There are misconceptions that the only time you can study abroad is spring semester. This is far from the truth—there are many reasons to go abroad in the fall.

Ski the Southern Hemisphere

Thinking about studying abroad, but don’t want to miss out on ski season? Consider the fall semester in the Southern Hemisphere. Winter in countries like Chile means fresh powder, epic slopes, and endless adventure. Spend July through September skiing in the Andes during their peak season, then head back to Colorado just in time for another round of fresh snow. Who’s in for a double ski season?

Boulder Housing

If the Boulder housing market gives you an annual headache, studying abroad in the fall might be a great solution. Not only do you kick off your adventure earlier, but finding a sublease for your Boulder housing is way easier when you leave in the fall. Secure your spot abroad and stress less about your lease! You can even forgo signing a lease at all - and sublease from one of the hundreds of students that choose to go abroad in the spring. This move could save you thousands in rent. Less students choose to study abroad in the fall meaning there are better chances for scholarships, and low competition for competitive programs, all of which means your odds of paying less and going farther are better.

Extend Your Adventure

Choosing to study abroad during the fall semester also gives you the opportunity to extend your adventure to the spring. If you find you love living in your host country, you could choose to return to your original destination or pick a completely different one - even on a different continent. Imagine spending fall in sunny Australia, then meeting up with your friends in Europe in the spring! Spending an entire academic year abroad could set you apart on job and grad school applications, and it’s a memory from college you’ll never forget.

Autumn Festivals

There are plenty of autumn festivals focusing on art, music, and culture worldwide. Studying abroad in the fall gives you the opportunity to experience these incredible holidays in person, things few students ever get to see. Consider going to Oktoberfest in Germany, experiencing the vibrant Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico, or traditional Japanese harvest festivals surrounded by the gorgeous fall foliage.

Make Your Plan

Studying abroad at any point in your college career can be a transformative and exciting experience. Consider taking the road less traveled and choose the fall semester for your adventure—visit the Education Abroad office today in C4C S355 or at , and apply for a fall program by March 1.

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Noting former ��ɫ��Ƶ Chancellor Philip DiStefano’s longstanding tenure and impact on campus, Congressman Joe Neguse in December made remarks for the congressional record.

Neguse, previously a CU regent and student, represents Colorado’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Highlighted in the Dec. 18, 2024, were DiStefano’s inpirational journey as a first-generation student, half century at ��ɫ��Ƶ and contributions to support the university’s mission and people. Neguse stated DiStefano’s legacy will have lasting effects. 

The chancellor and dean emeritus is on the faculty of the School of Education and is the Newton Chair in Leadership and senior executive director of ��ɫ��Ƶ’s Center for Leadership.

Neguse‘s remarks:

Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and celebrate Dr. Phil DiStefano, a man whose 15 years of leadership as Chancellor of the ��ɫ��Ƶ and a half-century of dedication to ��ɫ��Ƶ have left an indelible mark on the university. I’ve had the privilege of witnessing firsthand the profound impact that Chancellor DiStefano’s leadership has had on CU and across our state. Phil’s journey is nothing short of inspiring. A first-generation college student from Steubenville, Ohio, his academic and professional path has taken him from Ohio to the heights of leadership at one of our Nation’s top universities. His journey is a testament to the transformative power of education and the potential that lies within each of us. While he may have started in Ohio, Colorado is his home today, and our state has greatly benefited from his presence. Throughout his tenure as Chancellor, Dr. DiStefano was committed to making ��ɫ��Ƶ a nationally recognized research institution that shapes tomorrow’s leaders and positively impacts society. Under his leadership, ��ɫ��Ƶ has awarded nearly 117,000 degrees and raised over $2 billion in philanthropic gifts. Through his work in technology transfer, Chancellor DiStefano has paved the way for substantial growth in the university, including the creation of 40 startup ventures and the signing of 223 license and option agreements. The university’s research and innovation efforts have had a significant influence not only on the local economy but also on the entire Nation. Over the past five years, ��ɫ��Ƶ’s commercialization activities alone generated a domestic economic impact of $1.9 billion, supporting an estimated 11,545 jobs and contributing $1.2 billion to the state’s economy, and has ensured that ��ɫ��Ƶ remains at the forefront of research.

As Dr. DiStefano transitions to his new role as Senior Executive Director of the ��ɫ��Ƶ Center for Leadership, we know that his legacy of student success, faculty excellence, and campus sustainability has elevated ��ɫ��Ƶ to the top tier of academic institutions, making it a beacon of excellence across the country. I want to personally express my gratitude to Chancellor DiStefano for his service to our community, Colorado, and our Nation. His contributions will be felt for decades to come. I thank Phil for his leadership and dedication to ��ɫ��Ƶ. It has been an honor to work alongside him.

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Joining past awardees such as Jane Goodall, Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein and Marie Curie, INSTAAR Faculty Fellow Katharine Suding is being recognized for her “transformative contributions to restoration ecology.“

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The University of Colorado Police Department (CUPD) on Thursday afternoon arrested a female suspect on charges of second degree arson and reckless endangerment following a grass fire on the university’s East Campus. 

The suspect has been booked at the Boulder County Jail.

Boulder Fire Rescue, CUPD and several other local agencies responded Friday morning to contain the fire in an open area near ��ɫ��Ƶ’s Space Sciences Building along Discovery Drive. There were no injuries nor damage to any structures. 

Boulder Fire Rescue announced on social media just after 3 p.m. that the fire had been officially contained. The fire burned roughly 6.3 acres. 

In addition to Boulder Fire Rescue and CUPD, Boulder Police Department, Boulder Rural Fire Department, Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Fourmile Fire, Louisville Fire Protection District, Lafayette Fire Department, Lefthand Fire and Boulder Mountain Fire assisted in the response as high winds created challenges in containing the fire. 

“We are grateful for the response of our local partner agencies, both in containment of the fire to protect our campus community and in assisting with the investigation,” ��ɫ��Ƶ Police Chief Doreen Jokerst said.

Anyone who may have additional information about the cause of Thursday’s fire should call Sergeant Eric Edford at 303-492-6832. Those who have information but wish to remain anonymous may contact the Northern Colorado Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Tips can also be submitted through the . 

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For more than a decade, generations of ��ɫ��Ƶ students, faculty and staff made acquaintance with one of the best friends they could ever have. And through the support of people around the country, her legacy will live on for years to come.

Teri Leiker, a longtime affiliate of the university’s chapter of the national and superfan of the Golden Buffaloes Marching Band, died on March 22, 2021 during the shooting at King Soopers on Table Mesa. She was remembered during a service April 9 at the CU Events Center.

Her friends and family spoke at the memorial about Leiker’s confidence and charisma, which shone brightly in her decades-long career at King Soopers, as well as in the rest of her life.

Head to toe CU

The night before every CU Football home game, the Golden Buffalo Marching Band lines up in front of the Boulder County Courthouse for the Pearl Street Stampede. It’s a 20-year tradition engineered to hype up Buffs fans, and few were ever as hyped up as Leiker.

“The last few weeks I’ve been thinking back to all of our interactions,” said Matthew Dockendorf, Golden Buffaloes Marching Band director. “She was always there before the marching band got there.”

Without missing a beat upon their arrival, Leiker would unfailingly make a bee-line for Dockendorf or band members, wanting to talk about the band or the next day’s matchup.
“She was just head to toe CU, cheering and singing the fight song,” Dockendorf said. The ��ɫ��Ƶ fight song was so dear to Leiker that it was printed in the booklet at her memorial.

Despite not having a Stampede since 2019, Dockendorf said band members, faculty members and others quickly felt a pull to do something to honor Leiker’s spirit.

“We didn’t know what that was yet, whether that’s a moment of silence or an award at the end of year banquet,” he said.

Then two donors, Marty Coffin Evans and Robert Trembly, stepped in, offering a combined $10,000 to start the . Dockendorf says their goal is to raise $25,000, enabling the scholarship to become an endowment, which would live on in perpetuity.

“We would award an annual scholarship to a student who represents school spirit, generosity, and kindness.” Dockendorf said, all qualities that Leiker embodied.

Dockendorf said the band also plans to hold a moment of silence for Leiker at the next Pearl Street Stampede, which he hopes could be this fall.

“She was a positive influence on so many people. It was such a joy to see her and to see her smile,” he said. “We hope that she can still hear us in the future.”

A great buddy

“I’m going to cry as I think about it,” said ��ɫ��Ƶ Best Buddies faculty advisor Oliver Gerland, who attended the memorial. “She touched people’s lives who went to that King Soopers and would get in line specifically to have her bag their groceries just so they could talk to her.”

Best Buddies is a national organization which looks to end isolation of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. When Gerland began working with CU’s chapter three years ago,  Leiker, who had been involved for many years, stood out immediately.

“I saw her as a leader, honestly. She helped me get comfortable with the group,” Gerland said.

After the shooting, the national headquarters of Best Buddies raised nearly $60,000 for Leiker’s family. Best Buddies also announced plans to to create a satellite office in Boulder bearing her name.

“The fact that they’re naming it after her is important,” said Liz Lajoie, CU Best Buddies president. “It’s so special that that office is going to expand Best Buddies programming in the West and in Colorado, because Teri loved Best Buddies so much.”

Honoring victims, supporting the community

Leiker was one of ten people killed during the March 22 shooting. ��ɫ��Ƶ has established a committee to honor all of the victims and support the community healing process.

��ɫ��Ƶ Athletics is also selling , with all profits going to the .

You can submit other ideas for community support or get involved by visiting the ��ɫ��Ƶ March 22 community support page.
 

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, faculty director and chair of the board of ��ɫ��Ƶ’s , will play a central role in Colorado’s historic effort to reassess names of state landmarks.

Gov. Jared Polis appointed Limerick and several others to the beginning Aug. 1.

 Patty Limerick, faculty director of the Center of the American West. (Casey Cass/��ɫ��Ƶ)

“This collaborative group of people will bring their unique perspectives and expertise to the board and ensure we have an inclusive naming process,” said Gov. Polis. “This work is very important, because place names reflect who we were, who we are and are of intergenerational importance moving forward.”
 
Limerick is familiar with the challenges of reassessing historical names. Soon after she arrived at ��ɫ��Ƶ in the 1980s, Limerick wrote a bearing the name of a participant in the Sand Creek Massacre. Limerick’s work led to the residence hall being renamed Cheyenne Arapaho in 1989, honoring the Indigenous people whose land it occupied.

“This experience gave me a lasting knowledge of the best approaches to and strategies for reckoning with controversial historical subjects associated with particular places,” Limerick said. “Disputes over the names of places, I have learned, carry the bedrock good news that people care, and are deeply committed to associating themselves with those places and their history.”
 
More recently, the Center of the American West has worked with Rocky Mountain National Park and the Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute, Northern Cheyenne, Northern Arapaho, and Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes to educate visitors on the important ties Indigenous people maintain to the park’s landscape. 
 
As a part of the board, Limerick said she plans to rely on connections she’s developed over 35 years of civic engagement from Paonia to Burlington and from Trinidad to Meeker.
 
“In truth, every place name acts as a brief—but concentrated and very resonant—poem, with every form of expertise and sector of society called upon to reveal its meaning,” Limerick said.  
 
According to the governor’s executive order creating the advisory board, the Center of the American West is granted a designee on the board, alongside representatives from History Colorado, the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs, the Colorado Geological Survey and other state agencies and local governments.

Patty Limerick's writing on monuments and other subjects can be found on her blog, .  

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Merritt Turetsky has been named the director of INSTAAR and will step into her new role in January.

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An INSTAAR climate researcher eschews air travel on 8,000-mile ‘commute’ to take up a new position at the university.

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Now in its second year, the Earth Lab Data Analytics Graduate Certificate gives students the tools to study environmental topics such as air pollution, glaciers and flooding.

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