Colorado College released its biannual State of the College Address, which summarized the fall semester and outlined plans for the spring on Monday, Jan. 26. The address covered enrollment, policy, fundraising and academics.
Instead of a traditional speech, the address took the form of a conversation between the Student Body President, Royce Hinojosa ‘26 and the college’s 15th President, Manya Whitaker. “I will do my best to be brief and not, you know, give you a three-and-a-half-hour class session answer,” said Whitaker with a smile.
In the segment looking back at the fall semester, Whitaker reflected on her inauguration day. She expressed her gratitude for the faculty, staff and students who made time on a Saturday morning to prepare, perform and celebrate alongside others from the wider Colorado Springs community.
“If I think about what I will carry with me, it’s the reality that everybody showed up,” said Whitaker. “I mean, it was a Saturday morning and to see faculty and staff come to work on a Saturday was really exciting.”
Answering Hinojosa’s questions about academics, Whitaker highlighted the community-focused courses, research projects and career catalyst blocks as the recent additions to the curriculum.
“We’re a place that doesn’t just transmit knowledge, we absolutely create that knowledge. And in doing so, we really cultivate a sense of confidence and pride in our students because they get to participate in these types of immersive learning opportunities,” said Whitaker.
The enrollment news included the recent proclamation of the Four Corners Pledge, which is an expansion of the previously existing Colorado Pledge. This pledge determines tuition costs for students from Colorado based on their household income. Starting next year, this program will include students from New Mexico, Utah and Arizona as well. Whitaker hopes that this initiative will result in more people applying to CC.
Hinojosa and Whitaker also discussed fundraising, highlighting the $1.8 million unrestricted donation to the Athletics department as well as celebrating record-breaking Athletics Giving Day raising $213,000 in donations from 312 individual donors.
Looking forward to the rest of this spring semester, the main issues Whitaker focused on were future alumni engagement, strategic planning and an upgrade to the science facilities. Whitaker mentioned that an unnamed external firm is auditing whether the college’s resources are allocated in “mission-aligned ways,” and plans to release a final report and recommendations by early June.
While discussing the highs of the fall semester and the hopes for the spring, Whitaker recognized the tension between the current federal government and private educational institutions like CC.
“This is a really uncertain regulatory environment, and this is a time where I talk a lot about leaning into collaboration with other institutions and not competition,” said Whitaker.
At the end of her address, Whitaker emphasized that as a liberal arts institution, CC teaches its students how to think instead of what to think.
“We enhance things like sustained attention, through our interdisciplinary liberal arts curriculum, we’re really asking students to do the difficult cognitive labor of synthesis, analysis, evaluation,” said Whitaker.
The State of the College Address is not the only source of updates on CC. Public documents such as the Annual Report, Divisional Strategic Plans and Annual Fire and Safety Report cover structural and operational updates, while events like the Work of the College Series, with its recent Brand Refresh Miniseries, keep the CC community up to date on smaller changes. The Winter State of the College Address is available in both video and text formats on the CC website.