ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½

September 2024

Dear CU Boulder Community & Supporters of the CHA,

Five years ago, I began my position as the Director of the Center for Humanities & the Arts. Coming to CU Boulder was the best professional decision I’ve ever made – it was a leap of faith to leave a community, friends, and family I had cultivated for 16 years, and I’m so glad I did. I am grateful to all of you who also took a leap of faith with me and my vision for arts and humanities at CU Boulder and beyond.

I’m now asking you to also take deep breaths with me and Diamond as we manage, to the best of our abilities, to continue the work of the CHA without a full-time program manager. We have just been given theÌý – if you know of someone who may be interested in working with the CHA in this temporary position, please reach out to us atÌýcu-cha@colorado.edu. Once we have news about being able to run at full capacity, we will share this as well.

Practically, this may mean scaling back on events, programs, awards—which will unfortunately hurt scholars working in arts and humanities. I sincerely apologize in advance, but there’s only so much that we can do with the limited resources available. Any patience and grace you can extend to the CHA is greatly appreciated.

We do hope you will join us onÌýMonday, September 16, 6:30-8:00pm at Grace Commons Church for ourÌýFall 2024 Difficult Dialogue event, which addresses the topic of electoral partisanship by asking: can we stay good neighbors? Patience. Grace. Gratitude. Three words to guide us this semester – as we take various leaps of faith at CU Boulder, in the nation, and in our world. What may also help us get through trying times is theÌý ²ú²âÌý, because it doesn’t just have to be September 21 to celebrate this tune.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Ho

Director, Center for Humanities & the Arts

PS: I’ve just learned of anÌý co-written by four CU Boulder faculty—they are also faculty who employ humanities methods and theories in their research—and they are using their collective voices and expertise to speak truth to power and educate the Regents and Colorado about accuracy in language as well as protecting free speech and academic freedom. I hope you’ll read it because I’m so proud of our colleagues for speaking out.