Although most of us on the Colorado State University campus are more used to marking time by the academic calendar, as we prepare for the long winter break, the SOURCE staff decided to look back over the stories that generated nearly 1.4 million pageviews during calendar year 2018. All we can say is that’s a lot of stories – and photos and videos – created by professionals here in the Division of External Relations and in colleges and units across campus.
We hope you enjoy this retrospective, and if you come across a story you don’t remember reading the first time, just click on the link to go to the complete text.
Happy holidays, and a peaceful new year to all.
January
Blue moon eclipse over the Student Recreation Center, Jan. 31. Photo by John Eisele, CSU Photography
Jan. 8 – Dr. Tony Frank, Colorado State University president and chancellor of the CSU System, receives the prestigious Citizen of the West award for 2018.
Jan. 15 – Campus and Fort Collins communities join together to observe Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a march, speakers and workshops on social justice topics.
February
Jan. 23 – The First Amendment Conversation Series, successfully piloted in Fall 2017 to examine issue of free speech on campus, continues for Spring semester.
Jan. 25 – SOURCE readers met CSU alumnus Eric Tippeconnic ahead of the opening for his art exhibition called “Comanche Motion: The Art of Eric Tippeconnic” at the Bullock Museum in Austin, Texas.
Snow blankets the Oval during a February storm. Photo by Griffin Moores, College of Business.
Feb. 1 – In response to white nationalist flyer appearing on campus, President Frank sends campus the message that “a Nazi is a Nazi is a Nazi,” and Colorado State is no place for hate.
Feb. 10 – CSU alumnus and benefactor Walter Scott, Jr. is awarded the Founders Day Medal at the annual 1870 Dinner.
March
Feb. 18 – The remarkable Casavant Freres pipe organ, created especially for CSU, announces events to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Feb. 21 – Holocaust survivor Marthe Cohn, 97, speaks about her experiences spying on actual Nazi soldiers during WWII as part of Holocaust Awareness Week.
The campus community marched together to declare CSU is No Place 4 H8 during CSUnite on the Plaza, March 29. Video by Ron Bend and CSU videographers.
March 9 – Mostafa Hassan wins his second consecutive shot put title to become only the second Ram to win two NCAA titles.
March 16 – Temple Grandin Equine Center, part of the National Western Center in Denver, holds a community open house.
April
March 19 – Laura Jensen is named Vice Provost for Planning and Effectiveness and will oversee the university’s strategic plan refresh.
March 23 – Nico Medved returns to CSU as head coach of the men’s basketball team.
Beekeeping students installed honeybee hives outside Durrell Dining Center on April 22. Photo by William A. Cotton, CSU Photography
April 5 – Leslie Taylor is named Vice President of Enrollment and Access.
April 10 – The annual Rams Remember Rams memorial ceremony is held on the steps of the Administration Building
April 11 – Tom Walker of RamRide is named the nation’s Student Employee of the Year.
May
April 18 – Local artist Amelia Caruso presents her painting selected to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the President’s Commission on Women and Gender Equity to CSU. It now hangs in the Lory Student Center.
April 21 – The closing night of the two-week long ACT Film Festival features the legendary Harry Belfonte.
April 26 – The CSU-sponsored Water in the West Symposium convenes two days of national and regional experts.
CSU conferred degrees on 4,165 undergraduate and 1,203 graduate students, including 79 doctoral students, 138 Doctors of Veterinary Medicine, and 915 master’s degree recipients, and commissioned 41 Army and Air Force ROTC officers in ceremonies May 11-13. Ramblings video by CSU Team Social.
May 3 – The Mobile Food Pantry from the Food Bank for Larimer County makes it final monthly stop of the semester on the CSU campus.
May 4 – In response to an incident involving campus police and two young Native men on an Admissions tour, Dr. Frank challenged the campus community to “push ourselves into uncomfortable places in order to see the reality of what people experience on our campus.”
June
May 11 – Los Angeles-based Latin hip-hop band Ozomatli works with Upward Bound students to prepare for a concert at Washington’s.
May 17 – SOURCE readers learn more about Haley Rowley’s journey to become Mountain West Swimmer of the Year.
May 18 – A memorial is held for Professor Carl Jorgensen, creator of the Aggie Geranium, who passed away at age 104.
Campus celebrates the official name of the new on-campus stadium, Canvas Stadium, June 15. Photo by John Eisele, CSU Photography
July
Comatose, the WWI-era cannon fired to mark Ram touchdowns since 1920, is refurbished ahead of the 2018 football season. Video by Ron Bend, CSU Videography.
July 18 – Nashville singer songwriter Jake Gill is just one of musical artists appearing every Wednesday evening throughout June and July in the free Lagoon Summer Concert Series.
August
July 24 – SOURCE readers receive an overview of the more than 100 CSU students who spent at least part of Spring semester studying at the Todos Santos Center in Baja Sur, Mexico.
Jenny Cavnar, a CSU alumna who made broadcast history as the first woman to do play-by-play for a televised Colorado Rockies game, was one of the first Rams to be featured in the new #ProudtoBe marketing campaign, debuted at the season opening football game, Aug. 27. Video by Brian Buss, CSU Creative Services.
Aug. 11 – First Consumer Day at the Trial Gardens invites the public to vote for their favorite high-altitude plants.
Aug. 16 – Renovations in Corbett/Parmalee lobby and dining facilities create The Foundry.
September
Aug. 20 – The Michael Smith Natural Resources Building is open in time to welcome students on the first day of classes.
Fall Semester – CSU announces 385 employees have benefitted from a living wage increase.
Arkansas Valley Research Center manager Mike Bartolo picks sample peppers before the groundbreaking of the CSU Arkansas Valley Campus in Rocky Ford, Sept. 4. Colorado State also broke ground on two more campuses this year: Orchard Mesa on the Western Slope and the Collaboration Campus with Arapahoe Community College, the Town of Castle Rock, the Castle Rock Economic Development Council and the Douglas County School District. in Castle Rock. Photo by William A. Cotton, CSU Photography.
Sept. 6 – CSU generates $338.4 million in research expenditures in Fiscal Year 2017, the 10th consecutive year research expenditures at the university have topped $300 million.
Sept. 17 – Kathleen Fairfax, new vice provost for International Programs, arrives on campus.
Sept. 23 – University Center for the Arts celebrates its 10th anniversary with an open house.
October
Sept. 24 – CSU welcomes 5,423 students in its record-breaking freshman class, marking 11 consecutive years of record enrollment.
Sept. 25 – Freshman Malachi Haynes named 2018-19 Boys & Girls Clubs National Youth of the Year.
Sept. 27 – CSU’s presence at Denver Startup Week includes journalism students gaining hands-on reporting experience.
The first batch of beer created in the teaching brewery in the Ramskeller in the Lory Student Center was tapped just in time for Homecoming, Oct. 12. Photo by John Eisele, CSU Photography.
Oct. 1 – Diversity Week kicks off with first anniversary of Feminist Fight Club on campus.
Oct. 3 – Dr. Frank delivers his final Fall Address, having announced earlier in the week that he will be stepping down as president of CSU June 30 to become full-time chancellor of the CSU System.
He also reveals that the State Your Purpose campaign has reached its $1 billion goal two years ahead of schedule, and fundraising will continue through 2020.
November
Oct. 18 – A video of the “singing” Antarctic ice shelf shot by CSU researchers goes viral.
Oct. 20 – The Pride Resource Center celebrates two decades of providing service to LGBTQ students and faculty.
Oct. 21 – A virtual concussion-testing tool takes first place in the Ram Reality Create-a-Thon sponsored by the Office of the Vice President of Research.
Oct. 30 – Following a successful pilot, free period products will be stocked in all All-Gender restrooms on campus.
The fifth annual Interfaith Friendsgiving served more than 200 members of the CSU and Fort Collins community on Nov. 7. Photo by William A. Cotton, CSU Photography.
Nov. 1 – Rocky Mountain PBS is airing one-minute “Conversation Starters” featuring CSU researchers.
Nov. 6 – Tom Biedscheid, director of financial aid, is named the first Student Success Superstar by the Provost’s Office.
Nov. 7 – Fifth annual Interfaith Friendsgiving serves more than 200 at Everyday Joe’s.
December
Nov. 9 – The Reinvention Collaborative honors Alan Lamborn and Blanche Hughes with The Lamborn-Hughes Institute.
Nov. 29 – CSU Marching Band performs the annual Parade of Lights preview around the UCA.
Nov. 30 – Students compete for a year’s tuition in the OtterBox Ethics Challenge presented by the College of Business.
Dr. Tony Frank enjoys his final presidential holiday serenade by tiny tots from the Early Childhood Center, Dec. 7. Photo by William A. Cotton, CSU Photography.
Dec. 2 – CSU delegation, including graduate students, attends international climate talks in Poland.
Dec. 3 – Mary Stromberger named dean of the Graduate School.
Dec. 10 – Search for CSU’s next president is in full swing.
Dec. 31 – University holiday; offices closed. Review a decade of campus transformation at the new building website, and contemplate the changes afoot in the coming year.
