Winter, 2015
Moving Forward, Looking Back
LAS in our University’s 50th year
We turned 50 this year, and what an eventful fifty years they have been! Starting with David Packard’s vision in 1965, we
are now a vibrant comprehensive university with a liberal arts college of distinction. Kudos to all who have paved our
path, especially some of our “near-founding” faculty... Those in the “Over Forty” club are: Tom Napierkowski, Ken Pellow,
Al Schoffstall, Jim Null, Bob Durham, and Murray Ross of Theatreworks.
In my last newsletter, I noted that the sense of moving forward was palpable in our dedicated staff, in our faculty, and in
our students who energized the campus with the advent of the fall semester. Our 50th Anniversary is a milestone
emblematic of our moving forward, and we are celebrating it by showcasing many events in February. See below.
We are launching a new LAS Website in conjunction with our 50th anniversary celebration. Thanks go to Sam Frank, who
joined our staff in the fall term as Web Designer. Now our College has a new and much-improved web presence.
Importantly, we had the help of students from our professional and technical writing program; they conducted a
usability analysis of previous sites, so that all department websites now provide consistent information and practical
links. The message to our future students is Join Us!, and the focus is to prepare current students for post-degree
success. Some department websites, Philosophy, Biology, Anthropology, English, Sociology, and History are complete.
Check them out – you’ll see a much cleaner smarter look.
Some College 50th Anniversary Events
 Philosophy at the Library. A Community Engagement series organized by the Philosophy Department. Funding by the
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Pikes Peak Library and the LAS SLICE Center. First Tuesday of the month (Feb, Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct, Nov 2015), 4:30 to 6:00
pm, Library 21c, 1175 Chapel Hills Dr. Kick-off February 10, UCCS Library 3rd Floor Apse, Learning in the Digital Age, Raphael
Sassower, Professor of Philosophy.
If You Build It, Will They Come? A 50th Anniversary Forum on Campus Growth. Panelists: Minette Church,
(Anthropology), Daphne Greenwood (Economics), John Harner (GES), Vice Chancellor Susan Szpryka, Robert Wonnett (SPA),
and moderator David Havlick (GES). February 17—3:30 to 5:00 pm, UCCS Library 3rd Floor Apse. Organized by the Geography
and Environmental Studies Department and funded by our Chancellor.
Discovering Place – A UCCS Field Guide Discussion Series
A Community Engagement series of talks based around the newly published anniversary book by Tom and Carol Huber.
Second Friday of the month (Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Sep, Oct, Nov), 6:30 to 9:30 pm, at the Heller Center for Arts & Humanities.
Special Kick-off February 20: History & Archeology, Peg Bacon, Minette Church, Perrin Cunningham.
Developed by the Department of GES and the Heller Center for the Arts & Humanities, and funded by our Chancellor.
http://communique.uccs.edu/?p=16645
This Just in: Robert von Dassanowsky was awarded the CU-System 2015 Thomas Jefferson Award. Congratulations Robert!
Finally, Tom Wynn, Professor of Archeology, became our college’s third CU Distinguished Professor. Please extend your
congratulations to Tom on his well-deserved distinction.
Have a great semester!
Peter A. Braza
Dean