By Deborah Fowlkes
I grew up in Boulder in the shadow of the Flatirons. My free time was spent hiking, backpacking, skiing and rock climbing. One of my earliest memories is of being carried in a backpack on my mother’s back during a mountain hike, and the bottom seam split and spilled me in a startled heap onto the trail. (This was before there were toddler carriers. My mother literally cut two slits for my legs in the bottom of a regular knapsack and put me in it when I grew tired of hiking).
Some of my favorite childhood memories are of Saturday hikes with my father up Green Mountain or near Brainard Lake, the two of us exploring new trails or revisiting familiar ones, and ending the day back in Boulder with the ultimate treat – a chocolate-covered, cream-filled 
Long John at Roger’s Donuts on Pearl Street. A different kind of “treat” took the form of rainy days, a rare occurrence that enabled me to stay indoors and read to my heart’s content.
The Boulder campus was an everyday part of my life, since we lived less than a mile away and my father, Irving Weiss, was a math professor here. My elementary school, University Hill, was (and still is) across the street from the UMC and my high school, Boulder High, was a short hike or bike ride through campus and down the steep 17th street hill. The campus was a never-ending source of adventure, from viewing old movies in the Cristol Chemistry building to attending music and theater performances to name a few.
I’ve been back in Boulder for six months now after taking off for college in the east when I was 18. And Boulder’s even better than I remembered. Much and yet nothing essential has changed since those earlier years. The emphasis on a healthy, active lifestyle is still here, strengthened by the addition of Open Space trails, city bike lanes and numerous fitness centers.
The campus is still a treasure-trove for me. Becoming executive director of the Alumni Association last year has made me realize more than ever what an amazing institution CU-Boulder is. The Heritage Center, a vibrant part of the Alumni Association, welcomes people to discover a wonderful array of CU history in an elegant, historical space. At the Museum of Natural History the dioramas of my childhood are gone, but in their place are the Discovery Corner and fascinating Southwestern textile exhibits.
Opera, orchestra and choral concerts, Shakespearean performances and the Conference on World Affairs are just a few of the other delights that CU holds for me. Treasures in the form of new buildings appear as I walk across campus each day to attend meetings in places such as the Visual Arts Center, with its wonderful jewel of an art museum, and the energy-filled, eclectically furnished Center for Community.
I’m very glad to be back in Boulder and to be part of the Forever Buffs family. I’ve had the opportunity to meet many alumni, both here in Boulder and around the country, and what always strikes me is the depth of pride and strong sense of loyalty that our Buffs have towards their alma mater. I hear fascinating stories of how they met their future spouse on campus, or how their lives were redirected by a particular course, or how the opportunity to take a leadership role in a student group shaped their character.
Many now want to give back to CU, returning to campus to talk with students about their careers, becoming involved in local alumni chapters, spreading the word about CU at local high school college fairs or raising money for scholarships. I’m also impressed with the number of alumni who have gone into the nonprofit sector, including over 3,000 Buffs who are Peace Corps alumni, one of the highest from any school in the U.S. I feel privileged to be part of such a vibrant, caring community.
As part of showing our new family pride, my husband Stephen and I just picked up our new customized license plates, which read, “4VRBUFS,” which is the closest we could come in seven letters to our Forever Buffs slogan. Our Old English Sheepdog, Manfred, is an official part of the CU-Boulder Alumni Association, appearing in our office’s annual holiday greeting card along with the rest of the staff (and their dogs). Our grandchildren received some sort of CU paraphernalia among their Christmas presents: a CU sleeper for our infant grandson and stuffed Ralphies for the older four.
As we begin this new year, I hope one of your New Year’s resolutions will be to stay closely connected to CU and to encourage other Buffs to do the same. I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming months. Go Buffs!
Deborah W. Fowlkes is executive director of the Alumni Association and a CU-Boulder assistant vice chancellor. She returned (permanently) to Boulder in July 2010 after growing up here. Prior to her current work she served as executive director of the Temple University Alumni Association and assistant vice president of Temple’s Alumni Relations office and before that in several positions at Duke University, from which she received her undergraduate and master’s degrees, in Comparative Literature/French Literature and Liberal Studies, respectively. Her father, Irving Weiss, is still enjoying the Boulder lifestyle at 91 years of age.
I just love Manfred! Such a sweet dog!
Glad you like Manfred; Old English Sheepdogs usually have great personalities. He just turned a year old so still has a lot of puppy in him. He loves running around the Mesa trails near Chautauqua and the South Boulder campus off-leash area.
Welcome home, Deborah, your early life reminds me of my upbringing. Home on the corner of 9th and Cascade, one block from Chautauqua, Hide and seek games with friends every Saturday morning in the mountains to the west, with boundries Boulder canyon rd and Bear peak, Uni-Hill, Baseline Jr High, Boulder High School and the Uiversity of Colorado.
Dave Wining
Thanks for sharing your great memories, Dave. I also remember Saturday visits to the Boulder Public Library and sitting up in the trees in Central Park afterward, reading our library books. And how about the Boulder Theater when it was still a movie theater? The best seats were the two in the last row of the balcony, right in the middle, with only the long aisle in front of you.
Deborah’s post made me evermore nostalgic for Boulder and CU. I am pregnant with my first child and am already stockpiling CU gear for him or her. Milwaukee feels so far away from Boulder, but I love getting updates from the Alumni Association. I can’t wait to bring my little one back home and introduce him/her to the life and love that is CU-Boulder. Keep those updates coming!
Glad to hear there’s a future CU Buff coming along. Let us know when he or she makes his or her appearance!
Welcome home to Boulder. I too was born and raised in Boulder, but I graduated from CU in ’93. I have not lived in Boulder since I graduated, and now live in Australia. I do miss Boulder very much, and try to get home whenever I can.
It is interesting that they chose someone who is not an alumni for this position. Do you find it hard to convince prospective students of the merrits of CU from someone who chose not to attend CU? After all, we are selling the quality of education, not just the quality of life in Boulder.
Duke is a fabulous university in a lovely town, but that experience may not help to convince prospective students that CU is the place for them.
Josh,
Thanks for your comments. First I’d like to say that my choosing to go elsewhere to college wasn’t due to the perceived quality of the education here, but to a desire to get out and see more of the world. Though I’m not technically a CU alum, the courses I took at CU in the summer during my college years and the time I spent on campus and in CU programs while growing up contribute to my having a good idea of what CU is about. Being part of CU now and seeing on a daily basis what an incredible institution it is makes it easy to talk with prospective students and parents. Pride and loyalty for an institution don’t only come through being an alum–parents, community members, faculty and staff share those feelings as well. My pride in both the quality of education and the quality of student life offered here make sharing why prospective students should choose CU an easy task.
Hope you can make it back to visit campus soon. The new buildings are amazing and the campus is as beautiful as ever.
Such a great post! I left Boulder in 1985 after finishing my MBA and have been on the East Coast ever since, but every time I hear or see “Boulder” my ears perk up and my eyes light up and I feel a pang for my Colorado “home”.
Susan, thanks for writing. Have you been in touch with any of our East Coast alumni chapters? It’s not the same as being here, but it helps! Hope a visit to campus will work out for you–how about Homecoming next fall?
I was not born in Boulder, but we moved there when I was 8 years old. I went to Crestview Elementary and Centennial Junior High school on the north side of town and then went to Boulder High. My family spent countless hours in the mountains hiking everywhere. I think my favorite hike was up to the Royal Arch just under the flatirons. To this day I “tear-up” whenever I see the view of Boulder from the top of the hill coming into town from Denver on the free-way. I went away to do my undergraduate degree but came back to get my Masters at CU and it was like coming back home. I have a view of the flat-irons from Chatauqua Park that sits on a bulletin board over my desk so Boulder is never really far away from my heart. Even though I live in Oregon, Boulder will always be “home.”
I feel exactly the same way every time I see the view of Boulder from that hill on US-36; it never gets old. (Nor does the up-close view of the Flatirons from the CU campus).
Welconme back to Boulder, Deborah. I, too, grew up there – my grandfather was a CU chemistry professor – went to Uni Hill and BHS. I lived at the corner of Lincoln and Cascade, graduated from CU in 1957, and left Boulder for Wyoming in 1966, to return only to visit family. I now live in Carson City, Nevada. I, too, have fond memories of Brainard Lake – hiking and staying in the CMC cabin there.
Thanks for the warm welcome. I stayed in the Brainard Lake CMC cabin many times, as well. Did you ever go to the Pfiffner or Arestua huts? The Pfiffner hut was always a favorite (it looked like a dark green plastic igloo). My father and Stein Sture, the current vice provost for research, helped build the Arestua hut.
Reading your post bring back memories of my short time there in Boulder. Graduated in 97′, I had a very wonderful and memorable time. I met my wife there….hmmmm….i wish i could find the time to go back there for a visit one of these days….staying and working in Malaysia, same as Susan, whenever i hear Colorado and especially Boulder really catch mya attention, every time………
Zulhazami,
Great to hear from you. We’re starting more international alumni chapters and hope to have one in Malaysia eventually. Until then, I’m glad that you can keep in touch online.
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Thanks Debora for sharing those wonderful memories , they stirred my own of those special years I spent at CU in Boulder as an international student. I went to another university in Pennsylvanian for my Master’s degree , I liked it but no place compares to Boulder. I still reminisce to beautiful years . After many years I will be going back to Colorado ( Parker) during the second week of June to attend a conference about Peace. You inspired me to make a visit to the CU campus and to take a look at Norlin library , CMU the school of engineering and Kitteridge hall where I studied and lived. I can never forget the day we skied in shorts in May 1976 at Lake Eldora ski area. Being from North Africa I was the first to go in to the fire place after my knees almost froze. Those were the days.