rebuild are all with the people of Boulder County today and in the coming weeks.

Last night, CSU HR sent a message containing specific emergency and long-term resource links to all employees who live in Boulder. Student Affairs has also sent a message to those students whose home addresses are in Boulder County.

But we already know that there will be emergency needs, and we already have funds in place to meet those needs: Ram Aid for students and CSU Cares for employees. Today, as we celebrate the end of 2021 with new grief for this tragedy in our community, I hope that many of you will join me in building up these two funds—it needs to happen right now to make a difference.

 The President’s Office will match up to $25,000 donated to CSU Cares, which provides no-strings grants of up to $2500 to employees and will also match up to $25,000 to Ram Aid, which provides no-strings grants to students in need. Please help me make a difference today by donating to CSU Cares and to Ram Aid. Together, we can show our whole community that we truly are here to support them in ways that count.

Thank you all very much for your generosity to your colleagues, your students, and your friends.

Joyce