Columns

Once a Buff, Always a Buff

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:56:15 +0000

Once a Buff, Always a Buff Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 13:56

Christina Fang

I debated between the mimosa and the bloody mary.

On the morning of our 2021 graduation, my friend Rose and I sat in a tangerine booth at Snooze, dressed in caps and gowns, watching our virtual commencement on my phone. On the walk over, we soaked in applause from strangers as if Pearl Street were our stage.

At ɫ��ֱ��, commencement is more than tradition — it’s a ceremonial send-off into life beyond The Hill. It’s when you become not just a Buff, but a Forever Buff. But for us, that ritual was disrupted. Our journey began not with pomp and circumstance, but with pancakes and perseverance.

With no clear path after graduation, I soon found myself back at ɫ��ֱ�� as a staff member at the Alumni Association. The next graduation season, I was up at 5 a.m. — this time helping set up Alfie, a 20-foot fuzzy inflatable buffalo, on Norlin Quad. I got misty-eyed watching from the steps of Old Main, coffee in hand, as soon-to-be alumni fixed their caps, took selfies with Alfie and snuck shooters up their sleeves.

Even after I stopped working at CU, I still returned for graduation — again up at 5 a.m. — but now as a volunteer. As co-president of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Alumni Chapter, I led AAPI graduation, an event I’d helped revive during my final months at CU. I stood alongside students who looked like me, celebrating a milestone I once dreamed of. I realized being a Buff wasn’t just about what the university gave me — it was about what I could give back.

That spring, Old Main stood fenced off, under restoration. For the first time in years, I wasn’t watching from its steps — I was standing in the crowd. Like the building, I had changed. My exterior had shifted. But underneath it all, the bones remained the same.

As the graduates made their way toward Folsom Field, I stepped across the wet grass in the same black leather boots I bought the summer before I became a Buff. I remember thinking: I need good walking shoes — sturdy enough for a Colorado winter, cute enough for the boys I’ll meet in class.

The boots are creased now, frayed at the edges. But I still move just fine.

What does it mean for something to last forever? Does it stay with us until we pass? Or is it what we leave behind that truly lasts?

I walked across the field, leaving soft footprints in the grass, following the next generation of Forever Buffs into whatever comes next.

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Photo courtesy Christina Fang

The journey as a Forever Buff can be about transformation, community and giving back.

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Summer 2025

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Editor's Note: Summer 2025

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:52:50 +0000

Editor's Note: Summer 2025 Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 13:52

Maria Kuntz

The steady rain poured as my friend and I splashed through puddles into Folsom Field. We were two of the 45,000 runners at the Bolder ɫ��ֱ��, the largest 10K race in the U.S. Despite the weather, ɫ��ֱ��’s signature spirit shone: Bands, bacon and cheering neighbors lined the route. It was pure local magic.

ɫ��ֱ�� embodies that same magic — it’s a mix of bold people, a legendary setting and cutting-edge research and creativity. As Chancellor Schwartz and Professor Surden remind us in this issue, ɫ��ֱ�� must be experienced to be understood.

Read stories here that capture CU’s distinctive energy: physicists, astronauts, philosophers and TV anchors. Plus, the legacy of Mary Rippon, the intricate mathematics underlying animal patterns, a passion for fresh food and the arrival of Sundance.

I hope these stories reconnect you to ɫ��ֱ��’s ambition, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit — the driving forces behind its bold, innovative heart.

Maria Kuntz

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The people who make the university, and ɫ��ֱ��, special.

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Summer 2025

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Bar on the Edge of ɫ��ֱ�� Is Full of Surprises

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Bar on the Edge of ɫ��ֱ�� Is Full of Surprises Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/11/2022 - 00:00

Paul Danish

I used to think ɫ��ֱ�� ended at the streetcar graveyard.

Streetcars arrived in ɫ��ֱ�� in 1899, followed by an interurban line from ɫ��ֱ�� to Denver. When the streetcars and trains were abandoned, a field between ɫ��ֱ�� and Eldorado Springs became their final resting place.

One day, I continued south, past the old Matterhorn and Hornbrook restaurants.

I thought that was the end of ɫ��ֱ��, but then I saw the Rocky Flats Lounge glowing in the darkness — now, I'd surely reached the end of ɫ��ֱ��.

I once read “The Inn Outside the World,” a science fiction story by Edmond Hamilton. It was about an inn in another dimension where humanity’s greatest minds — Socrates, Voltaire, Einstein — mingled and socialized. When I saw the Rocky Flats Lounge, my first thought was, “Good Lord. I’ve found it.”

A lone tavern on a wind-swept plain across the street from a nuclear weapons plant. End of ɫ��ֱ��? Hell. It seemed like the bar at the end of the world.

It was, as one of the owners later described it, a neighborhood tavern without a neighborhood. But it had a clientele. Bomb plant workers, bikers, Green Bay Packers fans — it served ’em all.

The Lounge burned in 2015. But, phoenix-like, it reopened in July 2019 as the Rocky Flats Bar & Grill. It still featured the Friday-night fish fries.

And then the Great Pestilence of 2020 struck.

So a few days before Christmas 2021, I drove south on Hwy. 93 to see if it was still there.

It was.

But it was closed.

The sign on the door said “New owner, reopening soon.”

In the parking lot was a surprise: a lot full of marvelous wood carvings for sale. Eagles. Bears. Horses. Seahorses. Flamingos. Alligators. Owls. Dragonflies.

The artist, named Bongo Love, was on site.

A member of Zimbabwe’s Shona tribe, he came to ɫ��ֱ�� in 2000.

“I use the area as a refuge. It’s not a business; it’s a refuge,” he said. “I’m free here. It’s the most creative space you can have.”

An excellent sentiment from the end of ɫ��ֱ�� — one that, on a good day, describes ɫ��ֱ�� from beginning to end.

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Photo by Paul Danish

The Rocky Flats Bar & Grill located south of ɫ��ֱ�� has a rich history for many ɫ��ֱ�� locals.

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Editor's Note: Spring 2022

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Editor's Note: Spring 2022 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/11/2022 - 00:00

Maria Kuntz

On Dec. 30, I sipped coffee at Caffe Sole as hurricane-force winds crashed over the Flatirons. Customers were stunned — unsure where to go as wind swirled into dust cyclones and awnings quaked, tearing at the building’s facade. These winds fueled the Marshall Fire — the most devastating wild-fire in Colorado history.

This fire as well as other recent tragedies — the King Soopers shooting and the Calwood fire in northwest ɫ��ֱ��— will leave indelible marks on ɫ��ֱ��'s students, faculty and staff. And they will impact and inform future research, teaching and creative works.

In the midst of nearby tragedy, this Coloradan also aims to celebrate Buffs’ successes while exploring topics like the future of work, the Chicano movement and women's health in Bangladesh. I hope it bolsters you as part of the Forever Buffs community because, as we've recently witnessed first-hand, we are stronger as Buffs Together.

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Editor Maria Kuntz shares her Marshall Fire experience.

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Trident Booksellers Was One CU Student’s Respite

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Trident Booksellers Was One CU Student’s Respite Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 00:00

Taylor Hirschberg

“Old God sure was in a good mood when he made this place.”

The Hunter S. Thompson quote often crossed my mind as I traversed ɫ��ֱ��’s streets and hiking trails during my CU student years. Living in the shadow of the Flatirons, at the nexus of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, can make a person aspirational.

For some, including myself, ɫ��ֱ��’s true enchantments are found in the unique, nuanced spaces that provide a break from the hum of university life.

My respite was on west Pearl Street.

Trident Booksellers, my 1980s coffee chic space, was more than a place to study. It was a community. Entering the sometimes chaotic store, I knew I would find trusted baristas, an expert who knew the location of every single book, my third table on the left in the back and a mechanical pencil sharpener. Trident was a loyal friend and confidant — it was a space for me to recharge.

At Trident, I wrote a story for the cover of Out magazine on the forced displacement of the LGBTQI+ community and my thesis on climate grief in children. Usually my ideas flourished, but when writer’s block froze my creativity, a glance into the bookstore would stir my sociological imagination.

The baristas would yell, “Large iced latte!,” the phrase like a metronome regulating the flow of life and business. When COVID-19’s deadly assault consumed the world, the first thing I noticed missing was this metronome; I had taken it for granted. In the months that followed, I was locked away like the rest of the world, and the grocery store became my place of community. I craved my back table at Trident.

As the months rolled on, and I was quarantined in my Denver home far from ɫ��ֱ��, the semester came to an end — my final CU semester. It was then that I realized: The nuanced spaces held the most potent memories.

These memories — these cherished spaces and the hours spent on Pearl Street — I will always carry with me, because small spaces like Trident make up a large piece of my life.

At Columbia in New York City, where I’m living now, I’m seeking the same sounds and community.

I can picture it now: third table from the back, pencil sharpener, baristas.

“Large iced latte!”

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Photo by Trident Booksellers & Cafe

Forever Buff Taylor Hirschberg found community and solace on west Pearl Street.

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Chancellor DiStefano on the Student Pandemic Response

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Chancellor DiStefano on the Student Pandemic Response Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 00:00

Philip P. DiStefano

A student’s university experience is often a time of rapid development in their sense of belonging, growth, exploration, curiosity, dedication and self-identity. This past year, determination in the face of adversity was added to the list.

In my 47 years on campus, I have witnessed turbulent social times and have seen students face tough questions and issues. However, the past year and a half tested fortitude and collective mettle like no other time in my memory. The challenges have been as monumental as they’ve been unpredictable. Through it all, the ɫ��ֱ�� community has not only met the challenges, but has risen to overcome them.

Our students adapted nimbly with the seismic shift to remote learning during the pandemic and have remained flexible as we continued to refine teaching and learning strategies.

At the outset of the pandemic, many students and professors who were engaged in important research at both the undergraduate and graduate levels felt a responsibility to act. They refocused their work on COVID-19-related projects that had beneficial real-world impacts — both on campus and in service to communities near and far.

The racial reckoning of the past year also initiated a new level of transformation. As a result, the campus community is engaging at a deeper level than ever before in seeking progress toward diversity, equity and inclusion.

CU students are helping drive that mission. They were involved in the selection process for the new senior vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion, Sonia DeLuca Fernández; they worked closely with campus police to create a community oversight review board; and they collaborated with faculty and staff in the creation of the Center for African and African American Studies.

As we have gathered back on campus in ɫ��ֱ�� this academic year, I have seen students embrace both the joys and challenges of university life with a new set of skills gleaned over the past year and a half — tenacity, flexibility and self-awareness among them. These skills will serve them well throughout their academic careers and into their professional and personal endeavors.

While students will face new and evolving obstacles, I am confident that they will rise to the occasion individually and collectively, bending into the wind, but never breaking.

Philip P. DiStefano is the 11th chancellor of ɫ��ֱ��. He is the Quigg and Virginia S. Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership, overseeing ɫ��ֱ��’s leadership programs.

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Photo by Glenn Asakawa

Changes caused rapid adaptation, strength and new ideas.

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Fall 2021

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Editor’s Note: Fall 2021

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Editor’s Note: Fall 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 00:00

Maria Kuntz

In March 2020, workers and students across the country left behind familiar spaces and routines to protect each other and their communities. Many thought a return to normalcy was a few weeks or months away. Twenty months later, some of those spaces and routines are apparitions of the past. Amid the COVID-19 delta variant surge, ɫ��ֱ�� students have reflected on what resilience looks like to them, where it comes from and what it demands.

Today, resilience is a bittersweet reality; a skill, or perhaps a latent ability, that surfaced as a matter of necessity and survival. In this issue, you’ll read about the fruits of resilience — the triumphs, the challenges and the self-revelations of various communities at ɫ��ֱ��.

Wherever you’re headed this winter, tuck the Coloradan in a pocket and read about the state’s first licensed outdoor preschool, color-changing tattoos, the history of camping, a trip to Mars (in the U.S.) — and meet Ralphie VI.

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Coloradan editor discusses student resiliency.

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Editor’s Note: Summer 2021

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Editor’s Note: Summer 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Maria Kuntz

The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated social inequities as the ubiquity of phones and digital media focused attention on interrelated issues including racial injustice, gender, voting rights, gun violence and access to health care and education.

These challenges gave rise to another topic that ancient philosophers, modern researchers and CU students have sought to better understand: leadership.

While there is an eagerness to return to “normal,” new types of leaders are emerging to usher forth the future as it unfolds.

In this issue, we examine leadership research, education and practice through CU’s Center for Leadership and explore one alumna’s dedication to Colorado’s future luminaries. I invite you to read these, plus stories about an unlikely book-turned-movie, robot-fueled sustainability and the power of lullabies.

The challenges of the past year will not resolve quickly, but Forever Buffs instill hope for a brighter future.

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The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated social inequities as the ubiquity of cellphones and digital media focused attention on interrelated issues including racial injustice, gender, voting rights, gun violence and access to health care and education.

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From the Chancellor: Leadership for Our Times

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

From the Chancellor: Leadership for Our Times Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Philip P. DiStefano

Several years ago, ɫ��ֱ�� students started an ad campaign that grew into the Colorado Creed, a social responsibility code for the campus community. It reminds us to act with honor, integrity and respect. It compels us to be responsible for our actions, take accountability for our decisions and accept our differences.

The students’ vision remains today, evidence of the lasting impact of thoughtful leadership. The subject of leadership has been paramount recently. From COVID-19 to social justice and racism, the lack of recent leadership in the corporate sector, government, political system, nonprofits and, yes, education, will be felt for generations.

In the face of these events, I have been thinking more than ever about leadership and what it takes to become and maintain being a good leader. Our collective mission is to positively impact humanity, so the stakes are high.

But how do we build leaders in today’s world? Author Simon Sinek once said, “There are only two ways to influence human behavior: You can manipulate it or you can inspire it.” Our mission at the university is to cultivate leadership through inspiration.

That’s why we have researched and identified the traits of successful leaders across a variety of fields and developed an innovative curriculum to foster leaders for a changing world.

ɫ��ֱ��’s Center for Leadership, established last year, combines 25 leadership programs from across the campus, including our athletics department, schools, colleges and graduate and undergraduate studies.

By aligning our programs to harness expertise from throughout CU, we’re cultivating moral character and social duty and advancing innovative research on leadership. The vast majority of higher-education leadership offerings reside in business schools, but at ɫ��ֱ�� we believe that leadership education must be ubiquitous.

Every societal challenge we face and every industry that can address these challenges requires the right leaders for the right moment. Universities can answer the call.

Philip P. DiStefano is the 11th chancellor of ɫ��ֱ��. He is the Quigg and Virginia S. Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership, overseeing ɫ��ֱ��’s leadership programs.

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Photo by Glenn Asakawa

Chancellor DiStefano weighs in on leadership.

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Is RTD's B Line Train Coming to ɫ��ֱ��?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Is RTD's B Line Train Coming to ɫ��ֱ��? Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Grace Dearnley

ɫ��ֱ�� was in its formative years in the late 1800s. Westward expansion drew in hopeful settlers. Industries were booming.

But the community lacked convenient transportation and shipping: It needed a train. In 1873, the city got two when the Colorado Central Railroad Company built ɫ��ֱ��’s first working rail lines and the creation of the Denver and ɫ��ֱ�� Valley Railroad connected the major cities. Soon ɫ��ֱ�� celebrated its first luxury train — complete with lavatories — only for railroad travel to fall out of fashion when automobiles became popular in the early 1900s.

Over a century after riders traded tickets for car keys, residents yearn for a return to rail. In 2018, RTD reported that congestion caused 77 million hours of travel delay in the Metro Denver region. As urban sprawl between the cities becomes denser and carbon emissions worsen with traffic, drivers covet a commute that omits the interstate.

When a 2004 Denver Metro area vote approved RTD’s FasTracks proposal to build over 120 miles of passenger rail lines, excited residents looked forward to Colorado’s commuter-friendly future. The proposed $1.5 billion B Line would connect Denver to ɫ��ֱ�� and Longmont.

The plan didn’t survive long. RTD took on significant debt with the Great Recession in 2008, which coincided with realizations that the B Line would cost millions more than projected. Without a means to raise the extra funds, RTD prioritized less-expensive lines, and ɫ��ֱ�� County residents lost faith.

As car-less first-year students at CU in 2017, the year of FasTracks’ original planned completion, my friends and I pined for a train to take us to Rockies games or the Denver Art Museum. Instead, we spent four years on the Flatiron Flyer buses.

RTD recommitted to FasTracks in February 2021, ordering engineering and environmental studies for the B Line expansion. Officials are eyeing President Biden’s recent infrastructure proposal in hopes of securing funding.

CU students will surely be some of the first to hop on board the train. Whether commuting to campus or venturing into neighboring cities, the B Line could lead to significant decreases in traffic and carbon output.

If RTD moves forward with the B Line, commuters and train enthusiasts alike may have reason to celebrate. I know I’ll be grateful for it when I visit my alma mater. And thousands of Denver-ɫ��ֱ�� commuters can finally skip the nightmare of rush hour on Highway 36.

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Photo by Matt Tyrie

In 2021, Colorado’s RTD recommitted to study the potential for a ɫ��ֱ��–to–Denver railway

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Columns

Once a Buff, Always a Buff

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Editor's Note: Summer 2025

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Bar on the Edge of ɫ�����ֱ�� Is Full of Surprises

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Editor's Note: Spring 2022

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Trident Booksellers Was One CU Student’s Respite

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Chancellor DiStefano on the Student Pandemic Response

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Editor’s Note: Fall 2021

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Editor’s Note: Summer 2021

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From the Chancellor: Leadership for Our Times

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Is RTD's B Line Train Coming to ɫ�����ֱ��?

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Bar on the Edge of ɫ��ֱ�� Is Full of Surprises

Is RTD's B Line Train Coming to ɫ��ֱ��?