What do CU Denver’s students and donors have in common with characters in fairy tales? More than you may realize, as Interim Chancellor Ann Schmiesing explained in her address at CU Denver’s 2024 Donor Celebration. The annual event, which took place on October 30 at Coohills restaurant in LoDo, provided an opportunity for CU and campus leadership to personally thank many generous donors who support scholarships, student success initiatives, research, and numerous other activities at CU Denver. 

In keeping with tradition, the celebration featured a cocktail reception and brief program, allowing the guests ample opportunity to socialize and meet some of the students whose education they support. Among them were students representing the University Honors and Leadership program and the Business School’s First-Generation Multicultural Business Program (FaM), who chatted with the guests and shared their student experiences.

A Seat at the Table

Student Government Association President Savannah Brooks and Vice President Mitchell Mauro emceed the evening’s program, which featured remarks from CU President Todd Saliman (pictured at right, first from left), Interim Chancellor Schmeising (pictured at right, first from right), and Liz Vance ’24 (pictured at right, second from left), a recent Business School graduate. President Saliman expressed his sincere thanks to the guests, reminding them how vital they are to CU’s success and emphasizing that the university couldn’t do all that it does without the support of the donor community. In introducing Vance, he mentioned that she will be featured in the university’s Dear Colorado campaign, which highlight’s CU’s emotional connections to the state it serves.

Vance, who was a first-generation and transfer student, described her journey to CU Denver and her experience with the FaM Program, which provides resources and support to students who traditionally have not seen themselves reflected in business environments. Founded and funded with support from the philanthropic community, FaM offers scholarships, experiential learning opportunities, mentoring, networking opportunities, and other types of career preparation. 

“This type of support is crucial to students who have had no prior visibility to any sort of corporate setting growing up,” Vance explained during her remarks. “These resources made it so I felt not only more comfortable entering a career – but more prepared. It helped me realize I do deserve a seat at the table, and I do have a lot of value to offer. I thank everyone who has helped this program come to life, survive, and thrive—and everyone who plans to support this program in the future.”

Vance earned a marketing degree in May and now works in customer and performance marketing at Denver-based Ardent Mills, one of the FaM program’s founding corporate partners. She acknowledges she couldn’t have done it alone. “I’m thankful for the road and the people that led me to exactly where I am today,” she said. “It is all possible because of the support I found along the way. I’ll never forget that help is there if you ask for it. I plan to continue using my voice to share the impact your generosity has had on my life and on so many other students' futures. Your support matters, and it changes lives for the better. I am testament to this.

“An Adventure into the Unknown”

Interim Chancellor Schmeising, who has been a long-serving administrator and professor of German at CU Boulder, took the opportunity in her remarks to reference the lives and works of the Brothers Grimm, a focus of her scholarship in recent years. She drew parallels between characters and events in Grimm’s fairy tales and the CU Denver donor community that supports the student journey. “In so many cases, these stories represent a journey of discovery, an adventure into the unknown, and perhaps, too, a leap of faith,” she explained. “Something similar might be said for the journey that many students at CU Denver experience as they pursue their degrees… Half of the undergraduate students at CU Denver, including quite a few in this room, are the first in their families to attend college. And many come from traditionally underrepresented communities. For these first-generation students and their families, pursuing a college education is a path they take into the unknown.”

She continued by highlighting the pivotal role donors often play in helping students achieve their goals. “And here’s where you come in,” she told the gathering of supporters, “because in between the ‘once upon a time’ at the beginning of a Brothers Grimm tale and the ‘happily ever after’ at the end, we often have a helper figure—yes, a benevolent wise woman, a master tradesman, an angel, a talking animal, elves, perhaps a dwarf. Whoever this figure is, they see the main character’s potential and help the character to realize it. They provide encouragement, tools, and the wherewithal to persevere in pursuit of a goal.” 

Schmiesing also noted the impressive motivation and resolve CU Denver students demonstrate while pursuing their studies. “The path to a degree is not always smooth, especially for those who have overcome hurdles just to get to CU,” she explained. “At any point, an unforeseen event can threaten to delay or derail a student’s future. When this happens, in so many cases you are the pivotal helper figures who enable our students to make progress in their educational journey.”

Tangible Impact

Through storytelling, personal connections, and an atmosphere of family, the Donor Celebration provided an opportunity to reflect on the very tangible impact philanthropic support has on CU Denver students, who in so many cases are not defined by their circumstances, but by their strength and resilience. As they write their own stories, make a leap of faith, and build the lives they set out to create, these students often rely on the helping hand offered by CU Denver’s generous donor community.