The Butler Center works to inspire and foster an equitable intellectual and social climate that is inclusive and respectful of human dignity. The Butler Center, named for one of the earliest African American alums who invested in the future of CC, serves as the college center for diversity, inclusion, intercultural exchange, equity, and empowerment for the entire Colorado College community. The Butler Center resist all forms and manifestations of oppression through our commitment to these principles; and utilize them as a catalyst for this critical work shared by many departments and people at the college. This work is sometimes uncomfortable and challenging, but always incredibly rewarding for the CC community.

Colorado College is committed to working to become an anti-racist institution. As part of this effort, CC recently underwent an external review of racism, led by Professor Roger Worthington (University of Maryland). You can find more information about the external review of racism here. Based on this review, CC has now developed an Anti-Racism Implementation Plan. Our antiracism commitment is a college-wide effort to actively examine and oppose the ways that racism exists and persists at CC. With antiracism central to our mission, our faculty, staff, and students will experience greater equity and inclusion, our teaching will be more impactful, and our students will be better prepared to make positive change in the world.

Colorado College is located within the unceded territory of the Ute Peoples. The earliest documented peoples also include the Apache, Arapaho, Comanche, and Cheyenne. An extended list of tribes with a legacy of occupation in Colorado is included here: Colorado Tribal Acknowledgement List.

The College also has an Indigenous Studies Thematic Minor (ISTM) which puts indigenous knowledge and experience at the center of learning. In using contemporary models of studying indigenous culture, history, and sciences, we can disrupt western mythologies of wilderness, discovery, benevolent settlers, and many more.

The Diversity and Equity Advisory Board (DEAB) was formed to serve as an advisory group to the President of the College and the Cabinet on all matters related to diversity and equity regarding staff and faculty. Taking an intersectional approach, the Board expands the work of the former Women's Concerns and Minority Concerns committees, which were under the purview of the Faculty Executive Committee, to include race and ethnicity; gender, sex, and sexual orientation; and disability. The Board held its first meeting in January 2015.

Currently, the DEAB is fully involved in CC's commitment to becoming an anti-racist institution.

Beginning with the 2020 entering class, Colorado College has made a pledge addressing affordability for Colorado residents.

• If a student comes from a Colorado family with an adjusted gross income of less than 60,000 dollars annually (with typical assets for this income range), there will be no parental contribution for tuition, room, and board.
• If a student comes from a Colorado family with an adjusted gross income of 60,000 to 125,000 dollars annually (with typical assets for this income range), there will be no parental contribution for tuition at the College.
• If a student comes from a Colorado family with an adjusted gross income of 125,000 to 250,000 annually (with typical assets for this income range), the parental contribution for tuition will be the same or less than the cost of attending at the flagship state university in Colorado.

In making Colorado College's admission process test optional, we have strengthened our commitment to never treating students as numbers in either the admissions process or in the classroom. This commitment will allow Colorado College to identify the most qualified candidates for admission while also increasing access for first-generation, low-income, and underserved students. With the College's holistic approach to the admissions process, students now can withhold testing as part of their application. There are exceptions to this policy. To view our Test-Optional Policy, click here.

The Stroud Scholars program honors two of the earliest African-American students to graduate from Colorado College, Kelley Dolphus Stroud '31 and Effie Stroud Frazier '31. The program prepares students for selective college environments by working directly with high promise youth to provide academic preparation, mentorship, and guidance navigating admissions and financial aid processes to CC or another intentionally chosen college or institution.

In their pilot year (July 2020), the program will accept 25 rising sophomores from the Pikes Peak Region and mentor them for three summers on Colorado College's campus for three weeks. The program will earn the student admission to Colorado College and a financial aid package that will enable them to attend.

The year-long Bridge Scholars Program offers a welcoming community, supportive mentoring, and engaging and challenging coursework for first year students. Students are invited to join the Program based on a holistic review process, considering if the student is a first-generation student, is a member of the QuestBridge program, other community programs, or the Colorado College fly-in program, comes from historically underrepresented backgrounds at Colorado College, and the educational resources, enrichment opportunities, and mentoring resources available at the student's high school.

Scholars arrive on campus two weeks before the start of New Student Orientation and enroll in a two-week interdisciplinary course to experience the CC classroom, learn about the network of campus resources, work closely with student and faculty mentors, and engage with their fellow scholars.