Published: May 20, 2019

Chancellor speaks at Carbondale during summer tour

The chancellor’s summer tour visited four cities along the Western Slope to explain how CU Boulder is a part of their communities—and we’re a part of theirs, too.

The tour began on May 16 in Vail, where Chancellor Phil DiStefano greeted an audience of a few dozen alumni and prospective students and talked about the ways CU benefits Eagle County. For example, students in CU’s Masters of the Environment graduate program teamed up with Vail Resorts to help it reach its commitment to send no waste to the landfill by 2030.

At all the Colorado visits, which also included Carbondale, Grand Junction and Durango, DiStefano talked about ways the campus is making education more affordable. This fall, thanks to additional state funding, there won’t be a tuition increase for new freshmen. This welcome news comes in addition to the university’s tuition guarantee program, where tuition for incoming freshmen remains the same for their first four years on campus.  

Chancellor Phil DiStefano, head football coach Mel Tucker and Athletic Director Rick George

Chancellor Phil DiStefano, head football coach Mel Tucker and Athletic Director Rick George in Carbondale, Colorado

“This shields families from unexpected tuition increases,” DiStefano said, “so they can plan and budget for college.”

New head football coach Mel Tucker and Athletic Director Rick George were also along for the tour to discuss the upcoming football season and the ways in which the Athletic Department has improved health and wellness for student-athletes.

Tucker, who just logged his first visit to the Western Slope, said he is ready to return the CU Buffs to national prominence.

“I look at it like this: Why not CU?” Tucker said during an interview with the Vail Daily. “Why not us? When I hire people, or the best people I worked for, they don’t say, like, ‘We don’t or we can’t or we haven’t.’ They’re always trying to figure out how we can. A can-do attitude. What do we have to do to get it done? Let’s figure it out. That’s my attitude.”

In Grand Junction, DiStefano told the event’s audience and the town’s Sentinel newspaper editorial board about the unique partnership that CU has with Colorado Mesa University. Since 2008, CMU students have been able to earn a Bachelor of Science engineering degree from CU Boulder by taking classes delivered at the Grand Junction campus. Soon, students will be able to work toward degrees in the new Electrical and Computer Engineering program in addition to the two existing options, mechanical and civil engineering.

And just prior to DiStefano’s May 17 visit to Durango, he penned a letter in the Durango Herald explaining our local impact—from researchers studying environmental impacts from the recent 416 Fire to providing fossil kits for local schools.

The second leg of the chancellor’s summer tour will take place June 18–19 in Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Longmont.