University of Colorado Colorado Springs Chancellor Venkat Reddy, Mayor John Suthers and other Olympic City USA representatives will celebrate the Olympians and Paralympians who attended UCCS with the dedication of the new Olympians & Paralympians Among Us sculpture. The event will be held on Tuesday, May 30 at 5:30 p.m. on the UCCS campus.
The program will include remarks from eight-time Olympic Medalist Apolo Ohno and Olympic gold medalist Amber English.
As home to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee Headquarters, more than 25 National Olympic Governing Bodies and 50 National Sport Organizations, the Colorado Springs Olympic and Paralympic Training Center (OPTC) and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum, Colorado Springs is Olympic City USA. More than 15,000 athletes travel to Colorado Springs to train at the OPTC each year. When they aren’t training, many athletes choose UCCS to start or continue their educational pursuits. This sculpture initiative honors the unique dedication of these student-athletes.
The sculpture features five eight-inch-wide metal spirals in red, blue, green, yellow and grey, rising out of the base to a height of approximately 30 feet. Around the upper tier of the sculpture are plaques honoring UCCS Olympians and Paralympians by the year/city of participation. As more Olympic Games are completed, additional plaques will be added to the upper tier of the sculpture base. The sculpture is located in the plaza next to the University Center.
There are a number of project partners involved in the donor funded creation of this sculpture, including the artist, Bernard Sandoval, Springs Fabrication, G.E. Johnson and the Olympic City USA Task Force.
Event Details:
When: Tuesday, May 30, 2023 5:30 - 7:00 P.M. Remarks begin at 5:45 P.M.
Where: UCCS University Center Lower Plaza 1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway, Colorado Springs, 80918
Nothing complements the beauty of a summer evening in the Rockies quite like the joy and artistry of Shakespeare’s classic plays, and thanks to the return of Theatreworks Free-For-All community tour, audiences in the Pikes Peak Region can enjoy both from the comfort of their own neighborhoods.
Back this year with Shakespeare’s “Pericles,” this 75-minute, mobile production performs in parks, libraries and community centers, offering audiences of all ages an opportunity to experience The Bard on their own terms.
The program, started in 2019 with “Comedy of Errors,” partners with schools during April and May to
bring live Shakespeare to middle and high school classrooms, but with the end of the semester, the
show transitions to public performances, open to all.
Partners like the Pikes Peak Library District, the Deerfield Hills Community Center, Colorado Springs Senior Center, and various cultural centers in Simla, Canon City, and Florence, among others provide the space. Theatreworks also has closed performances for schools, Springs Rescue Mission and Goodwill to serve their students and clients.
This year’s play, “Pericles,” was one of Shakespeare’s most popular works when it was written, and with
a text full of heroes, villains, shipwrecks, pirates, jousting and more, it’s easy to see why.
Director Max Shulman sees something in the play for everyone.
“Pericles is an epic in line with the Odyssey,” he said. “It’s a genre-crossing adventure that is funny, sad, joyous, romantic, and magical. From evil tyrants to wondrous miracles, this lesser-known work of Shakespeare is full of surprises.”
Under Shulman’s direction, the play brings together eight actors, each of whom plays a number of
different roles such that no two performances are quite the same. The cast includes Brooke Callahan,
Creston Cooper, Jamie Cooper, Journee Dortch, Ambrose Fees-Armstrong, Sabrina Mendoza, Emily
Newton, and Sierra Tune. Creston Cooper, Sierra Tune, and Emily Newton all return from previous FreeFor-All productions, while the rest of the team are new to the program. Julie Talty is the stage manager, and the show includes costume design by Erica Daun, and props by Marie Verdu.
Whether you’re looking for ways to add the magic of live theatre to your summer, or just seeking a
different kind of family outing, Free-For-All: “Pericles” offers free, family-friendly fun for seasoned
theatregoers and newcomers alike.
See below for a full list of locations, dates and partners for performances across the Pikes Peak Region through July 7.
- Black Forest Community Church on behalf of the Mobile Libraries of the PPLD, Friday, 5/19 at 6:30p | 6845 Shoup Rd, Colorado Springs, CO 80908
- Sangre de Cristo Art Center, Friday, 5/26 @ 7p | 210 N Santa Fe Ave, Pueblo, CO 81003
- Panorama Park, Thursday, 6/1 @ 6p | 4540 Fenton Rd, Colorado Springs, CO 80916
- Deerfield Hills Community Center, Saturday, 6/3 @ 10:30a | 4290 Deerfield Hills Rd, Colorado Springs, CO 80916
- Bancroft Park on behalf of Old Colorado City Library, Saturday, 6/3 @ 5p | 2408 W. Colorado Ave. (W. Colorado Ave. & S 24th St.)
- Limbach Park on behalf of the Town of Monument, Sunday, 6/4 @ 1p | 151 Front Street, Monument, CO 80132
- Colorado Springs Senior Center, Friday, 6/9 @ 2p | 1514 N Hancock Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
- Bell Tower Arts Center, Saturday, 6/10 @ 10a | 201 E 2nd St, Florence, CO 81226
- Meadows Park Community Center on behalf of the Cheyenne Mountain Library, Saturday, 6/10 @ 2p | 1943 S El Paso Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80905
- Antlers Park on behalf of Penrose Library, Saturday, 6/17 @ 11a | 31 W Pikes Peak Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
- Simla Public Park on behalf of Simla Public Library, Saturday, 6/17 @ 6p | Corner of Caribou St/Highway 24 and Pueblo Ave, Simla, CO 80835
- Memorial Park on behalf of the Manitou Springs Library, Friday, 6/23 @ 5p | 502 Manitou Ave, Manitou Springs, CO 80829
- The Village Green on behalf of Palmer Lake Arts Council, Saturday, 6/24 @ 1:30 and 6p | 66 Lower Glenway St, Palmer Lake, CO 80133
- George Fellows Park on behalf of East Library, Saturday, 7/1 @ 10:30a | 5550 N Union Blvd, Colorado Springs, CO 80918
- Green Box Arts, Saturday, 7/1 @ 1p and 4p | Mountain Corner, 10125 Chipita Park Rd, Cascade, CO 80809
- Kinship Landing, Friday, 7/7 @ 6:30p | 415 S Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
More than 1,500 graduates from the class of 2023 earned their degrees from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs on Friday, with over 1,300 participating in the in-person celebration held at the Broadmoor World Arena.
UCCS awarded 26 doctoral degrees, 274 master’s degrees and 1,026 bachelor’s degrees to graduates of the spring 2023 semester during the May 12 event.
Venkat Reddy, Chancellor of UCCS; Todd Saliman, President of the University of Colorado system; and the recipients of the 2023 Student Achievement Awards, Seth Lindsey and Aja Zamundu, addressed graduates during the day’s ceremonies.
“As you graduate today, you will go back out into the world – using the work of your hands and your hearts to make it a better place,” Reddy said in his address.
“You all have big goals and if you’re clear on how to reach them, you’re a step ahead of where I was when I graduated from CU in 1989,” said Todd Saliman, President of the CU System. “If you’re a little fuzzy about your future, I can relate. I was fuzzy about my future too. But don’t worry: How you approach your journey is just as important as where you’re headed.”
“Make plans. Work hard. Grab opportunities when you see them. Be brave and hold on tight to good luck when it comes your way because it might just change your life,” Saliman continued. “I can’t wait to see what you bring to your corners of the world.”
During the morning ceremony Aja Zamundu, graduating with a degree in psychology, spoke about the value of hard work and pushing yourself – but also the importance of learning from failure.
“I stand here today not only because of my achievements, but also because I had the luxury of failure and the mercy of a second chance,” she said. “Failure taught me that even though you work long and hard, you may not always succeed, but you will survive. Let us not see our failures as representations of our abilities, but as indicators of our capacity to persevere.”
During the afternoon ceremony Seth Lindsey, graduating with a degree in visual and performing arts, expressed gratitude to each of his fellow graduates for sharing in the college experience with him.
“What this moment marks is the manifestation of our collective victories, the culmination of our most arduous efforts, and the sort of finish line that exists only at the end of a daring adventure shared by close friends and dedicated colleagues,” he said. “The perpetual change that permeates our lives may feel like chaos at times, but I urge you to see it also as a possibility of good fortune. Never forget that luck comes when opportunity meets preparation. We have prepared. We have done the work, and now we must go and seek the opportunities that only lie beyond the doors of this building.”
The ceremony included the traditional celebration of Golden Graduates, alums who celebrated 50 years since their own UCCS graduation. Eleven members of the Class of 1973 were in attendance.
This year’s events incorporated the first readings of the UCCS Land Acknowledgement by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for DEI. This year’s ceremony also recognized Hewlett-Packard for their longstanding partnership with UCCS and honored the role they played in making the university what it is today.
To close the ceremonies, CU Regents Ken Montera and Glen Gallegos delivered the traditional Norlin Charge to graduates. The charge dates back to CU Boulder president George Norlin’s delivery of the June 1935 Commencement ceremony. The words of the Norlin Charge are now read to the graduating class each year at each of the four CU campuses, as a reminder that graduates will carry their experiences at the university with them forever.
“Commencement does not mean, as many wrongly think, the breaking of ties and the beginning of life apart,” reads the charge. “Rather, it marks your initiation in the fullest sense into the fellowship of the university, as bearers of her torch, as centers of her influence, as promoters of her spirit.”
“The university consists of all who come into and go forth from her halls, who are touched by her influence and who carry on her spirit. Wherever you go, the university goes with you. Wherever you are at work, there is the university at work.”
About the UCCS Spring 2023 Commencement Ceremonies
The UCCS spring 2023 Commencement ceremonies celebrated degrees conferred to nearly 1,600 graduates. More than 1,300 attended the morning and afternoon ceremonies at the Broadmoor World Arena on May 12, 2023, along with family and friends. See the full Commencement program online. View the livestreamed ceremony on YouTube.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The newest graduates of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) will celebrate their achievements at the Spring 2023 Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 12 at the Broadmoor World Arena.
The spring ceremony has a record-breaking number of students planning to cross the stage - more than 480 at the morning ceremony, and 880 at the afternoon ceremony.
This year's event highlights include the commencement of UCCS's youngest-ever grad, Annika Mote, at age 17; the celebration of 11 Golden Grads, UCCS alums who graduated 50 years ago; and the recognition of Hewlett-Packard for 60 years of community partnership.
Morning Ceremony: College of Letters, Arts & Sciences
9:00 a.m. - Doors Open
10:30 a.m. - Ceremony Begins
Afternoon Ceremony: All other Colleges
1:00 p.m. - Doors Open
2:30 p.m. - Ceremony Begins
Please note that there will be unusually high levels of traffic around the World Arena prior to both ceremonies.
About the UCCS Spring 2023 Commencement Ceremonies
The UCCS spring 2023 Commencement ceremonies will celebrate degrees conferred to more than 1,500 graduates. More than 1,300 will attend the morning and afternoon ceremonies at the Broadmoor World Arena on May 12, 2023, along with family and friends.