Chancellor DiStefano outlines plans for CU in State of the Campus address

University of Colorado Boulder Chancellor Phillip P. DiStefano gives his annual state of the campus address on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

During the 6th annual State of the Campus address on Tuesday, Chancellor Philip DiStefano said that diversity, collaboration and innovation are integral to CU’s success.

Welcomed by an all-student jazz band in Grusin Music Hall, a crowd of faculty and various community members filed into the auditorium of the IMG Music Building to hear the chancellor speak.

“I have been blessed with the opportunity to review the successes of this campus,” DiStefano said as he stepped to the podium.

The chancellor proudly told the audience that this year boasts the most diverse freshman class in CU history.

“I think we should congratulate ourselves on that,” DiStefano said, stating that 25 percent of 2014’s incoming freshmen are “underrepresented.”

The chancellor also recognized that CU has admitted its most academically accomplished class in history. Out of the 5,869 students admitted in 2014, the average high school GPA was 3.58, the average ACT score 26.8 and the median SAT score 1180.

DiStefano has been chancellor since 2009 and first joined CU’s faculty in 1974. He said his primary missions for CU are to increase “student success, revenue diversification and the school’s reputation as a whole.”

Taking time to address the university’s recent controversy regarding Title IX and campus climate, he said, “CU should be a national model for compliance” before introducing the campus’ new Title IX Director, Valerie Simons.

Simons, a civil rights attorney, will report directly to DiStefano to confront all complaints of discrimination on campus.

DiStefano said that a task force made up of students and faculty had convened in June to improve sexual assault transparency and response on campus. The results of this task force were positive, he said, and plans have already been made to make this collaborative effort a recurring event.

Lora Roberts, the student government’s president of internal affairs, spoke highly of DiStefano and his efforts to make a “fair, more accessible university for all current and prospective students.”

“Nothing is more important than giving students a world-class education,” Roberts said.

While creating an accessible university was an essential component of DiStefano’s message, he also stressed the importance of increasing CU’s current graduation rate from 69 percent to 80 percent by 2020.

While DiStefano appeared confident in his plans to increase retention rates, citing a student-faculty mentor program that had tripled to 1,700 students in the last year, he also asked the community for help and ideas on how to solve this problem.

“Participation is essential in campus climate and culture,” DiStefano said, before walking off the stage to a standing ovation from the crowd.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Oliver Brady at oliver.brady@colorado.edu.