Taking in 2021: Reflecting on the year at CU Boulder

COVID-19 comebacks

• Photos: Class of 2021 gears up for graduation
• CU Art Museum re-opens with new shows, artist-in-residence
• Buffs Back Together event celebrates faculty, staff and grad students’ return to campus
• Enrollment bounces back in fall 2021
• Classes of 2020, 2021 reunite for a Night on Norlin
• The Buffalo Bicycle Classic is back Sept. 12
• Attend the inaugural Culture Crawl Oct. 7
• Get ready for Homecoming Nov. 4–6
• Photos: Degrees conferred on fall class of 2021

Remarkable individuals

Students

• 3 CU Boulder students offered 2021–22 Fulbright awards
• 2 CU undergrads named prestigious Goldwater Scholars
• CU student named Truman Scholar
• CU Boulder graduate earns prestigious Schwarzman Scholarship 

Faculty

• CU Boulder violist Richard O’Neill wins Grammy
• Professor Barbara Demmig-Adams wins 2021 Hazel Barnes Prize
• Jun Ye wins Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
• 6 CU Boulder faculty members become distinguished professors
• Champion of blue-collar monsters Stephen Graham Jones keeps racking up awards
• Patricia Limerick elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
• Christopher Bowman elected to National Academy of Engineering
• National Academy of Inventors recognizes Mark Rentschler, Greg Rieker and Tin Tin Su
• National Academy of Inventors honors Richard Noble, Theodore Randolph
• Astrophysicist Jack Burns elected to International Academy of Astronautics

Growing in our commitment to inclusive excellence

• Chancellor Philip DiStefano announces $25 million investment pool to support diversity initiatives
• CU Boulder announces Center for African and African American Studies; Center for African and African American Studies to have home in Macky Auditorium
• CU Boulder paves way for Pac-12 schools to increase women in policing
• CU regents approve renaming of 2 campus buildings
• Chancellor names Sonia DeLuca Fernández senior vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion
• Upward Bound celebrates 40 years at CU Boulder
   

Forces for good

• CU Boulder campus sees high COVID-19 vaccination rate among members
• Despite tough year, CU Boulder students earn honors for high voting rate in 2020
• Students pay survey incentives forward to tune of combined $25,137
• Buffs show up to clean up University Hill, support community

Warm welcomes, fond farewells

• Ralphie VI Set To Debut This Friday Night
• Saying goodbye to the Old Main cottonwood

Healing in the midst of heartbreak, injustice

• Campus remembers shooting victims
• Twin trees planted to honor CU Boulder’s beloved Peggy Coppom, the late Betty Hoover
• One year later: How George Floyd’s death changed us

Prioritizing mental health and wellness

• The Week in Photos: Health and Wellness Summit
• Embedded clinician rides along to help students facing mental health challenges
• Musicians’ Wellness Program flourishes in expanded Imig Music Building

Your top 10 favorite pro tips

• The dean’s list of advice: 3 tips for Halloween weekend
• 4 practical tips for dating during a pandemic
• Living off campus or commuting to Boulder? Tips and reminders
• Tips to help you create a better sleep schedule
• 5 tips to help you prepare for ski season
• 3 tips to create an at-home gym (for free)
• 4 tips for meeting people and connecting if you’re an introvert
• 3 tips for finding and scheduling a COVID-19 vaccine appointment
• Daylight saving time ends: 6 tips to fall back this weekend
• 3 travel tips before fall break

Addressing costs, advocating for the campus community

• CU Boulder to cover fees, increase stipends for graduate students on appointment
• Chancellor advocates for state funding for renovation projects

S’ko Buffs

• CU announces Colorado Athletics Visibility Award
• CU Athletic Hall of Fame to welcome 9 new members during Homecoming events Nov. 4–6
• Alumna Sage Hurta honored as co-Pac-12 woman of the year
• Cassidy Gray wins NCAA championship, Buffs skiing third after day 1
• McKinley Wright IV invited to NBA Draft Combine
• Olympian and Buff Magnus Boee is National Nordic Skier of the Year
• Cross-country sweeps men's and women's Pac-12 titles, along with one individual title
• Sage Hurta wins NCAA championship in Indoor Mile

Pride of Olympic proportion

• CU alum Flora Duffy adds page to comeback story with historic Olympic win
• Morgan Pearson anchors Team USA to silver medal
• To watch this weekend: Melissa Stockwell at the Paralympics

Guest speakers share their perspectives

• Stacey Abrams
• David Brooks
• Mark Esper
• America Ferrera
• Chloe Fineman
• Deb Haaland
• Emily Harrington
• Alex Honnold
• Jameela Jamil
• Commencement speaker: Nita Mosby
• Ricco Nasty
• Joe Neguse
• Esther Perel
• Kevin Roose
• Space Force Gen. Thompson
• Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Building campus resources

• CU Boulder College of Music unveils long-anticipated building addition
• Alumnus Tandean Rustandy makes surprise 7-figure gift announcement at ribbon-cutting

Stewarding sustainability

• Chancellor names inaugural members of University Sustainability Council
• Campus adds 16 electric vehicle stations including Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant spaces
• CU Boulder wins national solar decathlon challenge; First-place solar decathlon winners receive visit from US secretary of energy, US senator
• Teams finish installing compost collection bins in nearly all campus restrooms in academic, administrative buildings
• Fleet of e-scooters provides new way to get around east Boulder
• CU’s indoor pool first in US to include phthalate-free liner
• 5 takeaways from the 2021 Campus Sustainability Summit

Gifts for posterity

• Chicanx and Latinx Endowed Library Collections Fund launched
• Visionary philanthropist Roe Green invests $5 million in CU theater program

New research in health, climate, space

• 5-minute breathing workout lowers blood pressure as much as exercise, drugs
• Air pollution exposure during pregnancy may boost babies’ obesity risk
• Is your body clock off schedule? Prebiotics may help
• CU Boulder to lead new NASA Space Tech Research Institute
• Emirates Mars Mission to reach Martian orbit on Feb. 9
• Extreme heat, dry summers main cause of tree death in Colorado’s subalpine forests
• Common plants and pollinators act as anchors for ecosystems

Campus records and accolades

• CU Boulder designated as a Hunger Free Campus
• CU Boulder attracts record $634.4 million for research
• CU Boulder named 2021 Innovation Award winner by APLU

Startups see success

• CU Boulder spinoff company develops technology that could treat COVID-19 complications
• Groundbreaking innovators awarded $1.5 million in grants at Lab Venture Challenge Finals
• From vaccines to plants: New Venture Challenge finalists focus on saving lives

Beyond Boulder

• First student benefits from Colorado American Indian tuition law
• Students testify for test optional bill at Colorado House
• Philip DiStefano, Rick George discuss name, image, likeness rules
• CU Boulder applications rise 13% during Colorado Free Application Day

What we’re looking forward to in 2022 and beyond

• CU Boulder, UN Human Rights to co-host global climate summit next fall
• CU Athletics joins United Nations Race To Zero Campaign
• Venture Partners’ new deep tech accelerator set to launch in January

Can’t get enough?

• Instagram top 9 in 2021
• Research stories from 2021 that will keep on giving in the new year
• Top 10 highlights of 2021 from the College of Engineering and Applied Science
• Ring in 2022 with these 5 climate resolutions