University of Colorado at Boulder

The University of Colorado Boulder (unofficially University of Colorado at Boulder, although also commonly referred to as CU-Boulder, CU, Boulder, or Colorado) is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the University of Colorado system and was founded five months before Colorado was admitted to the union in 1876. According to The Public Ivies: America's Flagship Public Universities (2001), it is considered one of the prestigious "Public Ivy League" schools. The university's colors are officially silver and gold; however, traditional CU items utilize the black-and-gold color scheme.

In 2010, the university consisted of nine colleges and schools and offered over 150 academic programs and enrolled 29,952 students. Ten Nobel Laureates, eight MacArthur Fellows, and 18 astronauts have been affiliated with CU-Boulder as students, researchers, or faculty members in its history. The university received nearly US$454 million in sponsored research in 2010 to fund programs like the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, JILA, and National Institute of Standards and Technology's NIST-F1 atomic clock.

Colorado Buffaloes competes in nine intercollegiate sports in the NCAA Division I Pacific-12 Conference. The Buffaloes have won 24 NCAA championships: 18 in skiing, five total in men's and women's cross country, and one in football. Approximately 1,500 students participate in 34 intercollegiate club sports annually as well.

History
On March 14, 1876, the Colorado territorial legislature passed an amendment to the state constitution that provided money for the establishment of the University of Colorado in Boulder, the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, and Colorado Agricultural College in Fort Collins, now known as Colorado State University.

Two cities competed for the site University of Colorado: Boulder and Cañon City. The consolation prize for the losing city was to be home of the new Colorado State Prison. Cañon City was at a disadvantage as it was already the home of the Colorado Territorial Prison. (There are now six prisons in the Cañon City area.)

The cornerstone of the building that became Old Main was laid on September 20, 1875. The doors of the university opened on September 5, 1877. At the time, there were few high schools in the state that could adequately prepare students for university work, so in addition to the University, a preparatory school was formed on campus. In the fall of 1877, the student body consisted of 15 students in the college proper and 50 students in the preparatory school. There were 38 men and 27 women, and their ages ranged from 12–23 years.

During World War II, Colorado was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission.

Campus
The main CU-Boulder campus is located south of the Pearl Street Mall. It consists of academic and residential buildings as well as research facilities. The East Campus is about a quarter mile from the main campus and is composed mainly of athletic fields and research buildings.

Architecture
CU Boulder's distinctive architecture style, known as Tuscan Vernacular Revival, was designed by architect Charles Klauder. The oldest buildings, such as Old Main (1876) and Macky Auditorium (1923), were in the Collegiate Gothic style of many East Coast schools, and Klauder's initial plans for the university's new buildings (approved in 1919) were in the same style. A month or so after approval, however, Klauder updated his design by sketching in a new wrap of rough, textured sandstone walls with sloping, multi-leveled red-tiled roofs and Indiana limestone trim. This formed the basis of a unified style which was used in the design of fifteen other buildings between 1921 and 1939.

The sandstone used in the construction of nearly all the buildings on campus was selected from a quarry in Lyons, Colorado. The architecture had a rugged yet classical feel, fitting for a western University.

Residence Halls
Currently Freshmen and others attending the University of Colorado at Boulder have an option of 22 on and off campus residence halls. Residence halls have 17 varieties of room types from singles to four person rooms and others with apartment style amenities. There are several communities of residence halls located throughout the campus, and in a separate area called Williams Village which is connected to the main campus via the Buff Bus service.

Engineering
The Engineering Center consists of 660000 sqft of classrooms, computing facilities, offices, and laboratories. This architecturally distinctive and modern center is home to the nation's largest geotechnical centrifuge, ion-implantation and microwave-propagation facilities, low-turbulence wind tunnels, spectrometers, electron and other microscopes, and a structural analysis facility.

Norlin Library
Until 1903, the library collection was housed with the rest of the school in Old Main. The growing size of the library required a move, as the weight of the books was causing physical damage to the floor. The cornerstone for the first separate library building was laid in January 1903, and the building was opened in January 1904. When the new Norlin Library opened in 1940, the old library turned over to the Theatre department, and was converted into classrooms and a theatre. Norlin Library was the last building to be designed by Klauder. There are two inscriptions on the western face of the building, overlooking the Norlin Quadrangle. Both were composed by President Norlin. The larger inscription reads “Who knows only his own generation remains always a child,” based on a Cicero quotation, while the smaller inscription on the marble just over the door reads “Enter here the timeless fellowship of the human spirit.”

Macky Auditorium
Macky Auditorium is a large building on the University of Colorado campus, which plays host to various talks, plays, and musical performances. Andrew J. Macky was a prominent businessman involved with the town of Boulder in the late 19th century. Macky served as the President, as well as a stockholder of the First National Bank, an institution founded by another early CU supporter Lewis Cheney. Macky is credited with a number of landmarks throughout Boulder, where he was a carpenter and involved in politics.

The Auditorium opened its doors in 1923, thirteen years after construction started. Macky's adopted daughter, May, sued for a third of Macky's estate, a case that took thirteen years to settle. May was angered that her father left her no money in his will, while leaving $400,000 to CU for the hall’s construction. The university eventually won the case, and the majority of critical construction on the building resumed.

The building has a variety of architectural elements from various buildings around the globe that President Baker, CU’s president at the turn of the 20th century, admired. The design of the auditorium is primarily Neo-Gothic, with the primary materials being sandstone and red tile, like the rest of campus. The result is a unique building, with two large towers and sprawling ivy, that sets itself apart from the rest of the CU campus. Macky was refurbished in 1986, with improved seating, custom carpeting, modern plumbing and an elevator. Currently there is an electronic bell system in the towers of Macky which rings the hours during the day.

Macky is the home of two departments both in the College of Music, the Jazz Studies Department and the Choral Department, and it houses an art gallery which is open Wednesdays, and to patrons during performances. The hall houses almost all performances by the Boulder Philharmonic, the Artist Series, and the CU Opera. Macky is also the home of many lectures including the Conference on World Affairs held at CU each spring.

University Memorial Center (UMC)
In 1947, Colorado Governor Lee Knous issued a proclamation to create a memorial to Colorado's servicemen at the University of Colorado Boulder. A proposal to house this memorial in a student union building resulted in a remarkable fundraising effort. The University Memorial Center opened its doors in October 1953 with President Robert Stearns presiding over the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The UMC quickly became the central landmark of the Boulder campus. A 1964 addition created a new book store, conference facilities, additional dining facilities, and offices to house the rapidly growing student activities and organizations. The expansion was financed through bonds granted by student fees.

The 1960s and '70s put the UMC at the center of student activism as students staged strikes, grape boycotts, love-ins, sit-ins, and walk-outs. The UMC Fountain Court (now the Dalton Trumbo Fountain Court) became a familiar sight to network television news watchers as the famous and notorious promoted their cause at CU-Boulder. Entertainers as diverse as Ramsey Lewis and the Grateful Dead have performed in the Glenn Miller Ballroom. The UMC Connection, a student entertainment center in the basement, is a more informal gathering place, featuring pool tables and a small bowling alley. It also features Club 156, which hosts concerts from local and up-and-coming bands. In 1986, students passed another bond issue to remodel the food-services area. The Alferd Packer Grill was transformed to the current food-court concept, and students have since enjoyed the addition of other vendors including Subway, Domino's, and Celestial Seasonings Teas and Coffees.

Center for Community (C4C)
The Center for Community, also known as the “C4C” by students, follows the distinct architecture guidelines of Charles Klauder and is a 323,000 sqft state-of-the-art facility that is promised to be 20 percent to 25 percent more energy- and water-efficient compared to similar-sized buildings. The facility was completed in September 2010 at a cost of $84.4 million. The building is originally bond-financed through the CU treasurer and will be repaid through a combination of sources. A large portion of the debt, $47.4 million, will be repaid by Housing and Dining Services, through room and board fees. Fees from Permit and Parking Services will contribute as well. The Center also relies on $18 million in donations, a goal which has not been achieved, but has become a top fundraising priority for the University. The building houses offices of Student Services including Campus Card Services, Disability Services, and Career Services among others. These services have been relocated to the C4C from various locations around campus. For example, Career Services was previously housed in the basement of the Willard Dormitory. There is a 140,000 sqft underground parking structure that contains approximately 365 to 375 parking spaces. Student study areas are located on the upper floors and conference centers are open to campus and non-campus affiliates throughout the building. The dining services offered within the C4C include a CU on the run “grab-n-go,” The Bakery, a late night dining hub called the Weather Tech Café, open until 2 A.M, and finally a central dining facility. This dining facility seats 900 and offers students up to nine specialty dining choices including: Persian, Asian, Latin, Sushi, Italian, Kosher, a grill, salad bars, and desserts. Overall the Dining Center is projected to serve around one million meals per year.

Recreation Center
In 1973 the student recreation center was built on the CU-Boulder's main campus, by the architect James Wallace. The funding to build the recreation center came entirely from student fees, which also funded the expansion in 1990. It is currently 213000 sqft and operates on a $5 million annual budget. The center is co-managed by the division of student affairs and CUSG, CU-Boulder's student government. It is located on the northern edge of campus next to Folsom Stadium. It is open 7 days a week and on average 16 hours a day with most of its facilities available for use during those hours.

Mary Rippon Theatre
The Mary Rippon Theatre is an outdoor theater and the site of many cultural events, notably the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. The Theatre was named after Professor Mary Rippon, the first female instructor at the University and one of the first female University instructors in the United States. She taught German and French. Professor Rippon was so popular with students that when attempts were made to replace her with a male instructor, the student body revolted en masse, and Rippon kept her job.

Galleries
Norlin Library features two art galleries, several dedicated art spaces, and art works on display throughout the building. The CU Art Museum features cutting edge works of modern and contemporary art, as well as historical art works. The Museum's permanent collection includes over 5,000 works of art from numerous time periods and cultures. The UMC Art Gallery exhibits a variety of visual offerings ranging from student works created on campus to presentations of internationally recognized artists. Andrew J. Macky Gallery showcases the work of both local and national artists and is housed in the historic Macky Auditorium.

Museums
University of Colorado Museum of Natural History has one of the most extensive natural history collections in the Rocky Mountain and Plains regions, representing the disciplines of Anthropology, Botany, Entomology, Paleontology, and Zoology. It is located in the Henderson building, named after its first curator, Judge Junius Henderson. The CU Heritage Center tells the stories of CU-Boulder's past and present and is housed in Old Main, the first building constructed on campus. Seven galleries exhibit art and memorabilia associated with CU faculty and alumni. Fiske Planetarium and Science Center features a 60 ft. planetarium dome and produces laser shows, live concerts, and an on-going series of public programs. Fiske also offers a hands-on science museum with interactive exhibits and space-themed art.

Performing arts facilities
The University of Colorado at Boulder College of Music presents over 400 performances and educational events bringing together faculty, students, and guest artists each year through the Pendulum New Music Series. They present musical genres including classical, jazz, world music, and new music. The University of Colorado at Boulder Department of Theatre & Dance is home to the Charlotte York Irey Dance Theatre, the University Theatre, and the Loft Theatre. Over twenty productions are presented each year featuring student and faculty actors, dancers, choreographers, directors, and designers, as well as the work of professional guest artists. Student work is also showcased in the annual CU Boulder Fringe Festival, produced by OnStage, a student performing arts group.

Visual Arts Complex
A new visual arts complex that houses the Department of Art and Art History and the CU Art Museum officially opened on September 24, 2010. Serving as a gateway to the University's main campus this new facility houses programming in Art History, Ceramics, Drawing, Foundations, Integrated Art, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture and Integrated Media Arts Practices (IMAP); including Digital, Photography, and Video Art. This building features approximately 120,000 usable square feet of studio classrooms, seminar rooms, twenty-eight student exhibition spaces a state-of-the-art wood-shop with a CNC Machine and metal-shop, a 200-seat auditorium and resources for art and art history majors, including darkrooms, graduate student and faculty studios and offices, as well as twenty-eight student exhibition spaces throughout the facility.

Additional resources include the Visual Resources Center, an expanded and modernized woodshop and metal shop, the Exhibitions Program of the CU Art Museum, the Colorado Collection (an art collection of approximately 5,000 pieces), the Art & Architecture Library (with over 100,000 volumes and over 500 journal subscriptions). In addition, the Department houses multiple computing labs with Macintosh computers and various graphics programs which are updated regularly.

ATLAS
The Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society (ATLAS), established in 1997, is a University of Colorado campus-wide initiative in education, research, creative work and outreach in which information and communication technology is the enabling force. ATLAS programs bring together students, educators, artists, writers, scholars and leaders from the academy, industry, non-profits and government to create a multidisciplinary environment that contributes to the understanding of the interaction of information and communication technologies and human society, and to the realization of the full potential of that interaction.



Current ATLAS programs include a Technology, Media and Society Ph.D.; master's degree in Information and Communication Technology for Development; a Technology, Arts and Media undergraduate minor; a graduate certificate program called Boulder Digital Works, which is a multi-disciplinary, project-based program designed to provide skills needed by employees and entrepreneurs in the digital communication fields; the Center for Media, Arts and Performance; outreach partnerships with K-12 schools; and the headquarters of the National Center for Women and Information Technology.

More information is at http://atlas.colorado.edu

The Hill
The Hill, a college neighborhood in Boulder, Colorado, lies directly west of the University of Colorado campus. The central street of the neighborhood is 13th street, which features a variety of attractions including the renowned concert venue, The Fox Theater, The popular restaurant/bar The Sink, and many more.

Academics
The University of Colorado Boulder is divided into several colleges and schools. While the College of Arts and Sciences is by far the largest, the university also consists of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the schools of Architecture and Planning, Education, Journalism and Mass Communication, Music, Law, and the Leeds School of Business. Most, if not all, of these colleges and schools also incorporate masters and doctorate level degree programs. At the University, there are currently approximately 3,400 courses available in over 150 disciplines comprising 85 majors ranging from Accounting to Women's Studies.

University of Colorado School of Law is the smallest and most selective of the colleges. The Wolf Law Building, the new home of the Law School, was dedicated on September 8, 2006, by United States Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer.

The Leeds School of Business has an enrollment of 3,300 students including undergraduates, master's candidates, and Ph.D. candidates. The undergraduate program ranks 39th in the country and the undergraduate entrepreneurship program ranks 14th in the nation. The MBA program ranks 26th among all public universities. The faculty are ranked 38th in the nation according to the Academy of Management Journal.

CU-Boulder adopted an honor code in 2000 following growing concerns about academic dishonesty on campus in the late 1990s. A copy of the code stating "On my honor, as a University of Colorado at Boulder student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized assistance on this work" is engraved on a metal plate and posted in every classroom on campus.

Undergraduates who seek an academic challenge may participate in CU's Honors Program. Begun in 1931, the Honors Program currently consists of the top ten percent of incoming freshmen and participating undergraduates with a 3.3 GPA or greater (on a 4.0 scale). The program offers over 40 honors classes each semester taught by tenured or tenure-track professors and limited to class sizes of 15 students. Honors students also have the opportunity to graduate with honors, high honors, and highest honors, by writing and defending a thesis during their senior year. The program extends into the residence halls through the Kittredge Honors Program. The Presidents Leadership Class is a program for top scholars at the University of Colorado Boulder. Scholars participate in a four-year leadership development program. The program provides opportunities to the top fifty students at CU from every major and discipline.

One option for students (mostly freshman and sophomores) living on campus is to join a residential academic program (RAP). Each RAP focuses on a curricular theme, and offer courses in the residence hall itself. The programs also include educational activities.

Aerospace engineering was ranked 16th, the entrepreneurship program in the Leeds School of Business was tied for 18th, and the environmental engineering program was ranked 18th among public undergraduate specialty programs in U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 America’s Best Colleges issue. Sixteen CU-Boulder graduate school specialty programs were ranked in the top 50 in the nation, including four in the top 10, in U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 America’s Best Graduate Schools issue. The graduate specialty programs in the top 10 were atomic/molecular/optical physics (1), quantum physics (4), environmental law (6), and physical chemistry (10). The graduate specialty programs in the top 25 were business entrepreneurship (17), aerospace engineering (12), ceramics (14), geology (18), chemical engineering (19), environmental engineering (21), elementary education (22), and civil engineering (25). The graduate specialty programs in the top 50 were mechanical engineering (32), computer engineering (33), and electrical engineering (36). Fourteen CU-Boulder schools, colleges, and areas of study were ranked in the top 50 and three others were in the top 60 nationally in U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 Best Graduate Schools issue. They were physics (20), speech-language pathology (25), earth sciences (25), chemistry (28), psychology (29), biological sciences (33), education (38), computer science (39), political science (39), engineering (40), law (45), English (46), math (48), economics (50), history (52), sociology (57), and the fine arts master’s degree (58). CU-Boulder ranks in the top five universities in the nation, excluding military academies, for astronaut alumni who have flown in space, with 17. CU-Boulder was ranked the “greenest” school in the nation by Sierra magazine in 2009, a move up from second place in 2008. CU-Boulder’s leadership in sustainability spans nearly six decades, with rigorous academic offerings in the Environmental Studies Program as well as the integration of environmental studies into other fields including architecture and planning, business, law, journalism and others. CU-Boulder offers 14 degree programs, nine majors, and four certificate programs in or related to environmental studies. Nine CU-Boulder doctoral programs were ranked in the top 10 in the nation in a faculty productivity index featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education in January 2007. The ranking, which was produced by Academic Analytics, rated the scholarly output of faculty members at more than 7,000 doctoral programs across the country. The CU-Boulder programs were geography (2), physical oceanography (4), communication (6), cognitive science (7), atmospheric sciences (8), chemical engineering (8), biomedical engineering (9), civil and environmental engineering (9), and aeronautical and aerospace engineering (10). The Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at CU Boulder’s Leeds School of Business was ranked in the top 20 business school programs by U.S. News & World Report. The Deming Center moved up three spots from last year to 17th place for its graduate school entrepreneurship program for the 2009–10 academic year. It has been ranked among the top 20 programs nationally for the last decade.

Faculty
As of 2006, there were more than 3,800 tenured or tenure-eligible faculty members, as well as 4,400 non-tenured adjunct professors and instructors. Current faculty include Nobel laureates John Hall (physics, 2005), Eric Cornell (physics, 2001), and Thomas Robert Cech (chemistry, 1989). Carl Wieman was also awarded a Nobel prize for his work with Eric Cornell. He maintains a part-time appointment at the University of Colorado Boulder but his primary appointment is Professor and Director of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative at the University of British Columbia. Controversial writer Ward Churchill was a professor of ethnic studies until July 2007. Robert T. Craig an International Communication Association Fellow and author of "Communication Theory as a Field" is a professor in the Communication Department.

Center for Advanced Engineering and Technology Education
The Center for Advanced Engineering and Technology Education (CAETE) is a partnership between the College of Engineering and Applied Science and the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. As the distance learning and professional studies arm of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, CAETE provides courses from the College to working professionals via the Internet and CD-ROM. Students can take courses for professional development or toward earning a master's degree or graduate certificate (in some disciplines) in aerospace engineering, computer science, electrical, computer and energy engineering, engineering management, and telecommunications. Founded in 1983, CAETE currently receives over 1,000 enrollments a year from over 250 job sites in Colorado, across the nation, and abroad.

Media
The Campus Press was the University of Colorado Boulder's student newspaper before becoming the CU Independent in August 2008. It began as a weekly printed newspaper and became an online daily in 2006. The online edition features a weblog facility for students.

The Campus Press staff amounted to approximately 60 editors, reporters and photographers, responsible for providing the online edition with new content at least once a day. Most contributors were members of the University's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, but most other schools are represented too. There were around 20 editors, including campus editors, responsible for editing stories' content; section editors, who constructed and assigned stories to their respective sections; and online editors, who update and maintain the website. A managing editor and an editor-in-chief oversee the production of daily online editions. Online editions include blogs, slide shows, commentary, news, sports. and features.

The Campus Press was founded by Mal Deans. At the time of its conception, the paper published a printed edition every week. The paper was originally titled The Working Press. Dave Sikardi was the first student editor. The Campus Press was the first online newspaper in Colorado, beginning in April, 1994.

In August 2006, however, the Campus Press officially launched as an online-only newspaper, abolishing the print edition entirely. The move was not without controversy, and the Campus Press's tagline on the website was edited from "CU's only independent student voice" to "CU's only student voice". The Campus Press stated that they became independent of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and changed its name to the CU Independent. However, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication continued to host the publication's office space, supply them with computers and other resources, and retain the editors and adviser on payroll. The new website launched on January 12, 2009.

CU Independent is an affiliate of UWIRE, which distributes and promotes its content to their network. The CU Independent is a daily online publication with a staff of about 100 writers and editors, that are representative of all schools on campus.

In spring of 2010, the CU Independent launched a revolutionary new program devoted to bringing awareness to issues of discrimination and celebrating instances of diversity on campus. The Speak Out! campaign restructures the traditional beat system to include stories tagged as discussing heterosexism, classism, sexism, ableism, body image, ethnocentrism, racism, and substance abuse; among other topics.

Starting in fall 2010, the opinion section of the publication has been hosting content written by guest contributors from organizations around campus. These pieces are editorials about upcoming events and their significance in promoting diversity at CU.

The publication is a testing pad for many new instances of community news and multimedia.

Noted alumni
The University of Colorado Boulder ranks fourth among U.S. universities in number of astronauts produced, not including military academies.

Notable accomplishments at CU

 * First to create a new form of matter, the Bose-Einstein condensate, just a few hundred billionths of a degree above absolute zero.
 * First to observe a "fermionic condensate" formed from pairs of atoms in a gas.
 * Developed the "FluChip" to aid physicians in diagnosing respiratory illness and differentiating between three types of influenza and other viruses that cause similar symptoms.
 * First place in the 2002 and 2005 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. At these first two Solar Decathlon competitions, students and faculty from the Engineering and Architecture programs collaborated to design, construct, transport, and rebuild a house powered exclusively by the sun.
 * The number one university recipient of NASA funding
 * The Squid server which is used by Wikipedia and several other websites was created at the University of Colorado Boulder by Duane Wessels as part of Harvest project under grant from National Science Foundation.
 * First zero waste sports stadium (both collegiate and professional) in the nation.
 * Currently houses the most financially powerful student government in the nation.
 * First student government to be zero waste in the nation.

The University of Colorado Student Government
The University of Colorado Student Government (CUSG) is the student government for the University of Colorado Boulder. The student government is currently affiliated with the higher education political group the United States Student's Association. The government contains three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Presiding officers for the student government are elected in a bi-annual vote administered to the 30,000 students at the University. The student government has an autonomy agreement with the University Administration and oversees an annual budget of $36.6 million dollars. CUSG is responsible for the management of the University Student Union, the Recreation Center, the GLBTQ Resource Center, the Women's Resource Center, and the Wardenburg Health Center, along with various other facilities on campus. The government also oversees the fiscal appropriations of over 120 student groups on a yearly basis.

Hiking Club
Founded in May 1919, the Hiking Club is the longest running student organization at the University of Colorado Boulder. It is a non-profit, student-run organization for university students and affiliates interested in hiking and outdoors activities, with hundreds of active members on campus.

The club organizes member-led trips every weekend, and travels throughout the Rocky Mountain Region during breaks to wilderness areas in New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah. Depending on the outing, a variety of activities are featured such as climbing, mountain biking, hot-springing, and backpacking. Examples of frequent trip destinations include the nearby Indian Peaks Wilderness, ascents of Colorado's fourteeners, and day-hikes among the picturesque Flatirons.

The club motto, "half mile more," dates back to the 1940s of the club's tradition-rich history. A slide show of the club's activities is shown on campus during semi-annual new member meetings and the alumni association meets annually.

Radio 1190
KVCU AM-1190, popularly known as Radio 1190, is a college radio station affiliated with the University of Colorado Boulder. Staff of the station are compensated with funds provided by the University of Colorado Student Union while operating funds are raised during biannual on-air pledge drives. It is also run by volunteers from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Boulder Freeride
Boulder Freeride is the ski and snowboard club at the University of Colorado Boulder. It was started in 1933, and has thrived on the CU campus as a student run, nonprofit organization. It was designed to promote skiing, and later, snowboarding at the University of Colorado Boulder campus. Boulder Freeride is the largest student group on campus, as well as the largest collegiate ski and snowboard club in the nation.

Boulder Freeride is active year-round. Fall activities include a camping trip, BBQs, popular ski and snowboard movie premieres, and one of the year’s biggest events, Welcome Freeriders.

Boulder Freeride organizes a number of ski trips each year. Past trips have included a Thanksgiving trip to Steamboat Springs, CO, an annual trip to Aspen, CO to see the X Games, spring break trips to Innsbruck, Austria, Whistler, BC and Chamonix, France, and summer surf trips to South America.

CU Cycling Club
Founded in 1986, the CU cycling team frequently ranks in the top five USA Cycling Collegiate teams in both road cycling and mountain biking disciplines. They have won the national championship on several occasions, including 2005 where they won in both disciplines. From the club, many members have gone on into professional cycling, such as Tyler Hamilton.

The team is open to any student who pays annual dues and meets a minimum amount of credits during the semester. The members include nearly every different type of cyclist, from BMX riders, trials, and bicycle commuters to elite amateur or part time professional road and mountain riders. Specifically, to qualify for road or mountain nationals, a rider must have enough high race results to upgrade to "A" category in the USA Cycling rankings. Then, a number of "A" riders will be chosen by the coaches to represent CU at the National Championships. The number of riders the team allowed to send is based on how well the team did overall during the season.

Program Council
Established in 1953, Program Council is a student run group that coordinates concerts and movies played on campus throughout the year. Program Council mainly focuses on organizing concerts around campus. Over the years, this group has brought such acts as The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., The Ramones, and many more to the University of Colorado. Concerts vary in size ranging from large scale concerts, to smaller local acts, some of which are free to attend. Besides concerts, Program Council also hosts a film series throughout the year which allows students to see soon-to-be-released movies as well as cult classics for free in one of the large lecture halls on campus.

The Herd
The Herd is one of the largest student alumni groups in the nation, with over 6,000 members. The Herd's main goal is increasing school spirit. Therefore, the Herd encourages students to attend school activities such as sports games and club meetings. The Herd also sponsors discounted bus rides to the ski slopes, discounts around Boulder, and football pre-game parties. Sixteen student leaders run the group; the group is open to currently enrolled students.

Volunteer Resource Center
The Volunteer Resource Center is a student funded organization aimed towards promoting volunteerism in the Boulder community. They provide a database with volunteer opportunities of 250 organizations around campus and in the Boulder area. The CU-Boulder campus was recently one of 3 U.S. Universities to receive the Presidential Award for Exemplary Student Community Service in 2008. The Volunteer Resource Center hosts or participates in special volunteer events and activities including Alternative Breaks, Better Boulder Better World, and The Buffalo Can Challenge. The Volunteer Resource Center also a yearly Volunteer Internship Program which engages six selected students through an interview process to create events aimed at involving more freshmen in volunteering, effectively managing all logistics of the event, and implementing the events on campus.

Greek Life
The Panhellenic sorority community consists of nine Panhellenic sororities and two associate, local-interest, chapters. The men's fraternities at the University of Colorado are not officially affiliated with the school however they are still a presence on campus. Students who participate in Greek Life account for a little more than ten percent of the student body.

Sports, clubs, and traditions
Sports teams at the school are called Buffaloes. The varsity athletic teams participate in the NCAA's Division I (FBS for football, see Bowl Championship Series) as a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. The school joined the Pac-12 on July 1, 2011, at which point its decades-long affiliation with what is now the Big 12 Conference (including years in predecessor conference the Big Eight Conference, previously known as the Big Six, Big Seven, and the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association) ended. The official school colors are silver and gold, as opposed to the common belief of black and gold. Silver and gold were chosen to represent the state's mineral wealth, but the colors did not look good together on the uniforms, so black was substituted. There are three official fight songs: "Glory Colorado," "Go Colorado," and "Fight CU."

In 1934, the University teams were officially nicknamed the "Buffaloes." Previous nicknames used by the press included the “Silver Helmets” and “Frontiersmen.” The final game of 1934, against the University of Denver, saw the first running of a buffalo in a Colorado football game. A buffalo calf was rented from a local ranch and ran along the sidelines.

Varsity athletics
CU's varsity teams have won national championships in skiing, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, and football. Conference championships have also been won in several sports. Several club sports, such as cycling, swimming & diving, and triathlon, have won national championships in addition to the varsity teams.

In football, CU enjoys a rivalry with the Colorado State Rams in the "Rocky Mountain Showdown", a game that is sometimes played at the neutral site Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Additionally, Colorado and the Nebraska Cornhuskers have played some notable games, often finishing their respective seasons in a nationally televised confrontation on the Friday following Thanksgiving since the 1990s. This ended after the 2010 season as a result of CU joining the Pac-12 and Nebraska joining the Big 10. Colorado once had rivalries with the Utah Utes and Air Force Falcons, but these have not been played in recent years. The Utah rivalry will be renewed in 2011, as the Utes have also joined the Pac-10 (which became the Pac-12).

The CU ski team has won 18 National Championships at the Division I level. The sport is not sponsored by the Pac-12 Conference, however (nor was it sponsored by the Big 12).

Club sports
CU also maintains one of the largest Club Sports departments in the U.S. It supports over 30 club teams with leading clubs such as both men's and women's crew, cycling, Ultimate, swimming & diving, fencing, men's and women's lacrosse, softball, ice hockey, rugby union, and the CU Triathlon Team.

Mascot; spirit program
CU also includes a spirit program. The spirit program consists of three teams: two Cheerleading squads, and the CU Express Dance Team. The Cheerleading Program consists of a competitive co-ed squad as well as a competitive all-girl squad. Both the Cheerleading squad and the Express Dance Team compete at NCA/NDA College Nationals. In 2007, the Cheerleading squad finished sixth at NCA Nationals in Daytona Beach, Florida. All squads support the home games of football, Women’s Basketball, Men’s Basketball and Women's Volleyball teams, along with other athletic and social events.

The school's live mascot is an American Bison named Ralphie. The costumed mascot CHIP is also a part of the CU Spirit Program. CHIP is a costumed buffalo that represents the University of Colorado at numerous athletic and social events. Along with the Cheer and Dance Program, CHIP competes on a national level once a year against mascots from around the country, including Bucky Badger, Sparty, Aubie, Goldy Gopher and many other Hall of Fame mascots. Most recently CHIP competed in the 2009 UCA national competition and was crowned #1, and the national champion after performing a skit titled "CHIP's Favorite Video Games".



Clubs and other organizations
CU-Boulder offers a variety of political student organizations which cover the full spectrum of politics. Among them are Amnesty International, which focuses on human rights worldwide, as well as the College Democrats and the College Republicans. The University of Colorado also offers many clubs promoting diversity and human rights, such as the Gay Straight Alliance. Students can also choose from a plethora of clubs and organizations centered on ethnicities and countries, as well as different religious groups.