Chancellor's Communiqué

CU in the City Launch, 2-20-2017

Dear colleagues,

I’d like to thank those of you who joined us for the CU in the City launch today – and to fill in some details for anyone who might have missed this great event.

The CU in the City brand, like so many of our initiatives, grew from within our university community. Your feedback from last year’s listening tour went into the development of our five priorities, one of which is strengthening our position as a vital community asset. In order to do that, we need to be able to say, succinctly, what we are, what we stand for and what we’re really good at. 

“CU in the City” says it all: how, as Colorado’s public urban research university, we offer a high-quality research university experience right in the heart of Denver, how the city’s energy adds to who we are and how we help fuel its future. 

At the launch, we got a sneak peak at the new campaign that brings the CU in the City brand to life, including ads for online and print publications, banners along Speer, adversting at the airport, and this new TV spot. Each of the more than 40 people in the campaign is a CU Denver student, alumnus or faculty member. The music track for the TV spot features the CU Denver a capella group Lark and CU Denver alumnus DJ Chonz. (It was composed and produced by Shawn King of DeVotchKa with Ben Wysocki of The Fray helping to co-produce the recording session.) We even got to see how the campaign came together. 

You can help the campaign succeed in a number of ways. I encourage you to share stories you have about CU Denver’s role as a knowledge partner for the city and contributor to Denver’s economic, civic, and cultural life.  We are also looking for volunteers to be part of our brand champion program, helping us develop the CU in the City brand going forward and spreading the word to others. Sign up here​.

This is the first time – at least in many years – that the CU Denver communication strategy directly aligns with its strategic goal. We really have the opportunity, right now, to shape CU Denver’s direction – and, by extension, that of the city. All of us consistently telling the CU in the City story will propel us toward our goal of being a top city asset. Thank you for joining us in this important work.

Dorothy Horrell
Chancellor