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IT
ITAN
ST E UNIVERSITY
STAT
OF DENVER
SUMMER 2014
Make the
gift of a
lifetime.
SUMMER 2014
VOL. 2 NO.2
MSUDENVER.EDU/MAGAZINE
METROPOLITAN
DENVER MAGAZINE
THE RESCUER
Neil Dreher (B.F.A. theatre 05)
served as an automation operator
for the 2014 Winter Olympic and
Paralympic Games in Sochi,
Russia. While working for the
games, he found a stray dog
in a trash pile and brought
her home to the U.S.
Photo by Mark Woolcott.
ONLINE only at
msudenver.edu/magazine.
20 24 26
PEAK EXPERIENCE
LIFTOFF
10 THE GIFT
16
12
18
03 THE CONVERSATION
04 THE NEWS
14
THE ADVOCATE
Denver attorney Hollynd
Hoskins levels the playing
field.
THE LEADER
Dave Montez leads the
charge for LGBT equality and
opportunity in Colorado.
UP AND AWAY
30 THE PEOPLE
ON THE COVER
Work from Navajo photographer and installation artist Will Wilsons Critical Indigenous Photographic
Exchange portrait project was showcased in the recent MSU Denver Center for Visual Art Cross Currents
exhibition of contemporary native art. His work combines new technology and classic techniques to portray
indigenous people in modern terms. Wilson created this tintype portrait of fellow Cross Currents artist Sarah
OrtegonMiss Native American USAfor the Metropolitan Denver Magazine. Read more on Page 16.
the
FIRSTWORD
02
SUMMER 2014
PUBLISHER CATHERINE LUCAS | EXECUTIVE EDITOR CHELSEY BAKER-HAUCK | EDITORS EMILY PATON DAVIES |
CLIFF FOSTER | LISA SPORTE | EDITORIAL ASSISTANT BRETT MCPHERSON (CLASS OF 2014) | CREATIVE
DIRECTOR SCOTT LARY | ART DIRECTOR CRAIG KORN, VEGGIEGRAPHICS | PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER
JULIE STRASHEIM | WEB CONTENT MANAGER NATHAN SOLHEIM | CONTRIBUTORS | JONATHAN BENTON |
MATTHEW BORKOWSKI | JANALEE CARD CHMEL | TREVOR DAVIS (CLASS OF 2015) | ROGER FILLION | LESLIE PETROVSKI |
AMY PHARE | STEVE REMICH | PAT ROONEY | CHRIS SCHNEIDER | JESSICA TAVES (B.A. IDP 11) | WILL WILSON | TOM
WILMES | MARK WOOLCOTT | EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD CATHERINE LUCAS, CHIEF OF STAFF AND ASSOCIATE TO
THE PRESIDENT FOR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS | CHELSEY BAKER-HAUCK, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MARKETING | GREG GEISSLER,
ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT OF DEVELOPMENT | DEBORA GILLIARD, PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT | KEN PHILLIPS (B.S. INDUSTRIAL
EDUCATION 83), CHAIR AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN | SAM NG, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF METEOROLOGY
Conversation
the
You Responded:
While reading the magazines
winter edition, I was very pleased
to find that MSU Denver is offering
a BSN program and many more
options for an RN-to-BSN degree.
I became an RN in 1998 and went
back to school after working
several years as a clinical RN.
I enrolled in MSCD at the time
in the Healthcare Management
Program. I obtained a BS in that
program and received a great
job offer from my practicum
experience in a supervisory-
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit 2965
Denver, CO
Campus Box 14
P.O. Box 173362
Denver, CO 80217
FALL 2013
METROPOLITAN
STATE UNIVERSITY
OF DENVER
WINTER 2014
ARTISANS
News
the
An Engaging University
MSU Denver received the 2014
Engaged Campus Award from
Campus Compact of the Mountain
West for its commitment to
community engagement across the
institution. Campus Compact is part
of a national coalition of more than
1,100 colleges and universities that
are committed to the values that
service learning and civic engagement bring to higher education and
the community.
ENGINEERING
SOLUTIONS
With his students help, support from a local nonprofit and 144
aluminum cans, Aaron Brown fabricated a solar device that will help
reduce heating bills in Denvers low-income Westwood neighborhood
by an average of $30 per month.
physics
major
Taletha
The device is built with simple materials such as soda cans, plywood,
paint, plastic and a fan. The technology isnt revolutionary, but the
price is rightjust $35 to build.
There are people who live and die in terrible conditions that are
easily remedied through simple engineering solutions, says Brown, a
proponent of humanitarian engineering.
SUMMER 2014
W I N N I N G WAY S
MSU Denver and President Stephen Jordan have received a lot of recognition recently,
including Jordan being named one of Denvers 50 most powerful people by 5280 magazine.
Other honors include:
> Nonprofit Impact Award from the Colorado Nonprofit Association, recognizing the
impact of Colorado leaders who work year-round to make a positive difference. Jordan
accepted the award from Governor John Hickenlooper (pictured).
> Outstanding Support of Hispanic Issues in Higher Education Award from the American
Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, given to an individual who has made
significant contributions to the Latino higher education community.
> Sol Trujillo National Lifetime Leadership Award from the Latin American Education
Foundation. The University was a strong advocate of the ASSET bill, which allows eligible
undocumented students to pay in-state tuition, and Jordan is dedicated to making MSU
Denver a federally recognized Hispanic Serving Institution within the next 10 years.
> Civil Rights Award from the Anti-Defamation League Mountain States Region, presented
to Jordan and MSU Denver Board of Trustees Chair Robert Cohen in recognition of the
Universitys leadership in providing higher education access to undocumented students.
Notable quotable
Greatness is not just a word but
something Im active at being. You
have to find your path, believe in your
path and live it. Whatever room you
walk in, you can be as big as you want.
PHOTO TREVOR DAVIS
SUMMER 2014
05
the
NEWS
Social Work Status Upgrade
THANK YOU
TO OUR ROADRUNNERS ATHLETICS SPONSORS
Auraria Campus Bookstore
ImageSeller
SpringHill Suites
Hotel VQ
B E S T F OR V E T S
Military Times named the MSU
Denver School of Business to its
Best for Vets: Business Schools
2014 list. Best for Vets rankings
factor in academic quality, outcomes
and policies; school culture; student
support and cost.
As with all of the Best for Vets
rankings, Best for Vets: Business
Schools is an editorially independent
news project that evaluates the many
factors that make an institution a
good fit for military veterans, says
Amanda Miller, editor of Military
Times EDGE magazine.
WANT MORE?
07
the
NEWS
BIG SHOTS
The No. 1 Roadrunners mens basketball team aimed high but fell short of a national
championship, losing to Central Missouri in the NCAA Division II semifinals in March.
Juniors Mitch McCarron (pictured at right) and Nicholas Kay were named Capital One
second team Academic All-America, becoming the first pair of teammates in school history
to be named Academic All-America and the only teammates to be chosen among this
years 15-person selections. Senior sensation Brandon Jefferson was named the National
Association of Basketball Coaches NCAA Division II Player of the Year and the Division II
Bulletin National Player of the Year after leading the Roadrunners to the Final Four.
Four RoadrunnersBreanna Hemming, Jon Clarke, Kirk Harvey and Nick Kadleccompeted
in the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in May. Hemming earned All-America
honors with an eighth-place finish in the womens 1,500-meters, while Harvey earned
All-America honors by finishing fifth in the mens 3,000-meter steeplechase.
FOLLOW the Roadrunners at gometrostate.com.
Gift
THE
HOTELIERS
NAVIN AND RITA DIMOND
INVEST IN THE
TRANSFORMATIVE
POWER OF EDUCATION.
STORY JANALEE CARD CHMEL | PHOTO MARK WOOLCOTT
11
The
12
SUMMER 2014
When Hollynd Hoskins (B.A. communications multi-major 87) was in second grade, she
wanted to play soccer. Badly. The boys in her class played at recess every day and she
joined in. So, when those boys formed a team, Hoskins naturally wanted to join that too.
This was the early 70s, she recalls. I wanted to be on the team and Id try to go to practice
but they werent sure what to do with a girl. The parents and coach had to have a big
meeting about whether I could play, and my mom had to march down to the meeting.
Ultimately, I got to play.
Hoskins played soccer all the way through collegeincluding two years as a Roadrunner
and she even received a scholarship to coach while she was still a student at MSU Denver.
That willingness to challenge the system has become Hoskins hallmark in Colorado courts
as well. She has been named one of the Best Lawyers in America and one of the Top 50
Women Colorado Super Lawyers. She has tried everything from death-penalty cases to
complex medical-malpractice lawsuits.
The essence of Hoskins seems to rest in her desire to level the playing field, whether
thats on a soccer field or in a courtroom.
Im a little bit of a bleeding-heart liberal, she says, explaining a career that has included
clerkships at the Legal Aid Foundation, the ACLU and the domestic violence unit at the
Denver City Attorneys office. Hoskins then spent more than a decade as a trial lawyer
for the Colorado State Public Defenders office. I believe its important to give back to the
community and to work for the indigent and less fortunate so that everyone can be on a
level playing field. Its important to the integrity of our system.
Today, Hoskins is a shareholder of Leventhal, Brown & Puga, a Denver law firm specializing
in medical-malpractice and personal-injury cases. Perhaps the most high-profile litigation
of her career thus far involved numerous lawsuits she filed against a local hospital and
physicians on behalf of 15 patients, who were infected with hepatitis C.
This litigation centered around a technician who was accused of stealing fentanyl, a
narcotic used for anesthesia on surgical patients, then injecting herself with the drug.
She would then refill the dirty syringe with a saline solution and return it to a surgical
tray where it was then unknowingly administered to patients, infecting them with the
hepatitis C virus.
Hoskins was adamant that the case go beyond compensating the victims to creating a
safer environment for future patients.
DENVER
ATTORNEY
HOLLYND HOSKINS
LEVELS THE
We wanted to make changes to prevent this from ever happening again, says Hoskins.
We helped to hold the hospital and anesthesiologists accountable for the way they
safeguard narcotics like fentanyl and to change their practice to secure them from diversion.
Lauren Lollini was one of the victims represented by Hoskins.
Hollynd truly cares, says Lollini. She cares about her clients and gets to know them as
people, which helps their cases. She is a very protective lawyer and I felt like she always
had my back. On the flip side, when we were deposing the anesthesiologists, she was a
shark.
Hollynd knows her stuff and she uses it for good.
PLAYING FIELD.
Hollynd Hoskins received the 2014 Alumni Association Deans Award for the School of
Professional Studies.
STORY JANALEE CARD CHMEL | PHOTO MARK WOOLCOTT
READ about other Alumni Association award winners or nominate a Roadrunner for an
award at msudenver.edu/alumni.
SUMMER 2014
13
Leader
The
SUMMER 2014
15
Beauty
Ortegon wears her crown lightly. Earnest and downto-earth, Ortegonwho is Eastern Shoshone and
Northern Arapaho on her mothers side, Basque on her
fathersapplied to be a pageant contestant because she
saw it as a way to transcend her natural shyness.
It looked like something interesting to do and learn and
meet different varieties of people, she says.
Unlike the Miss America Pageant in which contestants
must win local and state competitions prior to entering the
national event, the MNAUSA pageantnow in its third
yearrequires an application process and interview to
participate. Contestants must satisfy requirements such
as U.S. citizenship, submitting proof of Certificate of Degree
of Indian Blood, and other mandates. There is no swimsuit competition; MNAUSA instead focuses on promoting
Native American traditions, leadership and goals.
To get ready for the pageant, Ortegon, who is the 10th
of 12 children, made a beaded belt and earrings to go
with her evening gown, as well as the jingle dress she
wore during her talent showcasetraditional jingle
dancing, which she only took up three years ago. She
also presented some of her artwork.
Queen
SUMMER 2014
17
Interview
THE
Q:
A:
The Broncos christened the press box at Sports Authority Field at Mile High the Jim
Saccomano Press Box. In May he received the prestigious South Metro Denver Chamber
Lifetime Achievement Award. Saccomano will continue to keep a not-so-low profile in
his so-called retirement with his Broncos Sideline Stories television series, and he will
continue to consult with the Broncos.
That said, the career arc of the Denver native has risen, not coincidentally, alongside the
Broncos evolution as the premier professional sports team in Colorado and the entire
Rocky Mountain region. Recently the 1970 graduate of MSU Denver (B.A. speech
communication) sat down to talk about his unforgettable decades.
Q:
A:
Q:
A:
Q:
A:
Q:
A:
SUMMER 2014
19
PEAK
Experience
SUMMER 2014
21
SUMMER 2014
Bried, 31, was just 29 years old when she applied for
the director of summit operations position. She wasnt
expecting much to come from it, but working at the
Mount Washington Observatory had been on her bucket
list for years and, as she says, Youre never going to do
crazy things if you dont take crazy chances.
24
SUMMER 2014
The manufacturing and aerospace industries are saying, We cant find talent.
They are bringing their business back from China and they want homegrown
talent, but we have a shortfall in workforce. We need to educate our own people.
Peggy Severson, Business Development Representative, Denver Office of Economic Development
Up and
Katherine Archuletas
journey started in a
Denver housing
project and has
28
SUMMER 2014
And when she sees the Blue Bear in front of the Colorado
Convention Center, she can look back to the work she
did for Denvers Public Art One Percent, tying 1 percent
of city capital projects with budgets of $1 million and
up to public art for that project.
SUMMER 2014
29
People
Alumni News + Notes
the
1980
1981
1995
2005
2010
2002
2007
Erica Johnson (B.A. theatre 10) is a fulltime actor at Imagination Makers Theater
Company in Boulder, Colo. She performed in
12 productions while at MSU Denver, where
her favorite role was the Wicked Witch of
the West in The Wizard of Oz.
2008
1985
2003
Jeremy Johnson (B.A. speech communication 03) is a staff writer for The Derrick
and The News-Herald newspapers in Oil
City, Pa. He lives with his wife and young
daughter in Franklin, Pa.
ROADRUNNERS ABROAD
MSU Denver Alumni Travel Program participants explored
the lake district of northern Italy in September 2013. Pictured
on the banks of Lake Maggiore in Cannobio, Italy, are (from
left) George Shepherd, Violet Pimentel (B.S. contract 85),
Richard Jividen (B.F.A. art 00), Valerie Hale and Anne Grady.
msudenver.edu/alumni/travel
Mary Robertson (B.A. IDP 05) is completing a Ph.D. in sociology at the University
of Colorado Boulder and has accepted a
tenure-track assistant professor position
at California State University San Marcos
in the sociology department.
SUMMER 2014
2011
Sophia Chavez-Hilton (B.S. IDP 08) practices various spiritual and holistic wellness
approaches in underserved areas such as
the La Alma/Lincoln Park neighborhood in
Denver.
Analeise Casey (B.S. integrative therapeutics 11) and Jeremy Casey (B.S. integrative
therapeutics 11) met each other while at
MSU Denver. Now husband and wife, they
are studying together at the Rocky Vista
University College of Osteopathic Medicine
in Parker, Colo.
2009
2012
30
The
the limit
STORY AMY PHARE
So he did.
SUMMER 2014
31
People
In Memory
the
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
Philip Boxer, emeritus dean of liberal arts, was one of MSU Denvers
earliest faculty members. In 1938,
Boxer earned his bachelors degree
in business from the University of
Kansas. He owned a steakhouse
for 20 years, and while running it
he studied English literature at the
University of Denver. After earning his masters degree and a Ph.D.,
he sold the restaurant. Boxer joined
MSU Denver in 1965 as a professor
of English literature, philosophy
and religion. In the late 1960s Boxer
chaired the English Department and
later became dean of the School of
Liberal Arts. He was on the Academic
Deans Council and founded the
New Campus Review and Cultural
Caravan events series. He died in
January 2013.
Hubert Hub Safran taught business law at MSU Denver and was a
well-known lawyer and lobbyist in
Colorado. Safran served as a member of the Colorado Legislature from
1964 to 1974 and voted on the bill
that first made the University a fouryear college. He died in December
2013.
PLUG IN
> COMMENCEMENT
> HOMECOMING
> ATHLETICS
> CLASSROOMS
> BOARDS AND COMMITTEES
> SPECIAL EVENTS
32
Ronald Hill Sr. was a faculty member in the MSU Denver Speech
Department who was regarded by
many as an excellent instructor. Hill
received his bachelors, masters and
honorary doctoral degrees from Bob
Jones University. He was ordained
a minister in South Carolina and
started a church there. Hill had a
career as a pastor and school principal for 26 years. He was still teaching
at the time of his death in February
2013.
SUMMER 2014
Get started at
msudenver.edu/alumni/volunteer.
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PAID
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Denver, CO
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The Race
You could say that the skys the limit for Assistant Professor of Aviation and Aerospace Science
Tanya Gatlin (B.S. aviation management 96). In 2013, she and aviation student Daily Davies
pictured here with a World War II-era Stearman biplaneflew in the Air Race Classic (ARC), a
four-day, cross-country competition for female pilots. The duo finished a respectable 28th out of
49 initial entries. The tradition of womens air racing started in 1929, and today the ARC aims to
encourage and educate women pilots and preserve the tradition of pioneering women in aviation.
Gatlin will race again this year, teaming up with experimental aircraft pilot Gayle Schutte. The
ARC provides an amazing amount of flying in an incredibly short amount of time, says Gatlin.
Its also a ton of fun.