Anonymous Donor Bolsters Support for Children, Youth and Environments Center for Research and Design
University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center Chancellor Gregory Stiegmann announced today that the College of Architecture and Planning has received a $2.5 million gift from an anonymous donor to endow the Children, Youth and Environments Center for Research and Design (CYE).
It is the largest gift by an individual donor in the history of the Denver campus.
The announcement was made at the kick-off event for the Child-Friendly City Initiative, a collaborative effort of CYE, the Denver Mayor's Office for Education and Children and Assets for Colorado Youth. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet spoke in support of the initiative and will join other stakeholders to make Denver the pre-eminent child-friendly city in the United States.
"We are extremely fortunate to have a donor who recognizes the power of leveraging resources to build a world-class program like the Child Friendly City Initiative," noted Chancellor Stiegmann. "A gift of this significance will have a major impact in attracting additional donors who are committed to promoting the health, safety and welfare of children worldwide."
Mark Gelernter, dean of the College of Architecture and Planning, has been instrumental in advancing the movement to a center-based educational approach within the college. Gift proceeds will be used to provide infrastructure and operating funds for Children, Youth and Environments Center for Research and Design programs and to support capacity building. Willem van Vliet, CYE director, said, "This landmark gift propels us into the future. It will allow the center to build on its successes and expand its activities."
Established in 2004, CYE studies the influence of the environment on children. The center coordinates interdisciplinary activities that connect research and teaching to policy and practice in the area of environmental design and community development for youth. It also publishes an on-line journal with readers in 143 countries and has spearheaded a number of significant projects locally, including the Learning Landscape Initiative.
The Learning Landscape Initiative is a partnership between the CYE Center, Denver Public Schools and other community organizations. It has designed and constructed more than 50 learning landscapes in Denver's "Focus" neighborhoods for the benefit of more than 18,000 students, 92 percent of whom qualify for free and reduced federal lunch programs. Representing an investment of $15 million, CYE students are actively involved in the design-build service-learning experience. They work closely with a school and community to develop a master plan and design and build the learning landscape or redeveloped playground. For more information on the CYE Center, visit .
The donor wants to support important programs like the Learning Landscapes and Child Friendly Cities Initiatives which can have a transformational impact in the lives of children, families and their communities. According to the donor, "this gift is intended to leverage additional resources so CYE can attract excellent researchers and students and establish the university as a place of national and international prominence for work focused on the relationships among children, youth and their environments."
The University of Colorado College of Architecture and Planning delivers programs to graduate students through the downtown Denver campus and undergraduate programs on the Boulder campus. Design, research and scholarship are the distinctive practices used to investigate, understand, integrate and affect the complex relationships between our designed environments and their natural and cultural settings. For more information, visit .
Founded in 1967, the University of Colorado Foundation is the independent, non-profit philanthropic partner of the University of Colorado. With total assets of more than $750 million, the CU Foundation enables donors to advance the mission of the University of Colorado. For more information, visit .
Contacts:
Gigi Reynolds
303-541-1219, gigi.reynolds@cufund.org
Danielle Zieg
303-556-2523, Danielle.Zieg@cudenver.edu