Colorado Law

Celebrating 150 Years of �� People

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:16:07 +0000

Celebrating 150 Years of �� People Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:16

Julia MacLean

Over 150 years, �� Boulder has been shaped by the vision, courage and tenacity of many students, faculty, staff and alumni. These Buffs have spurred change for the university and left an imprint on the legacy that propels it forward.

Joseph Sewall

1877 — Became ��’s first president

A 19th-century American physician, scientist and educator, Joseph Sewall served as �� Boulder’s first president from 1877 to 1887. Before he arrived in Colorado, he trained in medicine and natural science and taught as a professor of chemistry at Illinois State Normal University. When �� opened on Sept. 5, 1877, there was only a single building — Old Main — which contained classrooms, a library, a chapel and the living quarters for the Sewall family.

Today, Sewall is remembered as the man “in at the birth” of ��, who directed its first steps and helped lay the foundation for what the university would become. In 1935, the university built Sewall Hall in his honor, which is the oldest continuously used residence hall on campus.

Mary Rippon in 1882.

Mary Rippon

1878 — Appointed ��’s first female professor

Mary Rippon’s distinguished career at �� Boulder spanned over 30 years. Besides making history as the first female professor at ��, she is also believed to be one of the first women in the United States to teach at a state university. Beloved by students, Rippon taught language and literature, eventually earning a position as head of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literature. She is honored today by the Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre on ��’s campus. Rippon also lived a fascinating hidden life — in 1888, she secretly married a �� student, Will Housel, and gave birth to their daughter, Miriam Housel. She concealed this truth for decades to retain her position and support her family.

Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones (Ger’1918)

1918 — Graduated from ��

Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones was an educator and the first known Black woman to graduate from �� Boulder. Born to parents who had been enslaved, she grew up in the Barnum subdivision of Denver, where her family became the area’s first Black property owners. Before attending ��, she broke barriers by becoming the first Black graduate to earn a two-year teaching degree from what is now the University of Northern Colorado. In 1918, she earned a bachelor’s degree in German from �� — however, due to racial prejudice, she was not allowed to walk across the stage at commencement or appear in the yearbook. Her diploma was handed to her off-stage, an act that led her to vow that she would never return to campus. Nearly 100 years after her graduation, �� formally recognized Buchanan’s achievement, and during the 2018 commencement ceremony, a diploma was symbolically accepted on her behalf by CMDI associate professor Polly McLean.

George Norlin

1919 — Appointed president of ��

George Norlin joined �� as a classics professor in 1899, became acting president in 1917 and began serving as permanent president in 1919, where he remained until 1939. Under his transformative leadership, �� underwent a dramatic period of expansion, despite the Great Depression: the student body more than tripled, several university buildings were constructed and architect Charles Klauder redesigned the campus in the Tuscan vernacular style. Norlin left a lasting moral and cultural legacy at the university. He is famous for resisting pressure from the legislature (influenced by the Ku Klux Klan), refusing to dismiss all Catholic and Jewish faculty. He also wrote The Norlin Charge, first read at the 1935 commencement ceremony, which remains a part of �� tradition today.

Byron White (Econ’38)

1935 — Earned the Buffaloes national attention

Byron “Whizzer” White is among the most celebrated student-athletes in the history of Colorado Buffaloes football. His senior year, he led the Buffaloes through a successful season, earning national attention and helping elevate the profile of the program. He was later inducted into the Buffaloes’ Athletic Hall of Fame in recognition of his elite play and impact on �� athletics. After his athletic career, White distinguished himself in public service, eventually serving as a justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Peggy Coppom (A&S ex’46) and Betty Hoover (A&S ex’46)

1940 — Began cheering on the Buffs

The “�� Twins” earned legendary status on campus through decades of unwavering devotion to �� athletics. The sisters first began cheering for the Buffs as Boulder High School students. They were loyal season ticket holders for �� football (beginning in the late 1950s) and basketball (late 1970s). Wearing matching goldenrod �� sweatshirts and waving pom-poms, Peggy and Betty became a fixture in the stands and remain one of the most iconic fan duos in school history. After Betty’s death in 2020, Peggy’s dedication to �� has remained as strong as ever. In recognition of her lifelong commitment, Peggy was honored with the 2025 Chancellor’s Impact Award.

David Bolen (Mktg; MBA’50)

1948 — Competed in the Olympic Games

After David Bolen served in the Army Air Force for two years during World War II, �� Boulder track and field coach Frank Potts recruited him to the university. He then earned All-America honors. At 25, Bolen became the first �� student to qualify for the 1948 U.S. Olympic Team, where he placed fourth in the 400m race at the London games. After graduating, Bolen began a distinguished diplomatic career, serving as U.S. Ambassador to Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland beginning in 1974, and to East Germany beginning in 1977. He also was the first Black ambassador to a nation behind the Iron Curtain.

Billy Kidd

1964 — Won an Olympic alpine skiing medal

In February 1964, at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, Billy Kidd became the first U.S. man to win an Olympic alpine skiing medal, a silver in the slalom. Over the next several years, he captured gold in the combined event at the 1970 World Championships in Val Gardena and became the first American man to win a world alpine title. He then went professional, claiming the pro world championship that same year. After graduating from ��, Kidd remained in Colorado and became the long-time director of skiing at Steamboat Ski Resort in 1970. Beyond instruction, he helped initiate ski-based outreach and inclusion efforts, supporting Special Olympics athletes, wounded veterans and Native American youth through ski camps and mentorship programs.

“Ralph”

1966 — Folsom Field debut

The first official Ralphie mascot, “Ralph” was the live buffalo that launched one of the most beloved traditions at the �� Boulder. In 1965, �� freshman Bill Lowery was determined to bring a live buffalo to Buffs football games instead of a costumed mascot. With the help of his rancher father, he successfully brought a buffalo calf from northeastern Colorado to Boulder. Ralph made her debut at Folsom Field on Oct. 1, 1966, charging onto the field with Lowery and a few of his fellow students flailing alongside her in cowboy boots.

Juan Espinosa (Jour’74)

1972 — Launched the newspaper El Diario de la Gente

As a �� Boulder student, Espinosa launched the bilingual newspaper El Diario de la Gente in 1972 as a member of the United Mexican American Students, a campus group aimed at bringing cultural awareness to Boulder’s Chicano community. The Vietnam War veteran later moved to Pueblo, Colorado, where he co-founded the alternative community newspaper La Cucaracha and worked for 22 years at The Pueblo Chieftain.

Tom Cech

1989 — Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

A distinguished professor of chemistry at �� Boulder, Thomas Cech is a renowned biochemist whose work has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of molecular biology. After earning his doctorate degree in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1975 and completing postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined the faculty of �� Boulder in 1978. In 1982, he and his research group made a groundbreaking discovery that RNA molecules, specifically from the pond organism Tetrahymena thermophila, could splice themselves, acting as enzymes in cellular reactions without proteins. In recognition of this paradigm-shifting work, Cech was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1989. Cech continues to lead research and education at �� Boulder as the founding director of the BioFrontiers Institute.

Ceal Barry

2018 — Inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame

As head coach for over 22 seasons, Ceal Barry left an undeniable mark on �� Boulder’s women’s basketball. In her time as coach, she accumulated a record of 427-242, the most wins by any head coach in �� sports history. Under her leadership, the program flourished. She had 13 seasons with 20 or more wins, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and three trips to the Elite Eight. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018 in recognition of her impact and achievements. After stepping down as coach, Barry served for 15 years in �� Athletics administration, including a year as interim athletic director in 2013. The university unveiled Ceal Barry Plaza in her honor in January 2026.

Joe Neguse (Econ, PolSci’05; Law’09)

2018 — Elected to Congress

At �� Boulder Joe Neguse was involved in student government, served as co-student body president under the “tri-executive” system and worked on issues like diversity, affordability and higher-education finance. After graduating, he went on to serve on the �� Board of Regents, co-founded a nonprofit aimed at youth civic engagement and worked in Colorado politics. In 2018, Neguse was elected to represent Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first Black Coloradan elected to Congress. During his time in office, he has focused on priorities like public-lands protection, affordable higher education, consumer protection and government accountability.

Wei Wu (MMus’13)

2019 — Awarded a Grammy Award

A bass singer from Beijing, Wei Wu has built a remarkable career in opera, earning international acclaim. Upon arriving in the U.S. in 2007, he auditioned for graduate work at �� Boulder’s College of Music, officially enrolling in 2008. During his time at ��, he honed and perfected the vocal technique, diction and stage presence that became instrumental to his professional success. Wu received his big break after performing the role of Kôbun Chino Otogawa in the world premiere of “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs” at Santa Fe Opera. The recording won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.

David Ellsworth (Art’71; MFA’73)

2021 — Honored with the Smithsonian Visionary Award

David Ellsworth helped elevate wood turning from a utilitarian craft to fine art. While studying sculpture at �� Boulder, he developed his signature approach, “blind turning,” a method using a set of bent tools that enables woodturners to hollow out wood into elegant, thin-walled vessels. Ellsworth taught his strategies at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and Anderson Ranch Arts Center, going on to found his own Ellsworth School of Woodturning. In 2021, he was honored with the Smithsonian Visionary Award by the Smithsonian Institution in recognition of his “ground-breaking, innovative and transformative career in wood art.”

Sarah Gillis (AeroEngr’17)

2024 — Played the violin in space

Sarah Gillis made history on Sept. 13, 2024 when she became the first person to play the violin in space, performing “Rey’s Theme” from Star Wars: The Force Awakens aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft more than 870 miles above Earth. Her crewmates captured her performance, which took place in zero gravity conditions during the Polaris Dawn mission, and sent to Earth via Starlink. Gillis first developed an interest in space in high school and went on to study aerospace engineering at �� Boulder. After internships and work at SpaceX, she joined the Polaris Dawn crew as a mission specialist, where she became the youngest astronaut to participate in a spacewalk.

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Photo credits: In order of appearance: Courtesy Carnegie Library for Local History/Museum of Boulder Collection (Mary Rippon); �� Heritage Center (Joseph Sewall); �� Heritage Center (George Norlin); Glenn Asakawa (Peggy Coppom and Betty Hoover); Courtesy the Buchanan Archives (Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones); Courtesy Tom Cech; Glenn Asakawa (Tom Cech); Polaris Dawn crew (Sarah Gillis); Glenn Asakawa (Wei Wu); Courtesy Juan Espinosa; �� Heritage Center (David Bolen); �� Heritage Center (Byron White); �� Athletics (Ceal Barry); Courtesy Joe Neguse; Roshni Gorur/Courtesy of Anderson Ranch (David Ellsworth); Courtesy Billy Kidd; Coloradan archives (Ralphie)

�� Boulder has been shaped by the vision, courage and tenacity of many students, faculty, staff and alumni since 1876.

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Does Free Speech Have Limits?

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:10:01 +0000

Does Free Speech Have Limits? Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:10

Steve Vanderheiden

Should there be limits on speech and expression, and are the limits that we now legally recognize the right ones?

John Stuart Mill’s classic defense of free speech in his 1859 essay “On Liberty” endorses strong but not unlimited protections — but for reasons that many have come to question. Any silencing of what we now call political speech would be socially harmful, he wrote, in that it would deprive us of the opportunity to exchange error for truth. Truth, Mill was convinced, is essential for society to progress, and he thought that it emerged “in collision with error.”

But some speech can be divisive. “Hate speech” refers to highly offensive forms of expression designed to denigrate, divide or incite. Some now call for stricter limits on such speech. To the extent that speech potentially incites violence, Mill allowed for restrictions on the time, manner and place of its utterance, but not its content (a distinction now enshrined in First Amendment law). Mill thought people should be allowed to express ideas that others find offensive, including those that denigrate and divide. Silencing speech that is merely offensive would lead to repression of dissent and stifle diversity of thought, especially as those in power often take offense at challenges to the social order.

Few now believe that truth necessarily emerges from unfettered speech, as Mill thought it would. Too much contemporary speech is designed to misinform and mislead, or to foster animus and resentment. We as a society are less informed, and less civil, from having to hear speech of this kind. But, as Mill warned, when we try to silence this kind of speech, we often miss our target, repressing legitimate expression. Improving our ability to recognize and combat misinformation, while resisting and condemning speech laden with animus or resentment, offers a better solution than restricting its content.

Steve Vanderheiden is a �� Boulder professor of political science.

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Illustration by Kara Fellows

Should there be limits on speech and expression, and are the limits that we now legally recognize the right ones?

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Allergy Busters, Preserving Language and a Rare Dinosaur Tree

Anna Tolette — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:05:18 +0000

Allergy Busters, Preserving Language and a Rare Dinosaur Tree Anna Tolette Mon, 03/09/2026 - 15:05

UV Allergen Busters

�� Boulder researchers have discovered that low-intensity ultraviolet light can disable common airborne allergens such as pet dander, dust mites, mold and pollen. The light alters the structure of the allergen proteins so the immune system no longer recognizes them. Using 222-nanometer-wavelength UV lights in a controlled chamber, the team found that allergen immunorecognition dropped significantly within 30 to 40 minutes. Because allergens persist indoors long after their sources are gone, this approach could offer a simple, fast and portable way to reduce allergy and asthma triggers in indoor environments.

Preserving Language

�� researchers hope that digital tools will protect and revitalize Arapaho, a language native to the Boulder area. Andrew Cowell, �� Boulder linguistics professor and faculty director of the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies, along with students, community partners and native Arapaho speakers, have created two online databases (one lexical, the other for in-depth text) to help these efforts. The free lexical database functions like a living dictionary with more than 20,000 entries, according to the Arts and Sciences magazine. The text database, not publicly released to avoid online exploitation, contains more than 100,000 sentences of spoken Arapaho, including natural conversations and stories recorded over decades.

Space Policy and Law

As space activity worldwide increases, �� will become a hub for connecting technical expertise with governance, highlighted by the creation of the Hatfield Endowed Professor in Space Policy & Law, which is held by Marcus Holzinger (PhDAeroEngr’11). Alongside the launch of the Colorado Space Policy Center, the university is fostering collaboration across academia, industry and government. These efforts aim to prepare students to apply technical knowledge to policy challenges and shape the future legal and regulatory frameworks for space exploration.

Campus Talk

“I can’t wait to lock arms, get to work, have some fun and build the future of Colorado Athletics.”

— Fernando Lovo, the new �� Boulder director of athletics, after being introduced Jan. 5, 2026. Lovo comes to �� from the University of New Mexico. His predecessor Rick George will step into an advisory role and serve as director of athletics emeritus on campus in June.

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Dinosaur Tree

�� Boulder is home to one of the oldest and rarest trees in the world

2025

Year Judy (PE’76; MEdu’06) and Rod McKeever (ChemEngr’76) gifted �� a Wollemi pine

30th

Street location of the Boulder greenhouse where the pine, “Wally,” lives

1994

Year the Wollemi pine was rediscovered in Australia after it was previously thought to be extinct

91M

the pine fossil’s records date back, in years

200M

age of Wally’s plant family

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Photos by Patrick Campbell (researcher) and Rachel Sauer (wollemi pine)

News and research from the �� Boulder campus.

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How to Embrace AI

Anna Tolette — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 19:53:59 +0000

How to Embrace AI Anna Tolette Mon, 07/07/2025 - 13:53

Christie Sounart

�� law professor Harry Surden worked as a software engineer for five years before deciding to fuse his interests in tech and law. He attended Stanford Law School, where he helped create a groundbreaking interdisciplinary research center, the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics (CodeX), where he remains involved today. He joined �� Boulder in 2008, and his research focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and law.

What spurred your interest in technology and law?

As an undergraduate, I wondered about this interplay between society, computer science and law. I was working as a software engineer and kept interacting with the legal sector, noticing ways in which aspects of law were becoming standardized — and to some extent automated.

What brought you to �� Boulder?

Colorado Law has a leading technology policy center, the Silicon Flatirons Center, led by well-known academics doing groundbreaking research — at the time Phil Weiser and Paul Ohm — and I was attracted to the idea of working with them. I was also very interested in moving to Boulder, which I had heard a great deal about. It turned out to be an absolutely terrific place to live.

What are your thoughts on the impact of large language models (LLMs)?

LLMs are absolutely revolutionary. I have studied artificial intelligence for about 20 years. For 17 of those years, I was somewhat disappointed. I observed that AI of the era prior to 2022 was good in very specific, narrow circumstances, but was far from the AI systems that most people conceived of when they conjured up the notion that machines could think and reason. With the advent of ChatGPT and LLMs since 2023, we are much closer to that vision of AI.

Today’s AI systems can understand and process ordinary language. Now, these AI systems are still simulation machines, and are not ‘thinking’ or conscious. They reproduce variants of complicated patterns that they have previously seen in billions of pages of written text and video. Nonetheless, they are extremely useful systems able to engage in fairly complex and advanced problem solving and analysis.

How often are you using ChatGPT?

I use ChatGPT (as well as Claude and Gemini) nearly every day. Part of the reason is due to my academic research, which aims to benchmark the legal reasoning and analysis abilities that AI models have for legal scenarios.

At this point, most of the frontier-leading AI models can engage in reasonably accurate legal reasoning for basic legal scenarios. But there are a couple of caveats. First, they make mistakes. They sometimes ‘hallucinate,’ inventing case names or occasionally misdescribing the holding of legal cases, so professionals have to be careful in completely relying on these systems. The second limitation is that such AI systems are still not great at complex and nuanced legal scenarios that rely upon the intuition, tacit knowledge and experience of attorneys.

How can LLMs be used to benefit the general public?

These models are not perfect, so we have to learn and practice their strengths and account for their weaknesses. I think of answers from ChatGPT as kind of background information that is likely reliable 90% of the time, but I still want to double check. I often cross-check answers across two or three different models in an attempt to triangulate on common knowledge.

How do you keep up with the AI industry?

I follow the academic research that is produced and uploaded to the academic article archive site for Cornell University’s arxiv.org. I also read the content of researchers on social media and watch the recordings of academic lectures or conferences on YouTube. However, primarily, I continually use the AI systems and test their strengths and weaknesses over time.

What should people know about the ways AI can intersect with the law?

AI can be very useful for access to justice. In the U.S., people who are involved in civil (non-criminal) cases, such as family law, landlord tenant law, wage disputes and immigration, have no right to counsel. An estimated 80% of Americans who have a civil matter cannot afford an attorney or do not have access to attorneys. AI may be able to help bridge that gap and provide people with a better option for legal advice and information.

How should law schools prepare students for the ethical dilemmas that AI may present in practice?

Law schools should be cautiously studying and, to some extent, embracing AI. I try to inculcate in my students principles of good AI usage in learning.

In education, there are two ways that AI can be used: to substitute for learning or to complement and enhance learning. Students who use AI should always reflect upon what any use of AI is doing. They should avoid uses where the AI is doing the work for them. However, AI can be a terrific learning enhancement. Imagine you read about a legal case for class, and you have some core confusion and unanswered questions. Here, you’d have the opportunity to use AI to connect the dots, enhancing your comprehension.

Do you believe current regulations are adequate to manage the risks posed by AI systems in society?

I think we should be cautious in regulating AI too early. AI has both benefits and risks, and we should avoid disproportionately attempting to predict future problems that have not yet arisen and may not arise. In my opinion, the best approach is to engage in continual information gathering and monitoring.

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Photos by Glenn Asakawa

�� law professor Harry Surden discusses the ways AI can be used in daily life.

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Colorado Law

Celebrating 150 Years of ���������� People

Joseph Sewall

Mary Rippon

Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Jones (Ger’1918)

George Norlin

Byron White (Econ’38)

Peggy Coppom (A&S ex’46) and Betty Hoover (A&S ex’46)

David Bolen (Mktg; MBA’50)

Billy Kidd

“Ralph”

Juan Espinosa (Jour’74)

Tom Cech

Ceal Barry

Joe Neguse (Econ, PolSci’05; Law’09)

Wei Wu (MMus’13)

David Ellsworth (Art’71; MFA’73)

Sarah Gillis (AeroEngr’17)

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Does Free Speech Have Limits?

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Allergy Busters, Preserving Language and a Rare Dinosaur Tree

UV Allergen Busters

Preserving Language

Space Policy and Law

Campus Talk

Digits

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How to Embrace AI

What spurred your interest in technology and law?

What brought you to ���������� Boulder?

What are your thoughts on the impact of large language models (LLMs)?

How often are you using ChatGPT?

How can LLMs be used to benefit the general public?

How do you keep up with the AI industry?

What should people know about the ways AI can intersect with the law?

How should law schools prepare students for the ethical dilemmas that AI may present in practice?

Do you believe current regulations are adequate to manage the risks posed by AI systems in society?

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Celebrating 150 Years of �� People

What brought you to �� Boulder?