This page is no longer being maintained.

Please visit the current Colorado College site.

Bulletin
JULY 2002

203 Armstrong Hall

In this month's President's Page:

Kathryn Mohrman Says Zái jián.

Presidency Marked by Innovation and Unity.

The Mohrman Years: A Timeline.

Passing the torch: Outgoing President Kathryn Mohrman chats with then President-elect Richard Celeste on the quad after commencement -- click to here to find out more. Richard F. Celeste, former governor of Ohio and ambassador to India, was elected the 12th president of Colorado College in May. Click here to find out more about Celeste.

Celeste told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he had visited Colorado Springs in years past but didn't know much about the college. "Everyone I talked to said it was the best under-known liberal arts college in the country," he said.

Celeste, a Yale alumnus and former Rhodes scholar, headed the Peace Corps under President Jimmy Carter. He was managing partner of Celeste and Sabety Ltd., an international business consulting firm, from 1991 to 1997, and has declared his intention to spend the rest of his career in higher education. Celeste and his wife, Jacqueline Lundquist, have a 5-year-old son, and Celeste has six grown children from a previous marriage.

Kathryn Mohrman Says Zái jián

11th CC President Kathryn Mohrman Dear alumni, parents and friends of Colorado College,

It's commencement time at CC again. And it's commencement time for me, as I prepare to leave Colorado College after nine years as president. This is a bittersweet moment. On one hand, I am wistful about leaving this place that is so special to me, most of all the people of CC who have enriched my experience. On the other hand, I am excited about my new adventures and about the new era the college is about to enter.

In my first year as president, we established four priorities for the college: enhanced intellectual vitality; increased cultural diversity; greater collegiality and mutual respect; and more attention to citizenship and community service. I am proud of many accomplishments by faculty, staff, students and others that advance these four priorities, among them:

  • New programs in environmental sciences, journalism, neuroscience, and international studies
  • Re-instatement of a foreign language requirement
  • The Crown Teaching and Learning Center for faculty development
  • Increased scholarships for low-income, first-generation students
  • The new First-Year Experience program
  • Creation and implementation of a campus master plan
  • Completion of the Western Ridge student housing complex
  • A successful $93 million comprehensive campaign - $10 million over our goal
  • Construction of the Tutt Science Center, to be completed by July 2003
We have also made strides in diversifying the student body (an ongoing priority for the campus), increasing participation in community service, improving gender equity in athletics, and in many other areas. In short, I am proud of the progress we have made together in continuing to strengthen this excellent institution. I shall watch eagerly CC's progress in the future.

What's next for me? For 2002-2003, I have received a Fulbright fellowship to be director of research and development at the Hong Kong-America Center at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which melds my interests in Chinese culture, higher education and leadership.

Thank you all for your support during my time as president. I have been privileged indeed to know hundreds of Colorado College people, and I will remember you always.

Sincerely,
Kathryn Mohrman

Presidency Marked by Innovation and Unity

By Robert Loevy

Professor Loevy is the author of the college history, Colorado College: A Place of Learning (1999) and a professor of political science. He has been at Colorado College since 1968.

Kathryn Mohrman came to the presidency of Colorado College in 1993 during one of the college's few periods of academic upheaval. The struggle pitted those who wished the college to advance rapidly against conservatives who thought the college should watch its pennies and move cautiously. The major accomplishment of Mohrman's years in office was to reestablish a sense of unity and common purpose throughout the college community. Under her leadership, the campus began moving with a sense of common purpose toward solid financial and scholarly progress.

Early in her tenure, Mohrman defined goals that would meet the future needs of the college. She developed a campus master plan, oversaw the design of buildings and implemented scholarly programs to bring that plan to reality - and much of it is now complete.

A new intramural field sits east of Nevada Avenue. Fraternities and sororities moved to the East Campus, making it an informal student social and athletic area. The men's hockey team moved to the new World Arena, many significant structures were renovated, and a major new student residence complex opened.

Mohrman's notable fundraising initiative was the ambitious Campaign For Colorado College: A Course Of Distinction, which exceeded its target of $83 million by $10 million. Part of that campaign plan included a new facility for the sciences - now being built between Barnes and Mathias - and a major center for the performing arts, scheduled for future construction.

Academic progress during Mohrman's presidency including the addition of double majors, an increased emphasis on international study, particularly Asian studies, and the addition of Chinese and Japanese language instruction as well as a major in women's studies. Community service programs grew, and diversity among both students and faculty increased - the student body changed over her tenure from 12 to 16 percent ethnic minorities, and a multicultural dorm called the Glass House was established.

The campus of 2002 displays the physical manifestations of President Mohrman's achievements in every direction. She effortlessly became the first woman president of Colorado College, yet she kept that historically important fact in contemporary perspective. "Very quickly I saw," she once said, "that it was going to be no big deal that I was the first woman to lead the institution."

Timeline -- the Mohrman Years

1993
-President Mohrman inaugurated
-Max Kade Foreign Language Theatre opens

1994
-Double major inaugurated
-Campus Master Plan initiated/ul>

1995
-Glass House diversifies residence halls
-Women's studies major inaugurated
-Block plan celebrates 25 years

1996
-Crown Teaching and Learning Center opens

1997
-Campaign for Colorado College kicks off
-Cutler Hall cupola removed for refurbishing

1998
-CC hockey team opens new World Arena
-Richard Storey becomes Dean of the College
-Fraternities move to new East Campus

1999
-Colorado College observes its 125th anniversary
-Sororities move to East Campus
-East Campus opens for intramural, social activities

2000
-First-year Experience program begins
-Mohrman studies, teaches during China sabbatical

2001
-Campaign concludes, $10 million over target
-Western Ridge room lottery opens complex

2002
-CC breaks ground for Tutt Science Center
-President Mohrman presides at her final commencement

Go back to the Bulletin main page.