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Class of 2026: Honors and Distinction Graduates

Jayden Fortner — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 16:14:27 +0000

Class of 2026: Honors and Distinction Graduates Jayden Fortner Thu, 04/30/2026 - 10:14

Graduating with Honors

Students graduating with honors have completed an honors project demonstrating independent learning and intellectual insight that makes a contribution to our understanding of media, communication or information. The work must demonstrate intellectual or creative ability as well as analytical skills worthy of the recommended honors designation.

Summa Cum Laude

Lauren Lopez
Owen Barton
Paige Jaeger
Zachary Steiner
Dennis Swanson
Mia Winstead
Julia MacLean
Alexandra Organa
Jack Ziporin
Zachary Chagnon
Daniel Doupe
Teagan Schreiber
Hannah Kijner
Allison Miller
Leah Szabo

Magna Cum Laude

Jordyn Stewart
Channing Miller
Susan Cormack
Louison Leclerq
Lorraine Healy
Morgan Evans
Madeline Flanagan
Michael Robinson

Cum Laude

Mark Goetzler

Graduating with Distinction

This designation recognizes students who earn a 3.75 GPA or higher over at least 60 hours of coursework.

Madeline Ahrens
Essa Ben
Lauren Bingham
Sophia Bolich
Eva Bruce
Noelia Caballero
Curtis Croll
Lily Delgado
Campbell Dokken
Eric Donjuan
Baylee Drevno
Ava Esposito
Sabrina Harris
Erica Isroff
Carter Johnson-Chen
Madeline Krozek
Maya Merta
Hailey Miller
Alyssa Pardo
Timothy Pivero
Macy Place
Jenna Reed
Alexandria Reilly
Ella Revivo
Melanie Scanlon
Kathryn Schaefer
Henry Shellhorn
Jordyn Stewart
Nicholas Talucci
Ella Turgeon
Zoe Turner
Grace Wymore
Arwyn Zaleski
Emilio Adams
Kenzington Alipit
Saleh Alzamil
Julia Anderson
Logan Arel
Jose Banuelos
Kai Bicbic
Olivia Brosnan
Gemma Carlson
Gabriella Carnevale
Benjamen Centeno
Nicole Chung
Amelie Couret
Sienna Fahey
Shira Feinberg
Daniel Fellows
Charlotte Fex
Rikki Gallegos
William Gese
Drew Gorman
Mackenzie Hammond
Tara Hidding
Grace Jackman
Emilie Janzen
Doris Kahler
Emily Kwon
Natalie Madeira
Channing Miller
Rosemary O'Farrell
Ava Pelster
Ian Primer
Lia Rapka
Katherine Ridgway
Caleb Siegel
Grayson Staples
Zoe Swenson
Emma Taylor
Ila Tschirhart
Valerie Warszawski
Margaret Whitfield
Jacquelyne Wynne
Theron Yoder
Laurel Yule
Jacie Zou
Abikael Daniel
Natan Habteyonas
Avery Kissinger
Jaclyn Pereira
Clio Torrance
Ricky Tuka
Christian Valentino
Fnan Yonas
MacKenzie Cole
Susan Cormack
Lacey Daniell
Lily Delgado
Wyatt Duesenberg
Mark Goetzler
Salem Goodman
Sophia Gyuk
Thomas Hinton
Owen Houtakker
Brooklyn Howard
Rowen Kennedy
Greta Kerkhoff
Angelina Kondrat
Jessica Kotmel
Louison Leclercq
Keanna Limes
Linus Loughry
Julia MacLean
Camryn Montgomery
Isabella Piccirillo
Caniya Robinson
Jessica Sachs
Sydney Schrader
Iris Serrano
Harrison Simeon
Ann Vanderveen
Shea Ackman
Emma Czohara
Maya Dank
Zachary Dial
Jason Hoffman
Brooklyn Karraker
Sydney Liebhauser
Frederick Novell
Maximilian Osterman
Andrew Purpura
Jack Remington
Peri Riegner
Olin Silverman
Rylie Stark
Jackson Williams
Kaylee Austin
Lily Becker
Brooke Bursteen
Joanna Conforti
Mackenzie Hanlon
Lorraine Healy
Carter Johnson-Chen
Madelyn Payne
Brandon de Pena
Jaclyn Pereira
Molly Reed
Holly Wininger
Anthony Allen
Audrey Altounian
Alexandra Anaya
Lilyana Anderson
Isabella Barbush
Alexandra Berlin
Miranda Bleau
Reed Bracero
Keeley Brei
Mia Buchholz
Fatima Bugaighis
Grace Cadman
Kaitlyn Carpenter
Kyndal Corkins
Marissa Crenshaw
Kayla Drumke
Riley Eisenstein
Lucy Esquivel
Madeline Flanagan
Lilli Flyer
Jacalyn Gamble
Hildur Garfield
Samson Gear
Olivia Gewanter
Marin Gloor
Lily Goldstein
Kelly Hartigan
Cassidy Hill
Mira Hougen
Emily Howard
Daniela Hunt
Eve Jones
Chase Kanger
Rhett Kaya
Grayson Kern
Alden Koskoff
Kea Margolis
Andrew Marsh
Mia Martinez
Audrey McClure
Oliver McKinney
Julia Meyer
Allison Miller
Nathaniel Mosley
Kailey Murphy
Maximilian Osterman
Rachel Pilik
Zoe Polzin
Marie Riley
Maria Sampson
London Selah
Iris Serrano
Redfield Shaw
Natalie Tapia
Sage Thompson
Annabelle Torgove
Chloe Walsh
Regan Widergren
Owen Wiggans
Halle Wist
Elsie Zerega

Graduating with High Distinction

Graduates with high distinction have achieved a GPA of 3.75 or higher over at least 60 hours of coursework.

Ellena Bassoukos
Leah Baumann
Elizabeth Brechtel
Juliana Buck
Emily Chang
Alexandra Dolsak
Sydney Dossa
Jennifer Ellis
Carly Gelfand
Callie Gendolfe
Jillian Gerlitz
Arlie Goldman
Hannah Hoffman
Liv Johnstad
Amy Kibort
Amy Labontu
Daniel Laverty
Skyler Longerbone
Lauren Lopez
Jacob Myers
Alina Ouligian
Olivia Randazzo
Lydia Sarbacker
Grace Scott
Jessie Spires
Ashtyn Waddle
Mia Archuleta
Owen Barton
Claire Cameron
Evangeline Christoff
Kara Danford
John Davis
Natalie Free
Gabrielle French
Kaija Galins
Caroline Gilchrist
Maxine Inman
Paige Jaeger
Addison Johnson
Cameron Kolinchak
Ahnnali Lindgren
Taylor Martin
Anna Peragine
Gabrielle Rodriguez
Zachary Steiner
Dennis Swanson
Emi Takaoka
Tyler Tatman
Kaira Theisen
Evelyn Warner
Mia Winstead
Parker Burt
Gilberto Corral
Katherine Davis
Averie Dow
Nicholas Haseman
William Henrickson
Can Lin
Luke Lommatzsch
Emelia Mantz
Rida Rizvi
Charles Bickham
Thomas Bittner IV
Hannah Brennan
Ashley Budy
Hayden Chedid
Emerson Clymer
Sophia Collins
Breah Conradson
Elizabeth Cutting
Nathaniel Hankins
Jordan Houten
Myra Kirk
Samuel Kurtz
Creed Miller
Ruth Murray
Alexandra Organa
Liliane Patrick
Nathan Thompson
Jack Ziporin
Lucy Alagna
Taylor Beamer
Zachary Chagnon
Connie Dolati
Gavin Faulkner
Elena Fisher
Eliana Gianola
Tyler Hibri
Donavon Houston
Bailey Karraker
John Kerklo III
Olivia Meyers
Joaquin Salinas
Lilian Wright
Connor Chase
Natalie Cook
Sydney Dossa
Daniel Doupe
Kaoutar El Ouadi
Norah Hampford
Madison Hays
Alexander Lipka
John McDermott
Teagan Schreiber
Ashlin Swasey
Stasswender
Kelli Alexander
Emily Barnes
Luis Bravo
Caroline Burns
Eryn Cryer
Hannah David
Daniel Doupe
Morgan Evans
Elizabeth Foster
Katelyn Gardner
Lauren Gillespie
Norah Hampford
Mia Chikhani
Emma Kaiser
Hannah Kijner
Marin Kirkman
Kathryn Krochalis
Jane Ludington
Margaret Miller
Morgan Miller
Emily Moore
Madison Moss
Annika Ort
Lauren Paschke
Caroline Pellerito
Katharine Polep-Sawyer
Marissa Rauzi
Ryan Robine
Brynna Roscoe
Samantha Russo
Jenna Shenbaum
Daniel Sher
Matthew Silver
Marie Slotnick
Madelyn Speights
Braden Stirrett
Mary Strasser
Elizabeth Suffian
Olivia Sullivan
Leah Szabo
Elizabeth Travia
Ella Whittall
Amanda Winslow
Lilian Wright

Celebrating the Class of 2026

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Jail blazers: How reporters’ tenacity is changing laws around pregnancy behind bars

Ellie Chase — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:54:05 +0000

Jail blazers: How reporters’ tenacity is changing laws around pregnancy behind bars Ellie Chase Wed, 04/29/2026 - 10:54

Ellie Chase

When Mackenzie Mays stumbled across a lawsuit about a woman forced to give birth in jail, she had no idea the systemic failure and tragedy she was about to uncover.

In a yearlong investigation, Mays, a Bloomberg Law reporter, and NBC News journalist Jon Schuppe uncovered 54 lawsuits from women and their families alleging severe mistreatment or medical neglect in jails.

The response to their story was swift: Officials at the federal and state level—including lawmakers in eight states—have proposed laws or pledged legislation to prevent more cases of neglect and mistreatment.

“This is part of a system that does not work for women who are pregnant in jail, even though there are court rulings and standards of care that should be preventing it from happening,” Schuppe said.

Mackenzie Mays, left, and Jon Schuppe, right. Photos provided by Mays and Schuppe.

Mays and Schuppe’s in-depth research and tenacious investigative reporting was recognized this spring with the Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting, awarded by the journalism department of 91��ý’s College of Communication, Media, Design and Information and the Denver Press Club.

Luige del Puerto, editor of the Denver Gazette and this year’s guest judge, said the reporters made clear that no one should give birth in jail, without ignoring the choices that put these women behind bars.

“The women in this story are not portrayed as angels. They had problems—drugs, DUI or, in the case of Chasity Congious, a schizoaffective disorder along with developmental disabilities,” del Puerto said. “Whether she belonged in jail is the wrong question. For their sins, their babies paid the price.”

The babies survived in only 21 of the 54 cases examined by the reporters, and two mothers died. Most of the women had been arrested on low-level, nonviolent charges, and told the reporters their medical concerns were dismissed by correctional workers in emergency healthcare situations.

Reliving ‘the worst days of their lives’

The Nakkula judges were impressed by the reporters’ determination to ensure the women behind every case were able to tell their stories.

“We were asking them to relive the worst day of their lives,” Mays said. “It was very important to us to make sure we told every single woman’s story.”

Building that kind of trust took time: Mays accompanied one woman as she went through her daily routine, attending nail appointments and family meals. Schuppe sent handwritten letters to contact a woman who, in recovered body camera footage, writhed on the floor of a jail cell as her cries for help were ignored.

“I was so impressed with the resilience of women and mothers. The survival instincts of some of these women is incredible,” Mays said. “People chewed through umbilical cords. People found ways to survive and do CPR on their babies that were born into toilets.

“That’s what really stuck with me at the end of it—not only did they try to survive, they believed in that fight enough to sue, and then relive it to share it with us.”

As part of their reporting, Mays and Schuppe created a public database so readers and policymakers could learn more about each woman’s story and identify cases that happened in their own states.

The story was published in late November, but already there are signs of its potential impact. Lawmakers from California to Louisiana are exploring policies designed to protect mothers and infants, such as keeping pregnant women accused of nonviolent offenses out of jail during pretrial proceedings.

In 2023, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove introduced the Pregnant Women in Custody Act in Congress. Mays and Schuppe said she plans to bring a new version of the bill to the floor following their story; the measure would require federal data collection on pregnancies in jails and teaching corrections staff about the risks faced by pregnant detainees.

“There are very few concrete aspects of impact that you can point to that are more important than having a law changed. It’s very rewarding to have that kind of work being done because of the journalism we do.”
Jon Schuppe, NBC News

Schuppe said the chance to see that impact, after a year spent chasing the story, has been gratifying.

“There are very few concrete aspects of impact that you can point to that are more important than having a law changed,” he said. “It’s very rewarding to have that kind of work being done because of the journalism we do.”

Their passion for change, and tenacious reporting, reflected the legacy of late Rocky Mountain News reporter Al Nakkula, whose legendary police reporting is honored through the award.

“He was a real dogged reporter, and so in the tradition of Al Nakkula, we really try to honor newsrooms or projects that are in his spirit—doing reporting that takes a lot of work,” said contest judge Chuck Plunkett, assistant teaching professor of journalism and director of CU News Corps, the capstone journalism program at CMDI.

“We want to see really great journalism that has the potential to change things. We really value impact.”

That emphasis on impact can also be seen in this year’s runner up, which went to Richard Webster, of Verite News, in collaboration with ProPublica. Webster’s reporting helped nullify a first-degree murder conviction for a man accused of raping, biting and drowning a child; he had been found guilty nearly three decades ago based on expert testimony that was dismissed as junk science.

Each year, Nakkula contest judges look for stories that meet the highest journalistic standards, help readers understand complex issues and solutions, show a commitment to community, and bring about societal change. The award has been presented annually since 1991.

Ellie Chase is studying journalism at CMDI, with a minor in business. She covers students and student news at the college.

Following a yearlong investigation into healthcare for pregnant women in prison, reporting by Mackenzie Mays and Jon Schuppe is drawing attention from lawmakers—and judges for the Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting.

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Seeking a sports media career? Don’t sit on the sidelines

Joe Arney — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Seeking a sports media career? Don’t sit on the sidelines Joe Arney Mon, 03/23/2026 - 05:00

Iris Serrano

Alumni Michael Davies, a Fox Sports senior vice president, left, and X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom during a fireside chat at the CMDI Sports Media Summit. More than 200 students attended this year’s event. Photo by Hannah Howell.

Success, in sports, comes down to the athlete willing to go the extra mile and push the limits of endurance to accomplish what seems impossible.

Success in sports media often amounts to the same thing.

That was the lesson Izabelle Stewart-Adams took away from this month’s Sports Media Summit, hosted by the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information at 91��ý.

“A dream job for me would be working anywhere in the sports events world—whether that's X Games, Olympics, World Cups,” Stewart-Adams said. “The biggest piece of advice that I've been given today is to show how hungry you are to stand out.”

“Find your tenacity, and show whoever you’re interviewing with, ‘I am here to work. I’m here to prove myself.’”

Jeremy Bloom (A&S ex’06), CEO, X Games

The senior journalism major was one of more than 200 students to attend the two-day event, which was supported by alumni Neal Scarbrough (Jour’84) and Michael Davies (Jour’94). As co-chairs, both brought alumni and industry professionals with distinguished careers in journalism, marketing, production, technology and more to the event.

The highlight of the summit was a fireside chat between Davies, a senior vice president with Fox Sports, and X Games CEO Jeremy Bloom (A&S ex’06), who played football for the Buffs and in the NFL, and was a three-time world champion skier.

Bloom talked about the drive and dedication it takes to make it in such a competitive field—but also the rewards and enjoyment he draws from his work.

“I want to find people who have passion and love for the product that is at our company, and somebody who's got that look in their eye that they're on a mission and they're going to do whatever it takes to help us become more successful,” he said. “Find your tenacity, and show whoever you’re interviewing with, ‘I am here to work. I’m here to prove myself.’”

‘When you are sitting down and that camera’s in front of your face, then you know it’s all worth it,’ Justin Adams (Jour’09), a reporter and sports anchor for CBS Denver, said at the event. Fellow panelist Cassidy Davis (StComm’23) listens in. Photo by Kimberly Coffin.

A full Touchdown Club at Folsom Field listens to a panel discussion on how media rights and streaming technologies are forcing journalists and others to reimagine fan engagement and attention. Photo by Hannah Howell.

Panel and networking sessions featured a mix of professionals in terms of their industries and experience levels—from reporters who cover games from the broadcast booth to Scarbrough, a vice president and general manager at Marketplace who’s worked in sports for ESPN and The Denver Post. During the main program day, discussions explored sports consumption, audience engagement and the growing impact of generative artificial intelligence and how it is changing the field, especially within marketing and fan engagement.

Students also took advantage of a new addition to this year’s program—an hourlong networking lunch where they were encouraged to ask questions and build meaningful connections to the invited panelists.

Passion, but pressure

Cassidy Davis (StComm’23) remembers attending the summit right after she graduated to get some motivation and perspective from speakers. Now, as a corporate partnerships coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, she paid it forward by attending as a panelist and sharing her own experiences with students: An hour after the event ended, she was still fielding questions from attendees.

“These students are so interested in the sports industry, and they know that's where they want to be,” she said. “As alumni, we were in their exact shoes, so we can provide inspiration and hopefully answer some of those questions that they're hungry to learn more about.”

Davis said while students are passionate about the industry as a career, they’re also feeling pressure.

“Students are more concerned with how they stand out against all of these competitors they're going up against,” Davis said. “I've been telling them to find places where you can prove that you can provide value to a team, where you can add a new perspective.”

Joining Davis on a panel about early-career professionals was Carey Kronhart, a junior majoring in media production with a minor in sports media. The aspiring operations manager’s biggest piece of advice to fellow students was to “network, network, network.”

Event co-chair Neal Scarbrough (Jour’84), left, talks with a student during a break in the action at the Sports Media Summit. Prior to his work with Marketplace, Scarbrough had a distinguished sports career, including work at The Denver Post and ESPN. Photo by Kimberly Coffin.

Last year at the summit, he bonded with Michael Davies over a shared love of motorsports—a connection that led to freelance work as a production assistant for Fox Sports.

“He offered to let me go to a few races with a NASCAR crew,” Kronhart said. “I started on as a production assistant and runner, learning the ins and outs—it was really like drinking from the fire hose. But my boss took a shine to me, asked me what I was doing for the next three races. One thing just led to another, and it’s all from having that first conversation with Mike.”

Justin Adams (Jour’09), a reporter and sports anchor for CBS Denver, also shared how network connections gave him a head start in his journalism career. Early in his career, he sent a cold message to Rick George, now emeritus director for CU Athletics, asking for help in making connections that could help him call Pac-12 games.

George introduced him to the conference president, which led him to the broadcast booth almost immediately.

“Take that initiative, shake that hand, have that conversation, get that contact and make sure that your face is shown. That’s doing the hard work,” Adams said. “And when you are sitting down and that camera's in front of your face, then you know it's all worth it.”

Iris Serrano is studying strategic communication and journalism at CMDI. She covers student news and events for the college.

More than 200 students attended this year’s CMDI Sports Media Summit, learning from industry professionals how to break into journalism, media production, technology and more.

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Announcing the fall 2025 dean's list

Ellie Chase — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 22:57:57 +0000

Announcing the fall 2025 dean's list Ellie Chase Wed, 01/28/2026 - 15:57

More than 800 CMDI students were named to the dean's list for the fall semester. To qualify, students must complete at least 12 credit hours of 91��ý coursework for a letter grade and achieve a term grade point average of 3.75 or better. Each receives a notation on their transcripts and a letter from the dean. Congratulations to all honorees!

Alejandro Abarca
Matt Abatangle
Saroon Abayenh
Marlo Abrahamson
Shea Ackman
Emilio Adams
Phillip Adams
Tassilo Adams
Quinn Ahrens
Lucy Alagna
Maria Alali
Rosie Aldridge
Caitlin Alexander
Kenzi Alipit
Sophie Allaway
Anthony Allen
Trinity Alvord
Saleh Alzamil
Alexandra Anaya
Bridgette Anderson
Molly Anderson
Lila Angelopoulos
Sierra Anguiano
Jaxon Archer
Mia Archuleta
Jazmin Armijo
Remy Arnold
Sydney Arnold
Natasha Arzt
Kaylee Austin
Niles Ayer
Ben Babson
Roxanne Bachana
Alexia Bailey
Owen Balboa
Austin Balconi
Tyler Bales
Cadyn Banerian
Jose Banuelos
Katie Barcroft
Evan Bardinelli
Caleigh Barletta
Julia Barlow
Thomas Barrett
Marina Barretto
Tomas Barrientos
Maddy Barth
Owen Barton
Kate Bashore
Mekdes Bass
Ellena Bassoukos
Leah Baumann
Klaire Bautz
Katie Baxter
Juliana Beans
Lily Becker
Savy Behr
Johnna Belveal
Jane Bengston
Tess Betman
Eliot Bevier Dill
Charlie Bickham
Jack Bigelow
Ezra Billig
Teagan Bischoff
Korinne Bishop
Katie Bixler
Mary Black
Miley Black
Kenna Blank
Sam Blatt
Miranda Bleau
Riley Blomstrand
Sophia Bobier
Sophia Bolich
Piper Bolin
Anvitha Bompalli
Matthew Boothroyd
Carmen Boyle
Reed Bracero
Anna Bradburn
Norah Brady
Kate Branscomb
Antonio Bravo
Elizabeth Brechtel
Olivia Brehm
Keeley Brei
Hannah Brennan
Adeline Briggs
Erin Brinkman
Jack Bronchetti
Elly Brooks
Mia Brosterhous
Samantha Brouhard
Addison Brower
Olivia Brown
Chase Browne
Lili Brownell
Callie Browning
Emma Browning
Eva Bruce
Tessa Buchanan
Tyler Buchanan
Ashley Budy
James Bui
Morgan Burcar
Alena Burris
Parker Burt
Tyler Byrne
America Cabral
Luke Cadenaro
Carli Camens
Claire Cameron
Evan Caplan
Rhiannon Cargo
Jessie Carlin
Gemma Carlson
Gabriella Carnevale
Laila Casanueva
Meredith Case
Madison Cashin
Kathryn Castanoli
Mia Castro
Dominic Celaschi
Zachary Chagnon
Isabella Chan
Emily Chang
Madelyn Chang
Connor Chase
Ellie Chase
Hayden Chedid
Cameron Cheney
Avery Childs
Kate Cho
Anika Chowdhury
Megan Chung
Coco Ciardelli
Malaya Cimino
Abi Clayton
Kay Clifford
Annalia Clifton
Avery Clifton
Emme Clymer
Morgan Coffin
Ava Coffman
MacKenzie Cole
MacKenzie Cole
Jaci Collins-Falcon
Joanna Conforti
Andrew Conley
Sarah Connor
Breah Conradson
Sophie Coombs
Zenden Copeland
Avery Corliss
Susie Cormack
Gilberto Corral
Amelie Couret
Sarah Cowell
Findlay Coykendall
Marissa Crenshaw
Elizabeth Cropper
Maddie Crosier
Chloe Cross
Heidi Crowther
Eryn Cryer
Kaylie Cunningham
Gracyn Custin
Cody Cutone
Liz Cutting
Avery Czachor
Teresa Da Silva
Clara Dailey
Abby Dalrymple
Abikael Daniel
Maya Dank
Olivia Darby
John Davis
Katherine Davis
Mason Davis
Turner Davis
Billy Dayton
Ramon De Arcos Tapia
Brandon De Pena
Olivia DeGregorio
Bella Demartin
Maddy Demmert
Luca Denicola
Rune Denolf
Helena Desoto
Charles Deutser
Leo Dienstfrey
William Dinh
Quinn Dobbs
Sydney Dobriner
Connie Dolati
Lexi Dolsak
Luke Donis
Eric Donjuan
Hunter Donovan
Brodie Dorko
Emily Doskow
Sydney Dossa
Daniel Doupe
Averie Dow
Brady Dowd
Lucas Drager
Irene Drapszo
Baylee Drevno
Kayla Drumke
Emma Dudley
Wyatt Duesenberg
Rowan Dulfer

Carolyn Dunlap
Nicollette Dunn
Etienne Dunoyer
Emily Duvall
Abby Dwyer
Ryan Dye
Ryann Dyk
Esperanza Edwards-Satragni
Avery Ehrig
Riley Eisenstein
Molly Elert
Ryan Elliott
Jenny Ellis
Kaoutar Elouadi
Libby Emery
Ava Esposito
Lucy Esquivel
Felix Estes
Angel Estrada Zarco
Quinn Etheridge
Morgan Evans
Emma Evars
Sienna Fahey
Maddy Farmer
Nolan Farrar
Liam Fehlau-Barton
Aysla Fenner
Peyton Fenner
Anika Fergis
Clare Finnigan
Carolyn Fish
Elena Fisher
Maddie Fisher
Marli Fisher
Tate Fitzgibbons
Emma Flanagan
Aiden Fliszar
William Flockton
Soleil Floyd
Delaney Flynn
Joe Fogler
Callie Forrest
Ellie Foster
Rhen Fowler
Tatum France-Kelly
Natalie Free
Ellis French
Jayne Frey
Rylee Frey
Isabelle Friedrich
Adelene Frymoyer
Colette Gagliano
Kaija Galins
Cassidy Gallagher
Jacalyn Gamble
Lydia Gammon
Gaby Garcia Armendariz
Katelyn Gardner
Abigail Garza
Caitlyn Garza
Zoey Gassner
Samson Gear
Nick Gehring
Carly Gelfand
Piper George
Alex Gertzen
Olivia Gewanter
Hannah Giacomin
Orion Gibbs
Ink Gibson
Caroline Gilchrist
Lauren Gillespie
Danny Gillis
Gigi Gittelman
Graham Givan
Anna Gledhill
Jessie Gleitsman
Arlie Goldman
Susannah Goldsmith
Deborah Gomez
Karlyn Gonsalves
Max Goodman
Salem Goodman
Bella Goodson
Drew Gorman
Avery Goss
Chloe Graham
Kylie Graham
Nora Graham
Ariana Grant
Sophia Graup
Rachel Greenberg
Logyn Greer
Willow Gretsch
Erica Griffiths
Tristan Grosam
Caitlin Grossman
Vivan Guida
Grayson Guinan
Griffin Gurewicz
Owen Guzik
Aric Gyekis
Anthony Haberkorn
Trey Haggarty
Paxton Haines
Hanna Hale
Sabina Hall
Alsa Halquist
Norah Hampford
Nate Hankins
Audrey Hansen
Ella Harris
lanier Harvey
Tyler Harvey
Nick Haseman
Josie Hayes
Keeley Haynes
Brooke Haynie
Skyler Haynie
Madison Hays
Lorraine Healy
Will Henrickson
Vanessa Hernandez
Jane Hershberger
Carter Hessen
Kainoa Hiatt
Tyler Hibri
Bella Hill
Cassidy Hill
Hannah Hillen
Hannah Hoffman
Jason Hoffman
Cruz Hoitsma
Ella Holden
Dylan Hommes
Max Hostetter
Taylar Houck
Mira Hougen
Donavon Houston
Owen Houtakker
Brooklyn Howard
Taylor Hoyt
Oleksa Hryciw
Haley Hubbard Godfrey
Kendra Hudgins
Livia Hughes
Ronan Huizar
Ellie Hultgren
Wyatt Humble
Camille Hunt
Susanna Imhof
Maxine Inman
Samantha Isaacson
Jules Isenberg
Grace Jackman
Grant Jackson
Paige Jaeger
Monroe Jasper
Alana Jenks
Grace Jenks
Alexis Jennings
Annika Jobanputra
Mia Jochamowitz-Endersby Chikhani
Addison Johnson
Tanner Johnson
Liv Johnstad
Neda Jonaitis
Gianna Jordon
Max Julian
Danielle Jung
Emma Kaiser
Nina Kanavati
Chase Kanger
Faith Kaplan
Kush Karamcheti
Lola Karimi
Bailey Karraker
Brooklyn Karraker
Skye Karsh
Ty Keeley
Nicole Keffer
Thomas Keller
Audrey Kelley
Henry Kelty
Charlotte Kendall
Rachel Kennedy
Riley Kenny
John Kerklo
Grayson Kern
Riley Kerstiens
Josh Kesner
Amy Kibort
Madeleine Kiel
Hannah Kijner
Kenzie Kimball
Myra Kirk
Marin Kirkman
Avery Kissinger
Ian Kligora
Ally Klinefeldt
Leia Kliska
Jackson Knapp
Maggie Kocher
Alexa Kofman
Cameron Kolinchak
Jon Kolvereid
Colton Kominski
Alden Koskoff
Kristin Kraml
Riley Krane
Quinn Kreck
Ella Krelovich
Katie Krochalis
Carey Kronhart

Viktoriya Kukarekina
Justin Kulas
Brayden Kurzawa
Emily Kwon
Amy Labontu
Bentley Labrecque
Genevieve Lacey
Devin Lafave
Ella LaMura
Kadence Landis
Skyler Landry
Dalton Lanham
Delaney Lantz
Ben LaPlante
Leighton Larsen
Blake Larson
Maddie Lasker
London Lawrence
Sarah Lawrence
Alex Lazarou
Kaija Lazda
Camille Leach
Lauren Leclair
Lou Leclercq
Alice Lee
Skyler Lee
Chloe Legere
Asher Leish
Aubrey Leneweaver
Brian Leuthold
Charlotte Levine
Kara Liguori
Jasmin Lin
Ahnnali Lindgren
Isabelle Lingo
Joe Lingold
Mia Lioudis
Alexander Lipka
Margaret Lipscomb
Lucy Lloyd
Aramis Loma-Guzman
Luke Lommatzsch
Leif Lomo
Skyler Longerbone
Lauren Lopez
Deborah Loseke
Katelyn Love
Lexi Lower
Stella Lowery
Janie Ludington
Julia Luther
Bailey Luts
Maille Lyon
Claire Macaluso
Molly Machoskie
Julia Maclean
Natalie Madeira
Maxwell Majors
Carly Malamut
Julianna Maldonado
Devon Malling
Mel Malloy
Patrick Mancuso
Lily Maniotes
Emelia Mantz
Alexis Manzo
Nicholas Marcin
Kea Margolis
Annaliese Markel
Isabella Marquez
Sedona Marshall
Taylor Martin
Mia Martinez
Maggie Marusin
Eloise Masciola
Carolyn Mason
Keely Matthews
Alden Mazur
Grace Mcanany
Finn Mccarthy
Evan Mccormick
Elizabeth Mccoy
Wyatt McCune
John Mcdermott
Teague Mcdonald
Maeve Mcerlane
Andrew Mcfadden
Lucia Mcgetrick-Dima
Fiona Mcginnis
Delaney Mckernan
Abbey McMahon
Margaret McQueen
Ava Melen
Alex Melvin
Jenna Mendelssohn
Claire Mercer
Ava Merias
Olivia Meyers
Allison Miller
Channing Miller
Creed Miller
Ellen Miller
Hailey Miller
Maggie Miller
Morgan Miller
Ashley Mohrbach
Camryn Montgomery
Gigi Montgomery
Justice Montoya
Bronte Moore
Emily Moore
Felipe Moore
Jenna Morley
Chaney Morris
Maya Morse
Scout Mortenson
Nathan Mosley
Madison Moss
Trevor Mueller
Ally Murphy
Reese Murphy
Rue Murray
Mason Mutz
Becca Myers
Emma Myers
Aahana Nandy
Caitlin Neil
Remi Netupsky
Natalie Newmann
Taylor Nickerson
Matthew Nielsen
Maximillian Noble
Charlotte Norton
Anna Novak
Lila Nuttle
Remy O'Connell
Nora O'connor
Olivia O'Haver
Addie O'Neil
Brinley O'neill
Ashlyn Oklesh
Taylor Oldenburg
Annabelle Olson
Sofia Olsson
Alexandra Organa
Annika Ort
Maddie Osterkamp
Max Osterman
Alina Ouligian
Emmett Owenby
Josie Pachla
Phoebe Paletta
Aly Pardo
Katy Parks
Macie Parsons
Lauren Paschke
Liliane Patrick
Kaya Patterson
Audrey Patton
Izzy Pell
Caroline Pellerito
Ava Pelster
Lily Pemberton
Mia Pendergast
Paige Pennell
Annie Peragine
Jaclyn Pereira
Kennedy Perez
Brisa Perkins
Emma Perlmutter
Eliza Perry
Isabelle Perry
Quetzal Peterson
Patrick Pethybridge
Ellie Phillips
Bell Piccirillo
Norah Pietras
Mackenzie Pinksa
Macy Place
Alison Plagge
Nico Plaisted
Skye Platto
Liliana Poast Soler
Lilly Polak
Katharine Polep-Sawyer
Ella Policastri
Ashley Pomeroy
Lyla Ponce
Norah Pope
Elle Pottinger
Dax Prata
Bradley Pratt
Addisson Pribble
Elle Price
Giana Pritchard
Taylor Pulley
Sutton Raeburn
Jacob Rainsberger
Samantha Ramirez
Olivia Randazzo
Maya Raulf
Nick Rauscher
Huston Rawls
Madelyn Ray
Rachel Ray
Cameron Reed
Hailey Reed
Jenna Reed
Molly Reed
Katrina Reghitto
Anna Rehak
Jack Remington
Jake Reuss
Katie Reuter

Ella Revivo
Peyton Rhodes
Katie Ridgway
Jackie Rivera
Eliza Roberts
Caniya Robinson
Ella Robinson
Michael Robinson
Abby Robison
Gabrielle Rodriguez
Cole Rogers
Laura Rogers
Salome Rojas
Lauren Romero
Diana Romero Bermudez
Brynna Roscoe
Jenna Rose
Sophia Rose
Sierra Rosen
Alison Rosenbaum
Eli Rosenthal
Sierra Rossman
Piper Roth
Taylor Roth
Ava Rotman
Giova Rubenstein
Sophie Rubinstein
Reagan Russell
Sam Russo
Brenna Rutherford
Emme Rutherford
Catherine Rutman
Jessica Ryanczak
Brooklyn Sadler
Sosan Safi
Rylee Sahl
Joaquin Salinas
Yahir Sanchez Diaz
Lydia Sarbacker
Ramey Sattich
Christopher Schepers
Riley Schermerhorn
Carly Schiller
Stephanie Schmitt
Addie Schneider
Emma Schneider
Jaimie Schoenke
Sydney Schrader
Teagan Schreiber
Willow Schulz
Aubrey Schwartz
Ben Schweiger
Ella Scolnick
Grace Scott
Madeline Scripp
Olivia Scussel
Grace Seaback
Veronica Seal
Ella Seevers
London Selah
Michael Seward
Krish Shah
Jack Shand
Ava Shanrock
Marissa Sharon
Danny Sheedy
Jenna Shenbaum
Daniel Sher
Cody Shoelson
Zoe Showalter-Flowers
Rainna Shrull
Aaron Siegel
Matthew Silver
Harrison Simeon
Gannett Simonton
Ella Skoloda
Mac Skudlarczyk
Cj Slattery
Moe Slintak
Marie Slotnick
Ella Smith
Matthew Smith
Ryan Smith
Jack Snyder
Eli Sobel
Edgar Soberon Munoz
Sevi Solari
Ewan Sookswat
Noel Sookswat
Madelyn Speights
Sophia Spheeris
Simon Spillane
Matthew Spivack
Samantha Spiwak
Bella Stamper
Kaeden Stander
Brady Stark
Kate Starke
Ashlin Stasswender Swasey
Trent Steffen
Alexander Stein
Zachary Steiner
Evan Stellino
Cole Stephan
Ariele Stern
Sarah Stern
Samuel Stevens
Jordyn Stewart
Braden Stirrett
Stella Stone
Anna Stout
Mary Strasser
Ava Strauss
Xander Sucich
Elizabeth Suffian
Luke Suitts
Lucy Suja
Aoife Sullivan
Clara Sullivan
Olivia Sullivan
Taylor Sutton
Dennis Swanson
Jackson Swartzendruber
Leah Szabo
Willow Tachna
Harper Tagg
Emi Takaoka
Nano Takeda
Mira Talusani
Sophia Tambascio
Jack Tannenbaum
Annie Tanner
Natalie Tapia
Raquel Tapia
Tyler Tatman
Hailey Taylor
Sarah Taylor
Skylar Taylor
Cecelia Tecu
Jordan Teicher
Josie Terry-Lloyd
Annabelle Thomas
Sage Thompson
Channing Thomson
Sol Tirado - Jensen
Brooks Tolany
Grace Toomey
Zohair Toor
Annabelle Torgove
Clio Torrance
Alexa Tovar
Hendley Tracy
Eduardo Trejo Trinidad
Carly Tremaine
Ricky Tuka
Jazzy Tung
Audrey Turley
Braden Turner
Caroline Valdes
Christian Valentino
Ann Vanderveen
Maya Vanvleet
Celia Vargas
Maddie Veasey
Sydney Venetsanopoulos
Bella Vetta
Holden Vincent
Andrew Vogt
Saanvi Vookanti
August Vrielink
Fiona Wachter
Ashtyn Waddle
Chloe Walsh
Catherine Ward
Lauren Ward
Kieran Warger
Evie Warner
Kadyn Warner
Valerie Warszawski
Ryder Watkins
Kylee Watrous
Leila Watters
Liam Watters
Jordan Watts
Greta Wattson
Taylor Weatherwax
Jenna Weil
Kennedy Weiss
Erin Wheeler
Kennah White
Ella Whittall
Abigail Williams
Jackson Williams
Ranney Willis
Piper Wills
Holly Wininger
Emma Winkelbauer
Amanda Winslow
Mia Winstead
Trent Wobschall
Zachary Woodbury
Alexandra Woodland
Lily Wright
Owen Wright
Jackie Wynne
Maggie Yalmokas
Gabrielle Yates
Savannah Yates
Nate Yearous
Hannah Young
Elsie Zerega
Emily Zhou
Matt Zimmermann

More than 800 CMDI students were named to the dean's list for the fall semester.

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Standout student channels enthusiasm for people, pop culture into HBO internship

Joe Arney — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Standout student channels enthusiasm for people, pop culture into HBO internship Joe Arney Mon, 01/05/2026 - 08:00

Hannah Stewart

For someone aspiring to work in public relations for the entertainment industry, Leah Szabo’s internship with HBO was a dream come true. She tracked media mentions and worked the red carpet for shows like The Last of Us and The White Lotus.

Leah Szabo is a great friend to watch TV with. When you ask the inevitable, “Where have I seen them before?” she can tell you.

That pop culture consciousness—combined with top-notch networking skills—is how the college senior landed a summer internship with HBO Max—a position she hopes helps launch a career in the entertainment industry.

“I want to be in entertainment because I love amplifying the storytellers' voices through strategy and creativity,” said Szabo, who will graduate from the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information in the spring with a degree in strategic communication. “I like talking to people, but I like being behind the scenes as the person who helps people get their stories told.”

Szabo’s own story is both fun and inspiring. The California native grew up surrounded by the sparkle of Hollywood, which extended to the Christmas parties thrown by her uncle—an entertainment industry veteran whose guest lists included publicists, actors and other professionals.

It was at one of those parties that she chatted with family friend Raina Falcon, an HBO executive, who invited the then-first-year public relations student to follow up with her after a bit more schooling.

“Year after year, I would follow up saying, ‘Hi, I’m a sophomore now and I study PR.’ And the next year, ‘I’m a junior; it’s my time. I want to work for you. I want to be in entertainment,’” she said. “So it was leveraging a connection, but also making sure I maintained it.”

Falcon pointed Szabo toward the correct internship application and passed along her resume to the recruiters. Three rounds of interviews, she was accepted, and on the path toward her dream job.

The cast of HBO’s The White Lotus poses at a premier event. Among Szabo’s responsibilities at her internship were tracking press and working red-carpet events. Photo by Leah Szabo.

Behind the silver screen

Once she arrived, it was clear Szabo’s CMDI education had prepared her to succeed on an internship where she was tasked with everything from tracking media mentions to working the red carpet.

“Interns in the entertainment and PR business need to be organized, motivated, good with people and very adaptable,” said Lily Walker, a publicity coordinator for HBO Max. “Leah did a great job of taking on new situations as they came, both at in-person events and online.”

Szabo’s work impressed the HBO team so much that they extended her internship to last through the fall semester as well. Though Walker was not Szabo’s supervisor, the two worked together throughout the internship, including at the I Love LA and Welcome to Derry premieres in October.

She also credited Szabo with bringing fresh perspectives to work, such as ideas to promote shows to younger audiences.

“For instance, on I Love LA, an influencer makes a cameo, and I said, ‘Why haven’t you asked to go on her YouTube? She has a whole segment where she interviews celebrities,’” Szabo said. “It was really cool that they saw value in what I was telling them and applying it.”

Naturally extroverted, Szabo has found her stride within public relations. But she was quick to credit her success to her mentors and past internships. Prior to her role at HBO, she completed two PR internships, one with JKD & Co. and another with SchroderHaus. While at times it was intimidating to represent a global brand, she said, the skills developed at CMDI and during her more community-focused internships applied in every setting, giving her confidence.

Equally as formative has been her leadership experience with the 91��ý chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America. As president, Szabo serves as a liaison to the university, national organization and members, managing a team, running meetings and working with different personalities.

“PR is basically personality management—how can you satisfy every stakeholder and adjust to different situations,” she said.

Notably, under her leadership, PRSSA has grown significantly. Since August, 99 new members joined—all while Szabo was continuing her HBO internship and maintaining a full course load.

Role model

“Leah, to me, is already a professional in the way she handles herself,” said Jolene Fisher, an associate professor in the college’s Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Design. “She is able to perform in many different capacities beyond what I expect to see from a student level.”

As faculty advisor for PRSSA, Fisher has worked closely with Szabo over the past two years, and said Szabo has grown not only as a leader, but as a model student.

It’s why she invited Szabo to give a guest lecture to first-year students in an introductory PR class, where she shared with her peers what it took to secure her internship and her responsibilities at HBO.

“When we highlight the success of our current students, it really helps inspire our younger ones,” said Fisher, also associate chair of undergraduate studies. “Leah’s going to make things happen because she is a force. I’m excited to see where she goes.”

And Szabo’s success so far made her a natural choice to speak to her peers.

“I have been able to use my CMDI education and apply it to everything from community relations to consumer packaged goods and now entertainment—you can really take any avenue you want with CMDI,” she said.

Hannah Stewart graduated in 2019 with a degree in communication. She covers student news at the college.

On her dream internship, a CMDI student has done everything from tracking media mentions to working the red carpet.

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Code Reddit: How community guidelines, moderation can impede internet incivility

Joe Arney — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 16:33:37 +0000

Code Reddit: How community guidelines, moderation can impede internet incivility Joe Arney Tue, 12/09/2025 - 09:33

Joe Arney

If you were starting a new social media platform—one that tried to balance civil behavior with strong engagement—and were looking for an example to emulate, Chris Vargo has an unexpected one to offer.

Vargo, an associate professor of advertising at 91��ý’s College of Communication, Media, Design and Information, has a new paper out in Social Science Computer Review that examines the role moderation and decentralized community rules have played in limiting incivility on Reddit.

“It’s not a moderated world in which we live in online, but I think what’s neat about Reddit is that they have these self-enforcing communities—and they work,” Vargo said.

Content accuracy was once an important plank for social media giants like Meta, which hired moderators to sift through the cesspools and remove false or misleading posts about the pandemic, Jan. 6 insurrection and other controversial topics. Uniquely, Reddit relies on volunteers to police posts that are abusive or inaccurate.

The paper, which Vargo co-authored with Toby Hopp, a fellow associate professor in the college’s Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Design, used machine learning tools to study 20 of the most popular subreddits—topic-specific communities hosted on the Reddit platform—in news and politics to understand how community rules could shape both engagement and uncivil behavior.

“Each subreddit is a different community, and they all have different rules and different guidelines on what’s acceptable,” Vargo said. Some groups, he said, encourage incivility—like sports subreddits where fans trash on a rival team, as well as some in the political sphere. “But you also have subreddits that don’t allow for that kind of incivility, or the casting of people as being out-group.”

That’s important because social media has empowered anonymous keyboard warriors to toss around death threats, dox opponents and belittle people for their ideas. Those kinds of uncivil behaviors—as opposed to just general vulgarity—were the focus of this research.

“For a democracy to have diverse voices, people need to feel safe posting content online,” Vargo said. “And we know from incivility studies that silencing and marginalizing opponents, telling them their viewpoints don’t matter, is a great way to silence them.”

“We know from incivility studies that silencing and marginalizing opponents, telling them their viewpoints don’t matter, is a great way to silence them.”

Chris Vargo, associate professor, advertising

When it comes to improving civil discourse on social media, the paper found the strength of a community’s moderation policies and enforcement correlated with greater civility among its participants.

“The more rules that are in a community, the better quality of communication in that subreddit,” Vargo said. “That’s important because building community is less about content moderation and more about content contextualization—this idea of sharing the truth when a poster might not be truthful, or saying when someone's misleading in a comment if they are being misleading.”

Changing perspectives on toxicity

The idea that one would consider Reddit a haven from, as opposed to a hotbed of, toxic behavior would have raised more than a few eyebrows in the past. But as major players in artificial intelligence have looked for new content platforms to scrape, Reddit has tried to sanitize its image. Those efforts have included removing problematic communities from the platform as well as putting moderation in the hands of volunteer users. Last year, the platform struck a $60 million deal with Google that allowed the search giant to train its A.I. models on users’ posts.

“We really expected Reddit to be pretty toxic, but I’ve done a couple papers recently that both point to Reddit being fairly safe, with not a lot of threats,” Vargo said. “I would say it is probably more of a model than it is a problem.”

When it comes to advertising and social media, engagement is the name of the game—one reason why name-calling, shaming and starting fights online tends to be rewarded by algorithms, which are designed to keep people on the site, in order to deliver more ads to users. In this study, though, Vargo said, internet indecorousness amounted to “just a tiny bit” of increased engagement.

“I think it’s great to see on a social media platform that those behaviors aren’t driving engagement quite the way we may have thought,” he said. “Because I don’t think it should be so easy to mine us for engagement, and for it to be so closely linked to hate.”

So, for both existing and emerging platforms, the idea of user-governed communities is worth consideration.

“I would highly encourage other places, like Facebook groups, to allow for those types of moderators to have that role over removing content and enforcing rules,” Vargo said, noting that his paper collected commonly used rules that keep successful subreddits civil.

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

A new paper finds subreddits with clearly defined rules and active volunteer moderators do better at limiting incivility and encouraging engagement.

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Though some of the biggest social media platforms have ended, or drastically scaled back, content moderation, a new paper examines Reddit's volunteer model and finds that the right guidelines can limit incivility.

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Waste not. Want? Yes.

Hannah Stewart — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 21:18:19 +0000

Waste not. Want? Yes. Hannah Stewart Fri, 12/05/2025 - 14:18

Hannah Stewart

The EPOP Shop was a crowd favorite at the Firefly Handmade Market in downtown Boulder. The students sold out of two items in the first two hours of being open; they ultimately sold all their products midway through the second day of the market. Photos by Hannah Howell.

How many students can say one of their first class assignments was to go shopping?

That unusual first assignment is how students in the EPOP Studio course prepare to create sustainably sourced gifts that are sold at a holiday market.

EPOP by the numbers:

39 students

12 unique products

240 items brought to and sold at market

$10,070 sold

For the past five years, environmental design faculty with 91��ý’s College of Communication, Media, Design and Information have partnered with the Firefly Handmade holiday market to give students hands-on experience in product design.

The twist for students who participate—all of whom are majoring in environmental products of design—is the requirement that their creations have a strong sustainability component, which becomes part of the story for each product sold. Students who complete the degree go on to careers in virtually every design field.

“We want to be the people who make cool things to sell,” said senior Pilar Agostine, who was part of the team that built the EPOP storefront—itself created from sustainable materials. “We’re designing the everyday products for a home, but in an environmental way.”

The EPOP Studio draws its name from the EPOD major and the annual pop-up shop powered by the students. The goal of the course is to challenge them to think critically about sustainability while developing technical, interpersonal and business skills.

“The theme of the studio is diverting design—they have to identify waste streams, capture material and transform it into a product,” said Jared Arp, an assistant teaching professor of environmental design who teaches the course alongside Melissa Felderman, associate teaching professor.

All products were made with upcycled materials, which many customers felt was both unique and important.

Once students identified a waste stream, they used their experience from observing the market to identify potential products to pitch to classmates. Among this year’s product themes were creative, decorative, fun and—for the first time—masculine.

“Shopping for men, in my opinion, is so hard,” senior John Davis said with a laugh. “When you think about the context of a handmade market, a lot of those things tend to be directed toward feminine audiences.”

Davis and his team had “100-plus ideas” before settling on a set of whiskey glasses made from bottles sourced from Spirit Hound, a distiller in Lyons. Even the glasses’ complementary coasters were made from a mixture of crushed glass, rockite—a fine concrete material—and a cork base. Davis estimated the design is made from about 80% reclaimed material.

“I'm really proud of the fact that we have all consistently shown up and created this product, and of how sustainable we were able to make it,” Davis said. “We were lucky Spirit Hound was willing to give us their bottles for free. That made our story a lot stronger.”

According to Arp, that storytelling is critical to EPOP because it connects customers with the shop’s mission of promoting sustainable design. When the link connecting the waste stream and final product is clear, he said, the audience is more receptive.

As in past years, customers beat a steady path to EPOP’s storefront: Well before the Firefly market closed, the students’ 240 products had sold out. Sales from the weekend amounted to slightly more than $10,000; adjusted for expenses, their gross profit was just shy of $6,100, all of which will support next year’s studio.

A steady flow of customers kept EPOP students busy at the market.

“That’s 240 decisions from shoppers to purchase the students’ work,” Arp said. “There’s no better jury than live people.”

Those live people weren’t just impulse buyers. An hour before the market opened, curious passers-by were watching the shop—partially constructed from reclaimed wood—take form. Within minutes of opening, the first customer bought six sunglasses cases made from reclaimed outdoor gear, like jackets.

Uniquely, the structure included more than just the items for sale. It was outfitted with 12 tablets, which ran looped videos showing the creation process and sustainability story of each product. Buyers also received cards with the product name and a blurb about the item.

“Foot traffic is really important for markets, and I think the shop itself is incredible—it stands out,” said Chrissy Howell, a yarn artisan who frequently participates in markets like Firefly. She and her husband—the parents of a CMDI student—picked up a number of items for their holiday shopping.

Another customer, Jean, stumbled upon the market while visiting Boulder from Frisco. She, like Howell, thought EPOP was perfect for picking up a unique gift—she purchased the Waste Knot for her daughter—while being environmentally conscious. She said the students’ mission really spoke to her.

“This is the culmination of their whole semester, and it makes me really happy for them that they get this opportunity to be out in public to get feedback about their work and ideas,” said Mary Kay Cunningham, another holiday shopper and parent to an EPOP student.

For the students, it’s more than just holiday gifts. In addition to learning to tell a story that resonates with potential customers, the class challenged their technical and teamwork skills, teaching them creativity and resilience as they brought their ideas to market.

The Waste Knot yarn bowls, Respirited whiskey glasses and other items made by EPOP students.

“They warned us at the beginning that we could use software to generate a concept of a final product, but it will dampen your creative experience,’” said Elliette Igel-Manvitz, a junior on the Waste Knot team.

Felderman said that’s an important lesson for students in the studio class. While many CMDI classes challenge students to find useful, ethical and responsible ways to use generative artificial intelligence as part of assignments and projects, she asked them not to do so in the early stages.

Doing so “stymies their creative process and pigeonholes them,” Felderman said. “We offer guidance to our students both on when and how to use A.I. in the design process, so that it can act as a tool, as opposed to a hindrance.”

Students said working through the front-end creative challenges of their projects furthered their learning.

“I’ve definitely become more adaptive,” Igel-Manvitz said. “When we realized we’d have to change our materials because of resource availability, we learned from other teams.

“After working on it for so many months and not really seeing the final product until the very end, it feels unreal.”

Even the storefront was made by students, using both new and reclaimed wood. Students also created all the signs for the shop.

November's Firefly Handmade Holiday Market was packed. Customers frequently visited the EPOP shop, some of them even lining up to check out the products before the official start time. They quickly sold out of items.

Hannah Stewart graduated in 2019 with a degree in communication. She covers student news at the college.

Photographer Hannah Howell is studying media production at CMDI.

At an annual holiday market, CMDI students again sold handmade, sustainably sourced gifts—along with the stories of how the materials were rescued from waste streams.

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Goal oriented: Soccer standout is CMDI’s top December graduate

Joe Arney — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 17:19:17 +0000

Goal oriented: Soccer standout is CMDI’s top December graduate Joe Arney Fri, 12/05/2025 - 10:19

Allyson Maturey

She wasn't just a star on the pitch—Lola Stanley graduates in December at the top of her class for the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information. Photo courtesy Colorado Athletics.

By the time Lola Stanley graduates this December, she’ll be carrying more than recognition as the college’s William W. White Outstanding Graduate. She’ll be carrying the lessons, relationships and personal growth that shaped her at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information—experiences she said will guide her long after graduation.

For Stanley, a communication major and sports media minor who transferred to 91��ý from the University of Texas at Austin, the journey to graduation has been marked by balance, focus and a commitment to showing up—both in the classroom and on the soccer field. Her college experiences have given her a better understanding of the power of setting goals and achieving them.

“Working hard to graduate with a 4.0 GPA while being a student-athlete has taught me that I am in control of the goals I want to achieve,” Stanley said. “It’s truly based on how I show up.”

The White award, presented to the graduating senior with the highest GPA in the college, is not the only honor Stanley has achieved as a student. In 2024, she was recognized with the Herbst Academic Award, which celebrates a student-athlete for her classroom accomplishments.

Graduation represents far more than a personal achievement for Stanley: “Above all, my degree represents the generosity, sacrifice and support that I have received from my parents.”

In a way, her diploma is part gratitude and part gateway. It’s the culmination of years of effort and the beginning of countless opportunities ahead.

More than just a degree

Among her most significant areas of growth, Stanley highlights one skill: communication. She didn’t just refine it at CMDI, she came to understand its transformative power. Whether with teammates, professors, coaches or peers, she found clear communication fosters trust while minimizing misunderstandings.

“I’ve learned that being direct, transparent and intentional strengthens every relationship,” she said. “Recognizing its impact across every area of my life is one of the most valuable takeaways that I will bring with me into my next chapter.”

Stanley has many memorable experiences she’ll hold onto, but there’s one class that stands out the most: an American Sign Language course with Paige Hawkins, assistant teaching professor from Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.

Hawkins, she said, brought joy and care into the classroom, opening Stanley’s eyes to the richness of learning a new language. The experience fostered a deep sense of gratitude and broadened her awareness of the things people often take for granted.

“She truly impacted my life in ways that I did not expect when signing up for the course,” she said. “I want to thank her for the time, effort when showing up to teach my class and me every day.”

Congratulations, December graduates!

CMDI is proud to recognize our new 2025 Forever Buffs.

View a full list of graduates →

Allyson Maturey is a communications project manager for CMDI.

The William W. White Outstanding Graduate this December is Lola Stanley, who carries with her the resilience of an athlete, the curiosity of a scholar and the clarity of a communicator.

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‘The epitome of accountability journalism’: Coverage of fatal school bus crash leads to reforms on Texas roads

Joe Arney — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 15:53:30 +0000

‘The epitome of accountability journalism’: Coverage of fatal school bus crash leads to reforms on Texas roads Joe Arney Tue, 11/18/2025 - 08:53

Iris Serrano

When a concrete truck crashed into a school bus in Texas’ Bastrop County last year, killing two and injuring dozens of children last year, it became the state’s deadliest school bus crash in nearly a decade.

For a team of reporters at the Austin American-Statesman that spent months chasing the story, the tragedy wasn’t just that a child died, but that the whole incident was preventable.

Photo by Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman.

“There was a big avenue for us to bring accountability to what happened,” said Tony Plohetski, an investigative reporter with the American-Statesman. “We wanted to better understand all of the forces that were at play that contributed to this.”

The series of articles, published earlier this year, examined the crash, including Texas’ safety laws for school buses regarding seat belts and its regulations for commercial drivers, and led to legislative action aimed at preventing a disaster of this magnitude from happening again.

Their extensive reporting earned Plohetski, Tahui Gómez and Keri Heath the 2025 Casey Feldman Award for Transportation Safety Reporting, awarded by EndDD.org and the journalism department at the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Communication, Media, Design and Information.

“The requirement to have seat belts on school buses was, in some ways, nonexistent. School districts could exempt themselves for a variety of reasons,” said Heath, an education reporter. “One of the most significant things so far is that Texas is going to study how many buses have seat belts, and how much it would cost to outfit them.”

Beyond the policy changes, their work truly brought awareness and gave a voice to those affected by the crash. Gómez, a Latino communities reporter at the American-Statesman, recalled spending months working closely with the victims’ families, making sure their stories were heard.

“Being with them in that process, seeing how they were coming to terms with things, how their grief was changing over time and being able to give voice was very rewarding,” he said. “This isn’t a tragedy that we should just bow our heads in remembrance of. We needed to suggest that things can be done.”

The reporting award honors Casey Feldman, a Fordham University journalism student who was killed by a distracted driver in 2009. It is sponsored by CMDI and EndDD.org, which was created by the Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation to end distracted driving.

Chuck Plunkett, director of the capstone CU News Corps course at CMDI, and Kirk Siegler (Jour’00), a national correspondent for NPR News, were judges for this year’s submissions. Siegler described the winners’ work as the epitome of accountability journalism.

“I was immediately enthralled by the character-driven narratives of the crash victims’ parents. Along the journey, if you will, it also highlighted in clear language the gaps and failures across the system—and namely, in regulations—that led up to the tragedy,” he said.

The judges also gave special mention to the runner-up entry from Austin’s KXAN for a seven-part investigation on truck crashes in Texas.

Iris Serrano is studying journalism and strategic communication. She covers student news for the college.

Three reporters from the Austin American-Statesman won the 2025 Casey Feldman Award for Transportation Safety Reporting.

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At this holiday market, repurposing is the new regifting

Hannah Stewart — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 16:02:52 +0000

At this holiday market, repurposing is the new regifting Hannah Stewart Fri, 11/07/2025 - 09:02

Hannah Stewart

A student applies a decal to a finished whiskey glass while another student records the process in the EPOP studio course. This class challenges students studying environmental products of design to make gifts from diverted materials that are listed for sale at the Firefly Handmade Holiday Market. Photos by Hannah Howell.

John Davis developed a love of product design through a furniture building studio in Copenhagen, Denmark. So taking the EPOP studio course offered through the environmental design department was a no-brainer.

If you go

What: Students will be at the Firefly Handmade Holiday Market all weekend selling 12 hand-designed and manufactured products.

Where: Pearl Street Mall, 1303 Pearl St., Boulder.

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 15 and 16. Historically, they’ve sold out quickly, so stop by early.

Learn more

“I initially wanted to do architecture, but found that product design has much more tangible results a lot faster, which is rewarding,” Davis said. “And this studio is such a good opportunity for students like me. I don't think a lot of people get the chance to actually design a product and take it to market during their education.”

EPOP students have one seemingly simple task: Design, produce and sell an item at market. But there’s a catch: All products—as well as the storefront—must be made sustainably, with at least 50% of each item made from diverted materials.

The course name comes from the environmental products of design, or EPOD, major at 91��ý’s College of Communication, Media, Design and Information, and the pop-up shop at which the final goods are sold each year.

In teams of three, the students identified a waste stream—plastic from holiday string lights, used outdoor gear or, in Davis’ case, used whiskey bottles—and created both a story and a product from it.

Davis and his team realized many holiday markets have artisan wine glasses, but rarely did they see similar drinkware for hard liquor. They settled on a whiskey glass and companion coaster, and after learning skills like sandblasting and 3D modeling, were able to create 15 two-glass sets to sell at the Firefly Handmade Holiday Market later this month.

Both the glasses and coasters were made of reclaimed whiskey bottles from Spirit Hound, in Lyons, which donated the raw materials to the team.

“That just made our sustainability story a lot stronger,” Davis said. “I am really proud of how sustainable we were able to make our product. It’s made from something like 80% diverted material.”

This is the fifth year the students have collaborated with Firefly, and the fourth time they'll sell their goods at the annual holiday market on the Pearl Street Mall. And each year, the studio—and market storefront—has grown. Unlike the 10-foot-by-10-foot tents most vendors use, the students are building a 10-foot-by-20-foot storefront, complete with cash wrap and mounts so that market-goers can watch each product’s process videos, created by the students over the course of the semester.

Most years, their inventory quickly sells out.

“It’s really affirming for the students and builds their creative confidence,” said Jared Arp, an assistant teaching professor co-leading the class alongside Melissa Felderman, an associate teaching professor.

“This studio is like a right of passage. When the market happens, former students come back to see what the next class has done, so it’s become a touchpoint for our alumni and a great way to engage the community,” Arp said.

Students learned various technical skills like sandblasting, 3D modeling and more throughout the course of the EPOP Studio.

From concept to creation, all products (and the storefront itself) are all made by the students.

Hannah Stewart graduated in 2019 with a degree in communication. She covers student news at the college.

Photographer Hannah Howell is studying media production at CMDI.

CMDI students will showcase, and sell, their sustainable products at the annual Firefly Handmade Holiday Market in November.

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