Boulder & Community

Pike on a Bike, The White Line and the Fight for Pedestrian Safety

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:35:30 +0000

Pike on a Bike, The White Line and the Fight for Pedestrian Safety Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:35

On July 29, 2023, a reckless driver hit and killed 17-year-old Magnus White, a U.S. National Team Cyclist, on the Diagonal Highway outside of Boulder. To raise awareness of thousands of pedestrians and cyclists killed annually by drivers, White’s parents, Michael (EnvDes’00) and Jill White (Mktg’99; MOrgMgmt’23), created a nonprofit called The White Line.

In November 2024, the Pi Kappa Alpha (ΠKA) fraternity — known as ”Pike” — held a fundraiser on CU Boulder’s campus for The White Line and to honor Magnus White, who was a friend of several of the fraternity members. For six days, Pike members traded shifts riding outside on a stationary bike, even through a snowstorm. They rode near a memorial of more than 8,400 candles that represented each pedestrian or cyclist killed by a driver in 2023.

“Looking out at the 8,423 candles was a true reminder of how valuable every single moment was,” said Graydon Abel (Fin’27), who helped create the fundraiser with his brother Gavin (Fin’27) and their fraternity brother Sebastian Edwards (Econ’27). “Change is needed, and we hope this effort makes a difference.”

Start:

Nov. 2, 5:05 p.m.

Finish:

Nov. 8, 12:28 p.m.*

(*12:28 p.m. was the exact time Magnus White was struck in 2023.)

$51,007

Money raised

2,100

Miles ridden, the equivalent of biking from Boulder to Miami, New York City or Mexico City.

8,423

Total minutes, representing the number of pedestrians and cyclists killed by drivers in 2023.

Degrees: Coldest temperature during the fundraiser.

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After a driver killed Magnus White while he was riding his bike, his parents founded The White Line to raise awareness about pedestrian and cycling safety. Last fall, the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity held a fundraiser for the nonprofit.

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Spring 2025

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A Century of CU Spirit from CU Twin Peggy Coppom

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:33:00 +0000

A Century of CU Spirit from CU Twin Peggy Coppom Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:33

Maria Kuntz

Peggy Coppom in her Boulder home.

When I arrived at Peggy Fitzgerald Coppom’s (A&S ex’46) home, I was immediately greeted by Eddie Olivari (MPubAd’78), a friend who drives her to and from church daily. He explained that her phone interview with The Today Show was running a little long, but he invited me in, offered me a Coke and showed me the ins and outs of her 1940s pink-and-chrome Frigidaire electric stove.

Peggy is perhaps the most unlikely of modern-day superfans. She doesn’t wear face paint and costumes or seek the attention of cameras and Instagram. When Peggy and her identical twin, Betty Fitzgerald Hoover (A&S ex’46), who died in 2020, began cheering on the Buffs in the 1940s, they were just out to have a good time.

“Growing up on Colorado’s eastern plains, moving to Boulder for high school equated to the big city. At the time, high school games and city dances were the common ways to socialize,” said Peggy.

The twins met their future husbands at Longmont High School, where their love of football and basketball took root.

“We liked basketball and football because that’s what we had in high school. We didn’t have anything else,” Peggy said. “And then we said, well, let’s go. We better go.”

When they enrolled at CU Boulder, they found a new love: CU athletics. In addition to football and basketball, Peggy and Betty started following more sports, including volleyball and tennis.

For some years, raising children took them away from their beloved stands. But that break was short-lived.

“Well, Betty and I used to say — and I still do — we pray and play,” she said. “Prayer is first. Play is second.”

Peggy recounted, “My older son Jack (PE’67) played baseball at CU Boulder and was an All Big Eight Player his junior year. So we went to all the baseball games in those days.”

In time, the sisters began faithfully attending football and basketball, volleyball, soccer, tennis, baseball, lacrosse and track, and they became a staple in the bleachers — easily spotted in their custom athletic gold sweatshirts.

Pray and Play

While Peggy is most famous for her Buffalo fandom, there are two constants in her life: church and CU athletics. Raised Catholic, Peggy started attending daily mass in the 1950s.

“Well, Betty and I used to say — and I still do — we pray and play,” she said. “Prayer is first. Play is second.”

Peggy and Betty were known to pray for CU Buffs players, and the list is always growing. Even if Peggy forgets someone’s name, she puts them on the list because “He knows who they are,” she said, pointing upward. Prayer anchors Peggy, and she places it first because it helps her “have good faith, keep a positive attitude and be happy.”

Peggy represents more than CU fandom — she embodies goodness and loyalty. During our visit, I asked her friend Mike Richardson — who is from Estes Park, Colorado, and stopped by with a black-and-gold holiday wreath for Peggy — how they met.

“I was just drawn to her,” he said. “When my kids were little, I’d see the twins at all of the games, and so I finally went up and introduced myself and my kids.”

In November, a packed Folsom Field sang “Happy Birthday” to Peggy on her 100th birthday.

“I just stood there and cried because that’s the way it made me feel — very, very humble,” she said. “I don’t feel like I’ve done anything except be a good fan to CU. [Betty and I] went to so many sporting things. I can’t deny that we have been good fans. We have been.”

But don’t think for a minute that she lacks fire.

When we talked about winning and losing, she said: “If no one wanted the other team to win, it wouldn’t be any fun. It’s a big competition. When the opposing team’s fans come to the game and cheer loudly, those are the games that we get excited about.”

Peggy Gets Her Bowl

“Be loyal. No matter if they win or lose in the end, it’ll make you feel better to be loyal to your school because everyone can’t be a winner every time. And sometimes your loyalty is more important when you lose than when you win.”

The “CU Twins” and their famed school spirit were legendary in Boulder before Coach Prime’s arrival, but Peggy credits him with making her internationally famous.

Reflecting on the press conferences, interviews, photo ops and her own name, image and likeness (NIL) deal, she said, “I was thinking the other day, ‘You know, God, I wonder if your part in this was to help me not miss Betty so much. You’re giving me all these things to do now.’” For the past two years, the CU Boulder community has filled her life when she needed it most.

When Peggy and I met, the bowl game Coach Prime promised her at the beginning of the season was 17 days away. She would fly first class to Texas for the Dec. 28 Alamo Bowl.

Her advice to other CU fans: “Be loyal. No matter if they win or lose in the end, it’ll make you feel better to be loyal to your school because everyone can’t be a winner every time. And sometimes your loyalty is more important when you lose than when you win.”

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Photo by Glenn Asakawa

Peggy Coppom, a lifelong supporter of CU athletics, celebrated her 100th birthday and reflected on her loyalty to the Buffs.

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Spring 2025

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A CU Education Partnership Is Inspiring the Next Generation of Climate Advocates

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:18:16 +0000

A CU Education Partnership Is Inspiring the Next Generation of Climate Advocates Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:18

Hannah Fletcher

On a fall day, elementary education majors in Melissa Braaten’s class are busy — busy as beavers, one might say — building mock beaver dams out of water and natural materials in small bins. During this exercise, budding teachers role-play teaching young learners in their future classrooms, asking questions and analyzing beavers’ role in ecosystems.

The climate science lesson is modeled after one that Braaten’s community partners teach at Heatherwood Elementary in Boulder County as part of Classrooms for Climate Action (C4CA). In this particular lesson, student scientists (lovingly referred to as “beaver believers”) study real beaver habitats in the local waterway, where the dams create wetlands habitats for other species and maintain lush surroundings important for the increasingly drier state of Colorado.

Launched by retired fifth-grade teacher Tiffany Boyd (MEdu’92), C4CA brings together retired and practicing teachers, community members, local climate change experts and youth to work together toward climate solutions.

In C4CA, kindergarten through high school students learn about environmental justice issues and play an active role in climate solutions — from sharing flood-mitigation ideas with city council to working with open space officials to address fire risks.

Braaten, an associate professor of STEM education and associate dean for undergraduate and teacher education in CU Boulder’s School of Education, is a research partner for C4CA and documents how science teaching is powerful when it’s relevant to students’ lives and civic action.

With Braaten as the connector, C4CA educators visit her elementary education classes to share real-world examples and create C4CA’s own “ecosystem” of current and future teachers working together to support young people’s scientific inquiry and leadership in climate solutions.

“A central ingredient for C4CA’s success is that it takes everyone working together to make a change,” Braaten said. “Teachers credit its partner mentorship with inspiring and sustaining their efforts to help children be civic actors working for environmental justice — not only as future adults, but in the immediate present as vital members of our community.”

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Photo by Kristen Boyer/Boulder Valley School District

Classrooms for Climate Action connects future teachers, students and community partners to engage young learners in climate science.

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Spring 2025

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Ode to Boulder's World Famous Dark Horse

Anna Tolette — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 20:10:54 +0000

Ode to Boulder's World Famous Dark Horse Anna Tolette Mon, 03/10/2025 - 14:10

Anna Tolette

Push through the doors of Boulder’s Dark Horse, and you’ll find yourself in a veritable labyrinth, crammed to the gills with old movie props and memorabilia from the past century — anything from a grammar school diploma from Bangor, Maine, to a mod-podge collage of magazine cut-outs. Located on the corner of Baseline Road and U.S. Highway 36, this longtime favorite townie bar and grill has been a stalwart go-to for both community members and CU Boulder students since 1975 — but it also holds a special place in my heart.

On weeknights, my friends and I often pack into an oversized corner booth to cash in on amazing happy hour deals (half-off wells!). “The usual” for my partner, Omar, and I means we’re splitting a burger and an order of the spicy dry-rub wings with blue cheese and a side of hot sauce. Over the five years we have called Boulder home, this ritual has become an anchor of mine. Many an evening has been spent in various nooks and crannies of the bar discussing our next grand adventure, celebrating birthdays and milestones and partaking in what we affectionately call “horsing around.” A quick text to our friend group chat simply asking, “Horse?” rallies the troops in record time.

In early 2024, developers announced plans to reimagine the parcel of land where the Dark Horse has lived for more than five decades. Construction is slated to begin in 2026. According to the Denver Post, the proposed development, dubbed “Williams Village II,” would include 610 housing units, mostly dedicated to off-campus student housing and commercial space.

Long-time fans of the Dark Horse showed up in droves to the City of Boulder planning board meeting last March to express dismay about the proposal, citing their love for the quirky space and sharing concerns about how the plan would contribute to a lack of affordable housing in the Boulder area, among others.

The thought of losing the Dark Horse is unfathomable to me. The developers have promised to relocate the iconic bar nearby, but the sticky counters and years of names etched into the booths lend the bar its charm.

For now, my friends and I have taken it upon ourselves to plaster the town with “Save the Dark Horse” stickers.

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Photos courtesy 91��Ƭ��AVBoulder.com and Anna Tolette

The Dark Horse bar faces an uncertain future as redevelopment plans are formed.

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Spring 2025

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News Briefs from CU Boulder

Julia Maclean — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 19:10:15 +0000

News Briefs from CU Boulder Julia Maclean Mon, 03/10/2025 - 13:10

Heard Around Campus

“Coach Mac was an incredible man who taught me about the importance of faith, family and being a good husband, father and grandfather.”

– CU Boulder Athletic Director Rick George after the death of Bill McCartney on Jan.10, 2025. Coach Mac was among the most successful head coaches in all sports in CU Boulder’s 135-year athletic history.

Incarcerated at Risk in Climate Disasters

U.S. prisons are unprepared to safeguard the incarcerated from extreme heat, floods and other climate-related threats, according to a CU study with accounts from nearly three dozen formerly incarcerated people. Researchers found that vulnerabilities in infrastructure, insufficient emergency protocols and lack of oversight leave inmates at heightened risk during disasters. The team hopes their study will inspire more research around climate change adaptation, mitigation and prevention while also considering the voices of incarcerated people.

CU Buys Shuttered Louisville Movie Theater

CU Boulder purchased the 8.85-acre Louisville property that housed the Regal Cinebarre movie theater, which closed last May. The site, purchased for $10 million, is intended for a mixed-use, transit-oriented development that includes university housing. The property is seven miles from campus.

New Quantum Facility in Boulder

CU Boulder is spearheading and providing leadership and resources to a new 13,000-square-foot quantum facility in east Boulder. The effort is in partnership with Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines and Elevate Quantum, a tech hub with a coalition of 120 organizations. The facility will include collaborative office space for early-stage quantum companies and state-of-the-art scientific equipment.

Digits: Europa Instrument

The Surface Dust Analyzer, designed and built by the CU Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics team, launched to Jupiter’s Europa moon aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft to collect data that may determine whether the moon has conditions that could support life.

Years to get to Europa

35 pounds

Weight of CU apparatus

$53 million

Instrument’s cost

16 miles

How close Europa Clipper will be to the moon’s surface

~1.9B

Number of miles Europa Clipper will travel across the solar system

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Climate risks for incarcerated individuals, a new CU development in Louisville, a cutting-edge quantum facility and the legacy of Coach Bill McCartney.

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Spring 2025

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Sights Set on Boulder: Why Two CU Alums Moved Back

Anna Tolette — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 20:57:54 +0000

Sights Set on Boulder: Why Two CU Alums Moved Back Anna Tolette Tue, 11/12/2024 - 13:57

Karen Reid

When my husband, Charlie Reid (PhDMechEngr’89), and I were grad students at CU, leaving Colorado was definitely not on our to-do list. But after graduation, new job opportunities drew us eastward. Our plan was always to return to Boulder, but what started out as an anticipated five-year stint in New Jersey stretched to 10 and continued across multiple states as our careers progressed.

Now, after three decades, we’ve finally moved back. And while we were expanding our horizons, growing professionally and raising a family, Boulder was growing, too. We kept an eye on our town from afar, but now we have the opportunity to see and experience the changes firsthand.

The university’s campus has grown both in size and reputation: CU has doubled down on research, now boasting five Nobel laureates, and has gained international recognition. Students have so many more options for courses, programs and opportunities. The number of buildings, dorms and parking structures has also grown exponentially, and what were once empty fields filled with prairie dogs is now the thriving research hub of East Campus. Other notable changes include the expansion of Folsom Field and the shifting of school colors from sky blue and gold to a more sophisticated palette of gold, black and gray. Even the journalism school (where I studied) has been reincarnated as CMCI.

Things off campus have changed, too. The town of Boulder has put itself on the map. It consistently ranks as one of the nation’s top college towns, is a hotbed for entrepreneurial and innovative endeavors, and is currently in contention to host the Sundance Film Festival.

While change is inevitable, it’s bittersweet to see some of the transformations: Friday Afternoon Club (FAC) events at the Harvest House hotel are no more, Tulagi’s on The Hill is gone, the Kinetic Sculpture Challenge race folded, Crossroads Commons has been razed and reconceived as the 29th Street Mall, and the Pearl Street Mall no longer boasts many of our old haunts.

That being said, the myriad of new restaurants, experiences and shops to explore seem boundless, and old favorites like Peppercorn, Trident Booksellers and Café, and Into the Wind remain. Mike’s Camera is still nearby, and The Sink is as vibrant as ever!

Daily, I meet fascinating people, motivated students and inspiring colleagues. Boulder is bikeable and walkable — and who can deny the spectacular view? Even when things seem unfamiliar, all I need to do is glance at my beloved Flatirons and I am reminded that, while evolution is unstoppable, some things never change. Boulder will always be vibrant, beautiful and, quite simply, home to me.

Karen Reid (Jour’84; MA’90) works for CU Boulder RIO as a marketing and communications specialist and teaches public speaking as a lecturer in the CMCI communication department.

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Photo courtesy Karen Reid

Karen and Charlie Reid graduated from CU Boulder and left town over 30 years ago. Here's why they decided to move back.

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Fall 2024

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A Celestial Event: CU Eclipse Glasses

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 06:00:00 +0000

A Celestial Event: CU Eclipse Glasses Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/16/2024 - 00:00

Christie Sounart

CU Boulder alumni, staff, donors, parents and friends around the country took part in the April 8 solar eclipse viewing with special CU-themed eclipse glasses. Whether they were gazing at a full or partial eclipse, the moment brought awe and reflection.

“My son starts CU next fall, and it was really cool to wear the CU glasses together,” said Michael Woods (MechEngr’94) of Allen, Texas. “The eclipse was an amazing experience. The whole thing literally brought a tear to my eye.”

Elizabeth Eger (Comm, Engl’06; PhDComm’18) in Austin, Texas (top left), Margaret Mracek and Valerie Johnson in Somerset, New Jersey (top middle),CU Boulder Donor Relations team in Boulder, Colorado (top right), Michael Woods (MechEngr’94) and son Fischer in Allen, Texas (bottom left), Margaret Arreola’s daughter in Golden, Colorado (middle center), George Kiteley (MusEdu’66; MMus’68) (middle right), Katy Kotlarczyk, Vice Chancellor for Advancement, and her daughter in Boulder, Colorado (bottom right)

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Photos courtesy Elizabeth Eger, Margaret Mracek and Valerie Johnson, CU Boulder Donor Relations, Michael Woods, Margaret Arreola, George Kiteley and Katy Kotlarczyk

CU Boulder alumni, staff, donors, parents and friends around the country took part in the April 8 solar eclipse viewing with special CU-themed eclipse glasses.

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Becoming a Boulder Climber

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 06:00:00 +0000

Becoming a Boulder Climber Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/16/2024 - 00:00

Chris Weidner

I woke up in my VW van parked behind the Boulder Rock Club and started making coffee, map in hand, plotting the drive to Eldorado Canyon. I’d arrived a week earlier from my home in Seattle to spend the summer guiding for the Boulder Rock School. It was my first day, and I was nervous — not about the climbing (though I’d be leading clients up routes I’d never climbed before), but about the drive.

It was July 2001 (when paper maps were still a thing), and I didn’t know Broadway from Baseline. And though I’d been guiding in Washington since the mid-1990s, I feared being “found out” as an outsider in Colorado. Nothing scared me more than getting lost en route to one of the country’s most famous climbing areas with a van full of clients paying good money for local knowledge.

To my immense relief, all went well that day. So well, in fact, that by the time another week had passed, I’d ditched the map and had logged dozens of routes in Eldo (mostly “onsight” guiding), Boulder Canyon, the Flatirons and on Longs Peak. I couldn’t believe the volume and variety of climbing so close to town. I would guide in the morning, climb with friends in the afternoon and repeat. I’d never climbed so much in my life.

Admittedly, I used to roll my eyes whenever I heard Boulder being called the “Center of the Universe” for American climbing. It couldn’t be that good. But by the end of that summer, my skepticism had turned to pride: I owned 14 guidebooks covering thousands of climbs, all within 90 minutes of Boulder. I felt like I was just getting started.

So I did that classic Boulder thing: I never left.

I stayed because being a climber in Boulder feels limitless; it means as many different things as there are climbers. We’re scramblers and ice hogs, first ascensionists and gym rats, alpinists and Olympians. We’re young and old, fast and slow, inexperienced and elite. We’re of every color, gender, shape and size, and yet somehow we’ve all chosen climbing as our medium to face fears, challenge our beliefs and build meaningful friendships.

Above all, being a climber in Boulder means taking part in a wild and wonderful community invigorated by our unique vertical playground. Here, there’s a synergy at work — a motivating power that strengthens relationships well beyond the “Off belay!” on top of a climb.

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Photo by Jon Glassberg, Louder Than Eleven

Local climber and writer Chris Weidner reflects on his first months participating in Boulder's incredible outdoor climbing scene.

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InsideU Helps Kids & Caregivers Build Emotional Literacy

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 06:00:00 +0000

InsideU Helps Kids & Caregivers Build Emotional Literacy Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/16/2024 - 00:00

Kelsey Yandura

“Have you ever thought about what’s going on inside your head?”

It’s no small question — and the first one school-aged users are asked to contemplate in episode one of InsideU, a web-based app that uses Pixar’s Inside Out as a platform for social-emotional learning.

Over the course of four animated episodes, a character dubbed “the Mind Worker” guides kids through real-world scenarios. Characters like Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust offer common language and frameworks to build emotional awareness in children and their caregivers.

“It's a platform for understanding some of our most difficult moments,” said Sam Hubley, an assistant research professor with CU Boulder’s Renée Crown Wellness Institute, whose vision for InsideU began nearly a decade ago with the release of the movie.

Hubley and his team at the Crown Institute have spent years in partnership with Pixar Animation Studios and the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver to create an accessible and free experience that is also fun.

“We wanted something that could be used in schools, as well as in less formal settings like after-school programs,” said Hubley. “I give this to six-year-olds who've never seen it and, within 10 seconds, they know exactly how to start playing.”

According to Marie Olivett, director of mental health programming at the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Denver, the app has become a vital part of their after-school programming.

“Technology is the language of kids,” said Olivett. “InsideU is very experiential and helps them gain control of how they want to make decisions in a way that's really empowering.”

Julia Zigarelli, deputy director of the Crown Institute, has seen tremendous results upon implementation.

“I could see a hundred clients in my office, but we'd never be able to reach this many kids at such a deep level,” said Zigarelli. “That accessibility and reach is really exciting to me. Our hope is that it reaches as many kids as possible.”

CU Boulder’s Renée Crown Wellness Institute has partnered with Pixar to launch a web-based application that can help kids better understand their emotions.

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