Project Mission & Goals
Established by Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano in January 2020, the CU Boulder History Project seeks to communicate to the university community CU Boulder’s rich and complicated history through multiple frames using an intersectional perspectives that demonstrate our commitment to inclusive excellence and to the deepening of our institutional memory.
The goal of project is to provide a complete and accurate telling of CU Boulder’s history, and to draw out new and diverse stories that deepen our understanding of our community’s strengths and flaws. To accomplish this, we are embarking on a process of change through openness, transparency, collaboration, and accountability.
As we look to the past and present to find missing voices, the Chancellor has asked Dr. Polly Bugros McLean from the College of Media, Communication and Information, who has extensive knowledge on CU Boulder and Boulder’s history, to serve as the committee Chair for the project. She will be supported by staff members in my office, faculty, staff, students (graduate and undergrads), and alumni.
Teams
The project will also be supported by six working teams who can provide subject matter expertise and institutional perspectives with a convenor who organizes the meetings and maintains a system to share information. Team leaders will also meet monthly with the project chair to guarantee that the research, workflows, and project deliverables can be produced and delivered in a timely manner.
Additional Check Points and Monitoring
A number of CU Boulder and Boulder/Denver community checkpoints have been established to keep various audiences and interest groups aware of the project. The chair has met will all CUB deans, and with the chairs of Ethnic Studies, History, English, Journalism, Women & Gender Studies, the Boulder Faculty Assembly. The project will also involve the Director of the Blair Caldwell African American Research Library and the Carnegie Library for Local History. History watchers, Drs. William Wei and Al Ramirez will be consulted on a regular basis.
Resource Committee
The project will also be supported by a resource committee comprised of faculty, staff, students, alumni across generations and city archivists (Boulder and Denver), who can provide subject matter expertise and institutional perspectives. The resource committee will also be serving as a checkpoint to guarantee that the research, workflows, and project deliverables can be produced and delivered.
Our collective history will be presented in easily accessible and innovative ways to be determined by the committee so that students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the broader Boulder/Colorado community have an appreciation and understanding of CU Boulder’s unique, dynamic history and the challenges we face as a community.
Project Timeline
After a delay due to the pandemic, project work began in February 2021. The project teams have monthly meetings to keep the teams steering committee will meet monthly and is anticipating continued work through spring of 2024.