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Nick Fisher

Buffs Grads: Fisher Made Most Of Complete CU Experience

May 06, 2019 | Football, Herbst Academic Center, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

BOULDER — A college education consists of far more than the classroom, exams and grades. It includes life experiences, community involvement, leadership and personal growth.

Nick Fisher did his best to experience it all in his time at Colorado.

Fisher, of course, is known to Colorado football fans as a four-year member of the Buffs who played a key role in CU's run to the 2016 Pac-12 South championship, and was a two-year starter and a senior team captain.

But Fisher was also a member of the Boulder Faculty Assembly Intercollegiate Athletics Committee and an active member of the Bolder Buffs Peer Advocacy Program, a group that promotes mental health among student-athletes. He served as a counselor/mentor for a group of high school students in the Crowley Foundation boys2Men Leadership summit, a non-profit organization; was instrumental in helping guest lecturers present seminars on diversity to the CU Athletic Department; and worked closely with a number of other student groups on campus.

That is just a short list of his activities outside football, a sport that required countless hours of his time during his four years at Colorado.

Somehow, he found time for everything.

"Nick is passionate about people and he wants to build communities and help people understand each other," said CU's Medford Moorer, associate director for academics/development with the Athletic Department. "College helped him with that. He came to a realization that the relationships he has built matter and he can use them to better the community and himself. As his time as a student-athlete progressed, he developed and refined that understanding."

Fisher will graduate this week with a major in advertising and minors in ethnic studies and leadership studies. After what he admits was "not a good" freshman year in the classroom, he rebounded and will leave with a solid grade point average.

But along with the degree, he will take with him a desire to help his community and the knowledge of how to institute and cultivate the process — something that didn't occur by wearing a helmet and shoulder pads.

That undertaking, he admits, did not come easily. It required a commitment to expand his horizon beyond the world of athletics.

"Outside of football, I got to develop who I am,"  Fisher said. "I got to be myself. A lot of people see you as a football player and you start seeing yourself as a football player. But I got to be someone else as well, and that was liberating. Finding out a lot about myself was a journey that was really interesting."

Fisher smiles as he recounts his personal growth at CU. When he arrived, he admits he harbored some rigid beliefs.

"My freshman, sophomore years I was young, kind of an angry kid," he said. "I didn't take time to understand things. My generation — it's hard to wait on things. We want things now. But I think I've learned patience. I'm a little more understanding, a little more compassionate toward others' situations. I'm able to view things from other people's eyes."

He also learned how to listen — and how to say "yes" when people offered opportunities to engage in activities outside of football. That led to a transformation that he jokingly refers as going from the "old Nick" to the "new Nick."

"I took an improv class where you learn that the ability to say 'yes' is a big thing," Fisher said. "You never know where it might take you. That's true for things in your regular life. People would say, 'Hey Nick you might like this,' or 'Hey, Nick, you'd be a good person for this.' If I'd said no to those things, maybe I'd still be the old Nick."

Another part of the transformation to the "new Nick" came when he attended the Black Student-Athlete Conference in Austin, Texas. There, he heard renowned speaker Leonard Moore talk bluntly about the obstacles student-athletes of color face. Fisher was then instrumental in getting Moore to come to CU and deliver a lecture to the entire Athletic Department.

"When I heard him talk, I just thought he had to come here to Boulder," Fisher said. "I thought if he could even get a few people to really listen, it would be worth it. That's why I pushed so hard. He talks in facts. Facts are facts, and the fact is, it's not that diverse on our campus. I was hoping that he could maybe just open a few eyes, help some people see things maybe that weren't seeing before."

Chris Howlett, an assistant director in academics, watched Fisher's growth at CU.

"It's such a stark contrast between the person he was as a freshman and sophomore to the person he is now," Howlett said. "He grew so much, he contributed so much, he accomplished so much, it has been a great thing to watch."

Moorer said part of Fisher's impact in his community involvement comes from his ability to listen.

"I would call him a quiet assassin," Moorer said. "He's very soft spoken and doesn't talk about himself but is very involved. He doesn't say a lot, but when he speaks, he comes with passion and knowledge. That resonates with the individuals around him. They understand that the knowledge and perspective he is providing are valid. He helps the people around him understand the things that are going on in their world. That's what Nick will bring to any organization or community he is a part of."

Fisher still hopes to continue his football career and has been working out regularly this spring. But long term, he has an eye on pursuing opportunities in the nonprofit world, where he can help others.

"Social issues aren't easy," he said. "You're always going to be stepping on someone's toes. Right is right and wrong is wrong — but it's not always that easy. There are different circumstances for every situation. But when I have stepped on people's toes for a social issue — it has to be close to home. I definitely want it to be something I believe in. I don't consider myself an activist but I do think I have a strong belief system."

Whatever direction he goes, those around him believe he will succeed — and help effect positive change.

"Nick will make a difference," Moorer said. "Nick understands how to effectively analyze a situation and produce results. He knows how to build a sense of camaraderie with the individuals he comes in contact with. He is so quiet — but before you know it, you've been hit by his passion, you've been hit by his perspective. He has an attitude about him that will help people do something better for this world."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu