Last year, CU Boulder ranked No. 4 on the list of all-time top Peace Corps volunteer-producing universities in the nation. These photos are just a few glimpses into the experiences of 2,100+ CU Boulder alumni who have served abroad since the agency’s founding in 1961.

Julia Leone (IntlAf’22) currently works in Madagascar as a health volunteer.

Pamela Civins (Engl’86) served in Nepal as an education volunteer.

Lee Belstock (A&S’63; Law’66) volunteered in Peru doing community economic development.

Ryan Van Duzer (Jour’03) worked in youth development in Honduras.

Page Weil (CivEngr’05; MS’15) helped design and construct local water systems in the Philippines.

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Photos courtesy Julia Leone, Lee Belstock, Page Weil, Pamela Civins, Ryan Van Duzer

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When senior Anna Ritz (StComm’20) saw a need to motivate students to practice social distancing this March, she helped launch a student-run campaign, #flattenthecurve, which featured daily photos of friends and family deemed high-risk for COVID-19.

“We thought that seeing the message come from peers and friends would help drive home the message in a more effective way,” said Ritz, president of CU Boulder’s branch of the Public Relations Student Society of America.

The idea caught on: Fifty other CU Boulder students shared moving testimonials for remaining home.

Dozens of stories like Ritz’s surfaced early in the pandemic. Rhodes Scholar Serene Singh (Jour, PolSci’19), pictured, pushed for a crowdfunding campaign to help struggling students. Isabella Shelby (MCDBio, PreMed’20) started a petition to postpone graduation to maintain a safe environment, an effort that garnered 2,500 signatures in days.

University labs, units and departments donated more than 130,000 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE), and CU engineering labs printed more PPE on 3D printers. Kyle Judah, director of entrepreneurship at the College of Engineering and Applied Science, led an initiative to help local restaurants by having them make meals for Boulder healthcare workers. CMCI professor Dan Ligon sewed masks.

The effort of Buffs was global. Moon Yin (ElCompEngr’16), leader of CU’s Shanghai alumni chapter and pictured below, brought together 10 other alums to donate 1,200 N95 masks to CU.

In April, the university launched the Buffs Together campaign to further support students, staff and faculty in need. CU Boulder committed $1.6 million in emergency funds.

“Together as a community, our Buffs have offered their generosity, skills, supplies and expertise for others,” said Ryan Chreist (Kines’96, MPA’09), assistant vice chancellor and Alumni Association executive director. “Wherever we are in the world, these efforts are uniting us as a university and making a profound impact.”

Find out more about the Buffs Together campaign at colorado.edu/buffstogether.

Photo by Glenn Asakawa (Top); Courtesy Moon Yin

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2020 Trips

Italian Riviera
Oct. 10-18, 2020

China and Tibet
Oct. 10-25, 2020

Soldiers and Spies
Oct. 11-17, 2020

Himalayan Kingdoms
Oct. 16-30, 2020

Cosmopolitan Havens
Nov. 3-11, 2020

Buffs at the Ballpark 

The Alumni Association is hosting two Buffs at the Ballpark events this year. Both games include a pre-reception with complimentary appetizers and tickets in a CU group section. The first game is Saturday, May 16, in Miami for the Rockies versus Marlins matchup. First pitch is at 6:10 p.m., and the pre-reception starts at 4 p.m. The second game is Saturday, June 27, in the Twin Cities for the Rockies versus Twins game. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m., and the pre-reception starts at 11 a.m. For pre-reception locations and more information, visit . 

Chapter and Club News 

Three new alumni chapters have launched: Silicon Valley, led by Lauren Keeler (Psych’07) and Bob Mickus (MechEngr’86); Las Vegas, led by Sharron Gegenheimer (Econ’83) and Mark Moskowitz (PolSci’09); and San Antonio, led by Andrew Douglass (Fin’98). … Michelle Foley (Bus, Span’03) is now leading the Portland chapter, Michelle Mink (MTeleComm’95) is the new San Diego chapter leader and Leilani Conklin (Mktg’15) has joined David Markle (Soc’12) as a chapter leader in Honolulu. … The Chicago alumni chapter, led by Joe Putnik (Fin’14), was named the 2019 volunteer organization of the year. … The new Forever Buffs Center West club launched for Center of the American West alumni and any other interested alumni or community members. … Seven clubs hosted reunions at Homecoming Weekend in November. Look for information about this fall’s Homecoming Weekend at www.colorado.edu/homecoming. 

Cheer on Buffs Basketball in Vegas 

Support the CU men’s and women’s basketball teams as they play in their Pac-12 Tournaments in Las Vegas. The women’s tournament is March 5-8 and the men’s is March 11-14. The Alumni Association will host a free Buffs Bash prior to each CU game, starting 2.5 hours prior to tipoff. Visit www.colorado.edu/alumni for Buffs Bash venues and game tickets. 

Lead a CU Volunteer Project 

Spearhead a service project in your community for Buffs Give Back — the Alumni Association’s annual weekend of community service — May 16-17. If you’re interested, contact alumnivolunteers@colorado.edu or call 303-492-8484. 

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Dinner with 12 Buffs

April 19-22, alumni and students across the U.S. will dine together during the fourth annual Dinner with 12 Buffs. More than 30 alumni hosts as near as Boulder and as far away as New Jersey will open their homes to an intimate group of Buffs for a casual meal and camaraderie.

Last year, financial executive Erik Evans (Math, Phys’00) hosted a fajita dinner for 15 alumni in his approximately 600-square-foot apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. There was CU talk, of course, but another theme emerged.

“Mostly we talked about the struggle,” said Evans. “The struggle of daily life in New York City and what each of us did. It was a really welcome reprieve.”

Lisa Corboy (Mktg’91) hosted several students in Louisville, Colo., for salmon, and will host again this year.

“We have two children at CU now, so we love staying in contact with the student body!” she said. “It helps keep us young.”

�鶹��Ժ and graduates of the past decade are encouraged to attend. More information. 

Alumni Association Tidbits 

Join us for Buffs at the Ballpark this summer. Each family-friendly event at a pro baseball park starts with a pre-game reception. All attendees receive a Buffs-themed ball cap. Sites include Houston, Atlanta, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Dates and details at colorado.edu/alumni.

Nominate a CU alum, faculty or staff member or a student for an Alumni Association Award by April 4 at colorado.edu/alumni/awards. Past winners include Grammy winner Dave Grusin (Mus’56), astronaut Scott Carpenter (Aero’49; HonDocSci’00) and women's basketball hall of famer Ceal Barry.

The Alumni Association’s annual nationwide day of service, Buffs Give Back, is May 19-20. Past projects have included tree maintenance in Atlanta, trail cleanup in Seattle and food sorting in Nashville. 

There are new alumni chapters in Baltimore, led by Jeff Spitz (EnvDes’14); Charlotte, S.C., led by Kate Kliebert (Engl’07); and Spain, led by Adam Mackstaller (Fin’95). In London, Sigrid Keough (Comm’89) took the reins as chapter leader.

The Big Red rivalry is back! On Sept. 8, the Buffs take on the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb. Join us for a free Buffs Bash at Pinnacle Bank Arena before kickoff.

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In the West African port of Cotonou, Benin, Abigail Watrous (PhD CivEngr’12) wakes up in a bunk bed, rocking ever so slightly to the movement of the unusual ship she calls home.

“When I first started university, I had this vague idea of becoming an engineer and helping people,” she said last fall from aboard the Africa Mercy, the world’s largest private hospital ship. “The question that kept bugging me was, ‘How do people develop their own skills and grow out of poverty?’”

Watrous had been thinking about this since her undergraduate days at Rice University, when she participated in a group trip to Mali led by CU Boulder engineering professor Bernard Amadei, co-founder of the Engineers Without Borders-International network. In the ensuing years Watrous earned a PhD from CU, did a Fulbright in China and worked on Capitol Hill and at the U.S. Department of Energy.

“I learned so much about policy,” she said, “but was dying for boots on the ground.”

Last spring Watrous applied to Mercy Ships, an international faith-based organization focused on healthcare in Africa. Accepted for a 10-month tour of duty, the Washington, D.C., resident moved her belongings into storage, stockpiled malaria medication, scheduled vaccinations and packed two-weeks’ worth of clothes that would need to last a year.

As a member of the medical capacity building team — her first degree is in biomedical engineering — Watrous helps manage logistics for Mercy Ships’ continuing education classes in medicine. These short courses give local midwives, nurses, doctors and surgeons a chance to enhance their skills in topics such as pain management, anesthesia, primary trauma care, and surgery.

She spends much of her time in an office 30 steps from her cabin, managing courses. On the occasional day when she finds herself exasperated by Excel, she visits the hospital down the hall. Spending time with patients quickly provides fresh motivation for fiddling with spreadsheets.

Outside, container ships move in and out of the port; tents for patient admission, screening and rehab dot the wharf. Watrous gets around Cotonou by motorcycle taxi, but plans to get her driver’s license so she can help transport students and instructors for the courses she organizes.

Evenings might bring contra dancing, movies, card games or knitting and chatting with friends. Watrous volunteers at the ship’s Starbucks on Sunday mornings and has added cappuccinomaking to her skillset.

Unexpected joys include the sunsets and the fellowship of the other volunteers, an international gang of 400 in all from around the world — each paying to serve on the ship. (Watrous’ monthly crew fees are $630.)

Many aspects of the Mercy Ship experience remind Watrous of Americans’ relative good fortune.

“We tend to forget, ‘I’m actually a very, very rich person,’” she said, noting that she has an iPhone, academic degrees and a bank account. “I’m the minority in the world, walking down the street with a little cash in my pocket. I’m healthy and educated. I feel like those are all blessings.”

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University of Colorado students gather after being dropped off to volunteer to help Boulder area families whose homes in the Frasier Meadows subdivision were affected by the flooding in September.

From Floods to Funding

Living in the nation’s basement in regards to state funding presents challenges and opportunities for innovation. 

How did the campus fare during the September floods?

Thankfully, no members of our campus community were severely injured. Our response was coordinated and effective, and our spirit was indomitable. �鶹��Ժ quickly started helping others in the Boulder community, despite many being displaced from their off-campus homes and losing personal property. They also started a fund to help students in need.

What are you doing to improve the student experience?

Improving academic rigor, working to decrease the time needed to earn a degree, and creating more user-friendly advising are three things we’re doing. One of my favorite new programs is the 120 faculty volunteers mentoring more than 1,000 new freshmen, including taking them to lunch to get to know them.

Colorado lives in the nation’s basement when it comes to state-funded support for higher education — between 48th and 50th, depending on which indices you use. Can you elaborate?

State funding has declined $29 million for CU-Boulder since 2009 — a 35.5 percent funding decline. We have the lowest support of any state flagship university in the nation, and state support will likely wither to zero within a decade. And yet, our mission to produce leaders, entrepreneurs, teachers and scientists for Colorado remains more vital than ever.

What do you plan to do about decreased state funding?

We have to be innovative at all levels. One new initiative I’m excited about is our new Office of Industry Collaboration that opened in September to pursue research and development contracts with private companies. The great private labs like AT&T have vanished, and great research universities like CU are filling the void with faculty expertise. We think we can increase those contracts from $20 million to $100 million annually. 

What is the role of fundraising in this new financial model?

We need to double our annual fundraising to $100 million. By 2016, we want 16 percent of our alumni to donate via our “16 by 16” initiative. Our 8 percent participation today is near the bottom of the Pac-12, so we’re calling on alumni to step up to help invest in the next generation of students.

Photo by Casey A. Cass

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During the summer when you were 20, anything was possible. You held your first job, maybe went to war, fell in love, lived with good friends and an overflowing sink of dirty dishes and volunteered to make the world a better place. Without fail, September called you back to campus with its cool nights, engaging classes and spirited football games. And life marched on.

The rest is history, except that every year, CU students travel the paths you wore down, journeying to organic farms thriving off hope, villages tucked in the rugged Himalayas and towns dotted across sun-scorched Africa. The students are chasing that same sense of promise and possibility you followed, hoping to hold onto it.

More than 13,000 students on the CU-Boulder campus volunteer in some way each year, either through class work, programs, student group activities or on their own. Some of their stories follow in the next four pages. You may recognize yourself or the self you wanted to be when you were young and the world rolled out its red carpet.

So, here’s a curtain call to all those carefree days lingering in the backstage of your memories and to these students who have scripted ways to make summer’s lessons stretch far beyond them.

Andrea Pauline

Andrea Pauline, a junior psychology major, and her sister, junior management major Leah Pauline, were interning in Uganda last year when they discovered 150 children being abused in terrible living conditions. They fell in love with the kids and proceeded to establish Musana Children’s Home in Iganga, which houses 80 children in an area of the country with the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS.

Leah Pauline

Leah spent the spring semester there and Andrea runs the house on a full-time basis, taking time off from her studies. How did they get Musana established so quickly? “Things are possible if you put your mind to it and take action on what your goals are,” Andrea says.

For more information see .

Mark Arnoldy faced a life-death situation during his first trip to Nepal in 2007. Severely allergic to nuts, he accidentally ate food prepared with nut sauce.

Unable to reach a hospital because of a countrywide strike, he survived because of a bottle of Benadryl. But his near-death experience helped him empathize with each Nepali child who dies every 14 minutes from poor nutrition and access to treatment.

Nepalese Children

Ironically, the food that could kill Arnoldy can save thousands of lives and is recommended by international aid agencies to fight malnutrition. Because fortified peanut butter is not a Nepalese diet staple, Arnoldy, with the help of Himalayan HealthCare, spent his summer speaking with rural villagers, aiming to educate people to think of peanut butter as an essential medicine.

Mark Arnoldy

“If we cannot guarantee our children the right to a life free of malnutrition, what else in the world matters?” asks the senior psychology major.

A Mandarin speaker who has studied abroad in England and China, senior Andrew Han spent his summer doing economic research for Merrill Lynch’s global wealth management branch. But he hopes to export his newfound knowledge far beyond his office in Greenwood Village, Colo. His goal is to work in international development with a focus on social entrepreneurship in Africa and beyond.

Andrew Han

His internship — and his in-progress senior thesis on China’s role in development projects in Tanzania — steered him down this path. He hopes to help funnel capital to what he refers to as the “right” places — infrastructure development and agribusiness.

“This whole financial crisis has taught me lessons about greed, risk taking that can spiral out of control and the downsides to privatization,” says the finance major. “We have to understand the whole picture of privatization to achieve social justice and equality in this world.”

Named Beyond Organic Farm, the project grew out of conversations Omasta, Kyle Baker and other CU students had about a book they read in a class, Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (Penguin).

Fortunately, Baker had interned with John McKenzie, a longtime Boulder farmer, who offered a portion of his land to the students to cultivate. Because most of the 200 involved had never worked on a farm, McKenzie provided critical guidance.

Under the shadow of Longs Peak, CU junior Jacob Golding, above left, and senior Dan Omasta, above right, cultivate tomato plants growing on a 40-acre northeast Boulder farm run exclusively by CU student volunteers with some faculty and staff.

“From mushroom and weed identification to crop growing I’ve learned a lot, but I think I’ve learned most about how to work as a team to make something like this happen,” Baker says, pointing to the green fields.

Twice a week, students sell their produce at the Boulder Farmers’ Market and have a blossoming Community Supported Agriculture program where members pay a lump sum for 20 weeks of produce.

Learn more at .

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Civil engineering professor Bernard Amadei’s work extends far beyond the classroom since he helped found the international humanitarian nonprofit Engineers Without Borders-USA in 2001.

Engineering News-Record, a major engineering-industry magazine, gave Amadei its annual Award of Excellence in March for his Engineers Without Borders work. The organization boasts 12,000 members in 300 chapters, bringing clean water, sanitation, housing, transportation and sustainable energy to Rwanda, the West Bank, Afghanistan and other developing communities.

And a new $5 million gift from Mort Mortenson (CivEngr’58), his wife, Alice Mortenson, and builder M.A. Mortenson Company will endow the Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities and a faculty chair for Amadei, who directs the education, research and service center within the engineering college.

“The Mortenson Center will provide a blueprint for the education of engineers of the 21st century who are called to play a critical role in contributing to peace and security in an increasingly challenged world,” Amadei says.

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