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CMC sets commencement speaker lineup

Colorado Mountain College
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper
Brennan Linsley / Associated Press | AP

To honor the 50th anniversary of Colorado Mountain College, the spring 2017 graduation ceremonies will feature nine high-profile guest speakers.

This year’s commencement speakers will include:

Friday, May 5, 2017:



• John Hickenlooper, the Colorado governor, former mayor of Denver, entrepreneur, chief executive of the Colorado State Patrol and Colorado National Guard, will speak at Colorado Law Enforcement Training Academy ceremony. Though the academy is housed at CMC Spring Valley at Glenwood Springs, this ceremony will be held at the college’s Rifle campus to accommodate program alumni and law enforcement partners from across the Western Slope.

• Joe Garcia, former Colorado lieutenant governor, past executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, current president of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, speaks at CMC Vail Valley at Edwards.



• Erik Weihenmayer, author and motivational speaker and the first blind man to climb Mount Everest, speaks at CMC Leadville. Weihenmayer’s recently released book, “No Barriers,” has also been selected as the college’s Common Reader for 2017-18.

• John Fielder, world-renowned photographer, Summit county resident, conservationist, champion of the state’s wildest places — CMC Summit County.

• Carrie Morgridge, nationally recognized philanthropist and author, education champion, chief disruptor of Share Fair Nation, benefactor (the Morgridge Family Foundation) of the CMC Aspen campus, will speak at the CMC Rifle event.

• Jim Calaway, businessman and philanthropist, founder and chairman emeritus of the CMC board of overseers speaks at CMC Spring Valley’s ceremony to include bachelor’s degree graduates from CMC Aspen, Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Spring Valley.

Saturday, May 6:

• Donna Lynne, Colorado lieutenant governor and chief operating officer of Colorado, former executive vice president of Kaiser Health, previous senior vice president of the Health and Hospital Corps for the City of New York (nursing ceremony) — Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley at Glenwood Springs

• Walter Isaacson, Aspen Institute president, author, past CEO of CNN and senior editor of “Time” magazine (and namesake of CMC’s Isaacson School for New Media) — Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley at Glenwood Springs (ceremony to include certificate and associate degree graduates from CMC Aspen, Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Spring Valley)

• Bill Ritter Jr., former Colorado governor, native Coloradan, sustainability champion, executive director of the Center for New Energy Economy at CSU, will speak at CMC Steamboat Springs. “We are honored that this distinguished list of speakers will address our graduates during a year that marks the college’s 50th anniversary of service to western Colorado and the many mountain communities we serve,” said Carrie Besnette Hauser, president and CEO of CMC. “Each speaker is uniquely suited for his or her respective ceremony and location, which we hope will be even more meaningful for students achieving their dreams, and the families who will surround them as they reach another educational milestone.”

Details including times and exact locations for each ceremony will be provided at a later date.


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