In February 2023, Amy (Monger) Parsons '99 became the 16th president of Colorado State University (CSU). Her career began as a commercial litigation attorney for Brownstein Hyatt Farber (now Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck) before serving in senior executive leadership roles at CSU for 17 years. She served as associate legal counsel, deputy general counsel, vice president for university operations and vice chancellor for the CSU System before stepping into the role of president last year.
From a young age, two things were crystal clear for Parsons: she knew she wanted to live in Colorado, and she knew she wanted to be a lawyer. Parsons earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science from CSU before making the move to Boulder to earn her JD at Colorado Law.
“I just set my sights on staying close and going to CU,” she said.
Her deep love for Colorado and desire to practice law in the state meant CU was the perfect place to dive into her legal studies.
At Colorado Law, Parsons served as an associate editor on the Colorado Law Review, Vol. 70, and took courses in all sorts of practice areas—from litigation and constitutional law to legislation and natural resource law. “I really enjoyed Charles Wilkinson’s classes,” she noted of the late distinguished natural resources law professor and partial namesake of the Getches-Wilkinson Center. “He was just so entertaining and enthusiastic and real fun to work with.”
Parsons also found love at Colorado Law! She is married to fellow Law Buff Jeff Parsons '98, whom she met while they were both law students. Building on his 25 years at the Western Mining Action Project, Jeff also recently started his own firm, Parsons Law Office, focusing on litigation, policy and business development. Parsons noted that her husband writes a lot of appellate briefs and is “really great at what he does.”
Parsons never imagined her career would lead her to the role of CSU president. “I always saw myself as being a litigation attorney,” she said. “I loved working for Brownstein.”
When CSU offered her a legal counsel position, she jumped at the opportunity to return to her alma mater while also balancing work and family life as a new mother. Parsons quickly found herself loving her new role, noting the diversity of interesting specialty areas and legal issues that arise at public universities—everything from human resources, athletics, legislation, research, compliance, First Amendment rights and other constitutional issues, and more.
“What I’ve learned over the years is that the higher education system is a fascinating place to work as an attorney,” she said. “No matter what type of law you’re interested in, you can find it in higher education.” Parsons' combination of experiences in CSU leadership, along with her time as a CSU student and having two daughters attending CSU this fall, certainly grants Parsons one-of-a-kind insight into the institution.
Amy Parsons with her family at her investiture as CSU’s 16th president.
Parsons loves working in higher education, noting the fast-paced, innovative environment full of young people bringing new ideas to campus every semester. She takes great joy in highlighting the school on social media, which she sees as “a tool we can use to shine a light on the amazing students and the faculty.”
Parsons also holds a huge passion for college athletics and the role they play in our country.
“Society tends to be very polarized politically and socially, but the fandom of collegiate sports is one of the best ways to bring people together by cutting across social divides and politics,” she explained. Especially amidst such a powerful era for women’s sports, Parsons noted, “If I, as a female president, can shine a light on what our women are accomplishing, it’s a privilege to be able to do that in my role.”
Throughout her years at CSU, Parsons has remained grateful for her time at Colorado Law. Along with meeting her husband, she found a great group of friends with whom she had “such a fun time when we weren’t studying and being law students.” She is grateful for the lasting bonds from Colorado Law that exist today in her personal and work life, noting that Colorado’s tight-knit legal community means she and her husband still work with several lawyers with whom they went to law school.
“Strong connections still exist today with people we met and knew in law school,” she said.
Q&A
What do you know now that you wish you had known in law school?
I wish I knew how incredibly versatile my law degree would be and all the career pathways that would open up in the future.
Who has been an important mentor to you throughout your career?
Stan Garnett ’82, also a CU alum, was one of my first bosses at my first law firm, Brownstein, Hyatt & Farber. He not only trained me in litigation, but he modeled excellence, service, and integrity and continued to be a friend and mentor throughout my career.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
I’m especially proud to be the president of Colorado State University this year as both of our daughters will be attending CSU—one freshman and one junior. I attended CSU for my undergraduate degree, so to be in this position now—with my own kids at CSU—is pretty amazing.