University of Denver Spring/Summer 2023

Spring/Summer 2023

DU ON THE BENCH

Alumni Bring a Service Ethic to Colorado’s Judiciary

Fast Fashion’s High Cost

Gymnast Lynnzee Brown

Publishing’s Challenges

The Pioneers women’s lacrosse team, coached by Liza Kelly, opened its season with a victory and never looked back. As of press time, the team was undefeated and eyeing a berth at the NCAA nationals. Shown here: Ryan Dineen, whom the Big East Conference named Freshman of the Week on March 28.

Contents Spring/Summer 2023 FEATURES 18 Fast Fashion’s Dirty Laundry

magazine.du.edu du-magazine@du.edu 303.871.2776 Volume 23, Issue 3

Executive Editor Renea Morris

From environmental destruction to harmful labor practices, DU experts agree that we pay a high price for cheap clothes

Managing Editor Tamara Chapman

24 DU on the Bench

Art Director Jeff Lukes

Across Colorado, Sturm College of Law graduates are shaping the judiciary with a focus on serving the public good

Senior Editor Heather Hein

30 The Powerful Pioneers DU’s women’s teams savor a year of achievements

Contributing Writers Nika Anschuetz Emma Atkinson Janette Ballard Matt Meyer Connor Mokrzycki Jon Stone Designers Kari Burns Brooke Harman Production Designer Todd Fisher Photographer Wayne Armstrong

DEPARTMENTS

6 Campus Update 10 Athletics 12 Arts 14 Academics 16 Books 33 Alumni Connections

DIGITAL EXCLUSIVES @ magazine.du.edu Don’t miss: The art of memoir: Writers from all walks of life explore and share their lived experiences One to Watch: Campus leader Abbie McAdams cofounded a nonprofit to destigmatize menstruation That band you’re listening to might just have DU DNA Denver 101: University Boulevard meets the collegiate streets

On the cover: Colorado Supreme Court Justice Carlos Samour Jr. (JD ’90)

Photo. by Wayne Armstrong

The University of Denver Magazine is published four times a year (fall, winter, spring and summer) by the University of Denver, Division of Marketing and Communications, 2199 S. University Blvd., Denver, CO 80208-4816. The University of Denver (Colorado Seminary) is an Equal Opportunity Institution.

Printed on 10% PCW recycled paper

Photo by Jack Dempsey, Clarkson Creative

SPRING/SUMMER 2023 • UNIVERSITY of DENVER MAGAZINE | 1

DU’s signature experiences prepare students for rewarding lives and careers LETTER FROM THE CHANCELLOR By Jeremy Haefner

The University of Denver has a bold vision for how we can build upon our 159-year history to do even bigger, better things. We are listening to the needs, desires and values of current and future college students. We are looking carefully at societal change—increasing globalization, complexity and division, big shifts in the labor market and economy—all coupled with technol ogy upending or altering decades-long norms. And we’re responding. The DU 4D Experience is designed to align with and best serve the students who are on campus today, not 20 years ago. We built the 4D Experience with the goal that all DU students can graduate with the knowledge they need, the life skills they can put into practice wherever

they go and the confidence to tackle life’s biggest decisions and act as leaders in their communities. In short, a DU education is an incredible degree—and so much more. The 4D Experience comes to life for our students through a combination of signature DU experiences, a constellation of mentors and moments of reflection. Here, we pair educational research with industry best practices to offer an educational experience where the sum of all its parts is uniquely DU. That experience includes small class sizes that allow for personalized learning; hands-on research opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students; a complementary campus in the Rocky Mountains offering connection, inspiration and skill building; a nationally recognized study abroad program; and a robust career center that serves our students from day one. These, and much more, are DU signature experiences that show the world who we are. Through each student’s constellation of mentors, they receive the advice, advocacy and trusted guidance they need during a formative time in their lives. And the mentors are as diverse as our students—faculty, professionals, coaches, peers, alumni—teams of experts and champions who serve as sounding boards, supporters, trainers and guides. All of this—the knowledge built in the classroom, the experiences savored in clubs, sports and internships, and

Photo by Wayne Armstrong

so much more—is where we employ what I think of as our secret sauce: reflection. Learning happens not upon the encounter, but through reflection of that encounter. We aim to help students build a reflective practice, which they can lean on, again and again, across their lives. Throughout their time at DU, on their own and with their mentors, DU students will be asked to engage with big and meaningful questions about who they are, what they value, where they want to go and how their learning and experiences inform the answers to those questions. Through reflection, DU students will build the foundation of their character. There is nothing better to prepare them to be agents of positive change in the world. The 4D Experience is who we are. It is our philosophy of education. We believe that when students are given ample opportunity to build knowledge and skills that help them advance their intellectual growth, promote their well-being, explore their character, and pursue a career and life of purpose, we have served them well. We have prepared them to flourish, not just at DU and not just in the workforce, but in their lives. I can’t wait to see where they will go.

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Scan to listen to Maggie’s story

and to make your gift to support scholarship

As a recipient of multiple

scholarships, I am an example of how scholarship support Without it, I would not have been able to attend the college of my dreams and pursue my desire to swim at the collegiate level. The scholarship

Helping Students Pursue Their Dreams

life, and I am forever grateful.

— Maggie McHugh (BSAC ’23, MACC ’23)

Maggie McHugh will graduate from DU in June with both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She says scholarships have been an investment in her education and her future. Her scholarship allowed her to excel in the classroom and on DU’s swimming and diving team. McHugh says that competing

alongside her teammates provided some of her most meaningful experiences at DU. She found mentors and peers during her time in the School of Accountancy at Daniels College profession that will challenge and interest her. She begins her career in accounting with Deloitte this fall.

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Shifting the conversation from problems to possibilities LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE EDITOR By Renea Morris

International Studies, founded an on-campus thrift store when she was an undergraduate. Operated by the DU Center for Sustainability, the store is a declaration and an example of ethical fashion and sustainable consumption practices. For me, thrifting has always been a way of life. Growing up in a multigenerational household, we practiced sustainability through our frequent practice of sharing clothes among family and friends. When you read “DU on the Bench,” page 24, you’ll meet four judges, all alumni of the Sturm College of Law, serving the Vail Municipal Court, 18th Judicial District (Douglas County), U.S. District Court (Colorado) and the Colorado Supreme Court. You’ll discover that each of them, though they face their own distinct on-the-bench challenges, share skills and principles, all honed at DU, that inform their work. Throughout the magazine, you’ll read about DU’s influence on the public good, whether it’s a professor illuminating the challenges and rewards of teaching ethics or a trauma-informed therapist and alumna whose healing work has helped guide many on their path to recovery. The books featured this spring are just as varied, from a nonfiction title sharing a science-backed approach to decision-making to a groundbreaking book on reinventing the approach to supply chain management to a children’s book aimed at sparking curiosity and confidence in girls. According to Block, community happens when we shift our conversations from problems to possibilities. This edition of the magazine is full of such stories. Becoming an exemplar in having a positive impact on the public good really is about building a sense of community and belonging.

Photo by Wayne Armstrong

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the spring/summer issue of the University of Denver Magazine. Just as this time of year is filled with anticipation—whether for new blooms or warm days—our editorial focus is on DU’s future-focused commitment to the public good, which permeates much of the work we do—as students, faculty, staff and alumni. That commitment brings with it the strong possibility of better outcomes for us all. In Peter Block’s book, “Community,” he acknowledges that building community in a culture based on “indi vidualism, competition and autonomy” is difficult work. Becoming an exemplar in having a positive impact on the public good really is about building a sense of community and belonging. Our “Fast Fashion” package, which begins on page 18, offers a personal essay by student Ambriel Speagle about, among other things, Denver’s vintage stores and the reason for them: combatting the overproduction and overconsumption of clothing, which leads to tons of landfill waste, as well as air and water pollution. Here on campus, alumna Kayla Fatemi-Badi (BA ’22), now a graduate student at the Josef Korbel School of

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In early March, a student production of “Rent” reminded rock opera fans that some themes are timeless. Loosely based on Puccini’s “La bohème,” “Rent” explores the aspirations and struggles—everything from poverty to AIDS—of a group of young bohemians living in Manhattan’s East Village some 30 years ago. The show was directed by Ashley Hamilton, an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre.

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Working full time and pursuing two master’s degrees are not easy tasks, but graduate student Cordell Covington is not one to balk at a challenge. After earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2011, Coving ton enlisted in the Army, completed basic training and was deployed to Fort ONE TO WATCH An Army veteran can’t wait to implement positive change

At DU, students can choose from more than 100 clubs that can engage their passions, connect them with their community and promote their well-being. In addition to dozens of Greek organizations, club sports and department-affiliated clubs, registered student orga nizations—established and managed by students—cover everything from knitting and Dungeons & Dragons to jet engines and mock trials. Here’s a taste of some of the fastest growing and most active clubs on campus: DU Radio Station New in the 2022–2023 academic year, DU Radio Station already has more than 100 members and aims to expose the DU community to new music and dialogues about important topics. Fashion & Sewing Club Since its inception in fall 2021, this club has grown from 10 members to more than 200. It offers fashion fanatics of all skill levels a place to grow their skills, explore their creativity and connect with fellow fashion lovers. The Neurodiversity Resource Group Established in 2020–2021 and recognized as an affinity group, this club aims to break down the stigma surrounding students with learning differences. Open to all students, members advocate for neurodiverse students, create programming for students, faculty and staff, and offer a wel coming environment for neurodiverse students to connect. Society of Physics Students (SPS) SPS brings together undergraduate physicists, scientists and curious individuals to discuss physics and dabble in fun experiments. They actively interact with K-12 students to demonstrate physics and get young people excited about science and how the world works. Undergraduate Women in Business (WiB) One of the most active clubs on campus, WiB’s motto is “empowering the next generation of businesswomen.” Members hear from guest speakers and participate in professional development opportunities that increase their communication and leadership skills. LIFE ON CAMPUS Fast-growing student clubs offer a bit of everything

Carson in Colorado Springs. There, he served as an oper ations and supply chain manager until 2016. That’s when Covington jumped into a role with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Later, he took on man agement positions at Oracle and the Colorado Athletic Club. In 2020, just as the coronavirus

pandemic came into full swing and he landed a new job at a startup, he saw the transition to remote work and school as an opportunity to continue his education. “COVID hit, and I was like ‘Hey, perfect, I’ll go get my master’s degree,’” Covington says. Attracted by University College’s hybrid and online classes, he decided to pursue a master of science in organizational leadership, with a concentration in strategic innovation and change. “I started that in June 2020,” he says, “and then it just turned into a double master’s.” A year into his studies, Covington was accepted into the professional MBA program at the Daniels College of Business. Optimizing his course work around his passions, he added a custom concentration in sustainability. When he graduates in June, Covington aims to put his DU education to work, but perhaps not on day one. He’s looking forward to spending more time with his wife and their two dogs, a Weimaraner named Storm and a German Shepard Belgian Malinois mix named Atlas. He also plans to head for the mountains, return to the basketball court and perhaps take a vacation. But before long, he says, “I want to dive into a new career.” He hopes for a position focused on diversity, equity and inclusion or management consulting. And with his passion for environmental and social sustainability, Covington has set his sights on making a substantial difference. “I’m here to implement some of the positive change that we need in the world.”

Learn more about student clubs at crimsonconnect. du.edu.

Photo by Wayne Armstrong

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PHILANTHROPY Daniels Alumni Advisory Board gives students a financial boost

AAB member David Cable (MBA ’06). “Beyond the tangible assistance of the scholarship, we want to give students the sense that they’re part of a bigger network.” Advancing students’ career opportunities is a central element of DU’s 4D Experience. Each student’s 4D Experience is unique, providing opportunities for intellectual growth, character growth, increased well-being, and opportunities to pursue careers and lives of purpose. “Through the AAB Scholarship, students

Fighting corruption across the globe is an enormous challenge, yet that’s what motivates Derek Ricke, an Exec utive PhD student in the Daniels College of Business. Thanks to funding from the Daniels Alumni Advisory Board (AAB), Ricke recently attended the International Anti Corruption Conference in Washington, D.C. Experts from government, private and nonprofit institutions attend the biannual conference to discuss efforts in fighting corruption. Ricke shared his doctoral work with academic and industry professionals, increasing the likelihood that his research will be put to use in the real world. The AAB established the Alumni Advisory Board Endowed Scholarship to provide professional development funds to Daniels students. Ricke is one of the first to receive the scholarship. Originally from Medicine Lodge, Kansas, he is a West Point graduate and an Army veteran with an MBA from UCLA and an associate degree in Mandarin. His PhD is focused on mitigating corporate corruption. “I’m pursuing a PhD in business and looking to better understand corruption in the corporate environment and how firms can leverage the ideas of leadership, ethics and corporate culture to better prevent corruption within their own organization,” Ricke says. In addition to scholarship funding for professional de velopment opportunities, the AAB connects students with likeminded alumni who can help them in their careers. “There is a group of alumni that stands as a support system for our students and wants them to succeed,” says Colorado has a predatory towing problem—residents are often towed for no reason, typically in the middle of the night, and then have to pay hundreds of dollars to retrieve their cars. Last year, the Colorado legislature passed the Towing Bill of Rights to help address this problem, and now students in the Sturm College of Law have designed a web based app that puts those rights into the hands of consumers. Third-year student Will Denney and his classmates, Jessi Bird and Brittany Phouminh, created the Towing Rights Advisor for Colorado app last fall as part of Law & Innovation Lab, a six-credit course offering the opportunity to develop technology tools that address real-world legal problems. Professor Lois Lupica, who leads the lab, says the idea came from conversations with a local partner organization, the Community Economic Defense Project. The students, who had never developed an app before, went to work combing through the legislation and determining the rights consum ers have and what information people need most. The result, Lupica says, is an app that gives the user

can pursue career preparation opportu nities that otherwise might not be open to them,” says Vivek Choudhury, dean of the Daniels College of Business. “I am grateful to the AAB for making these op portunities available to our students.”

During the scholarship’s first launch, 45 business students applied for funding. “Students like Derek Ricke aren’t an exception at Daniels, which is why we want to award AAB Scholarships to as many students as possible,” says Jackie Battista (MBA ’10), an AAB member who hopes to see the endowment grow.

TECHNOLOGY Law students design app to help drivers know their rights when towed

tailored information based on their circumstance and grouped by urgency—from “I want to understand my rights” to “My car is about to be towed.” The team added user-friendly features, such as a white background with high-contrast lettering for easy reading at night. Denney, who is multilingual, also translated the app into Spanish. “It’s almost impossible for Spanish speakers to file a complaint,” he says. “Our app takes their information in Spanish and then drafts the complaint in English for them and sends it to the relevant agencies.” “That’s the value of using technology,” Lupica says. “You could give someone a booklet about their towing rights, but then they still have to flip through 20 pages, 15 of which don’t apply to their situation. This app lets you click on your circum stance, and you get only the information you need right now.”

The app launches this spring and will be available on the Community Economic Defense Project website at cedproject.org.

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RESEARCH Groundbreaking study finds links between long COVID and brain injury

So far, the lab has preliminary data for 48 of the study’s participants, collected through a yearly visit in which partic ipants complete a cognitive assessment and a detailed ques tionnaire and have their blood drawn to check biomarkers. The findings may change over the five-year study as more participants are recruited, but, Linseman and Grossberg say, the preliminary data is clear: Those with a history of COVID-19 and TBI reported more severe long COVID symptoms, a higher symptom burden and more frequent symptoms, even if it’s been decades since their brain injury. When the study began, the scientists anticipated that older people with a history of concussions would report the worst long COVID symptoms. So far in their findings, the opposite is true. That leads Linseman to think that the immune system and neuroinflammation are contributing to the symptomology. “The biggest difference between older and younger people is that younger people have a more robust immune system,” he says. If the Linseman/Grossberg hypothesis is correct, and there’s a neuroinflammatory pathway that’s upended by COVID and TBI, researchers can start to explore potential treatments, particularly one that inhibits the inflammatory pathway.

For one in five Americans who experienced COVID-19, the disease never went away. The symptoms of long COVID— brain fog, fatigue, headaches, chest pain, even digestive problems—affect thousands every day. But University of Denver researchers have uncovered similarities between long COVID and traumatic brain injury (TBI)—findings that offer hope for better treatments. Last year, Daniel Linseman, a professor in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics who runs the Linseman Laboratory, and Allison Grossberg, a fourth-year doctoral student in the cellular and molecular biology program, began studying the symptoms of individuals in three cat egories: those with a history of TBI but not COVID; those who have had COVID but no TBI history; and those with a history of both. Linseman and Grossberg wanted to determine whether individuals in the last group have worsened long-term neurological and psychological symptoms, increased inflam mation, or an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease and/or autoimmunity. “We’ve known for a while that brain injury produces a strong inflammatory response,” says Grossberg, who is leading the study. “Why would this be any different for infection?” The Grand Canyon offers one of the most pristine night skies in the United States. This spring, astronomy professor Jennifer Hoffman will have the opportunity to conduct research and share her discipline as the Astronomer in Residence at Grand Canyon National Park. During the six-week residency, Hoffman will live and work at the historic Verkamp’s artist residence at the canyon’s South Rim. In her research, Hoffman creates 3D computational simulations of massive binary stars and supernovae. During her residency, she will work on “animating” the simulations, making them move in time instead of producing a static picture. In addition, she will interact with park visitors through activities and presentations. Hoffman believes that science is for everyone. She plans to share her experience with the DU community through a video diary providing glimpses of life on the South Rim. “I think the sky is an underappreciated natural re source. Most people don’t pay much attention to it except when they happen to notice the moon or when something

Professor to study the night sky as the Grand Canyon’s Astronomer in Residence LOOKING UP

big happens like a solar eclipse. But the sky is always there and always changing,” Hoffman says. “My research focuses on short-term changes in faraway astrophysical objects like su pernovae, but the movements of the sun, moon, stars and planets are easy for a casual observer to detect,” she adds. “Becoming more aware of

these motions can help us be more in touch with our sur roundings, feel connected with the ancient people who first tracked changes in the sky and see ourselves as part of our cosmic neighborhood.” Hoffman is the Womble Chair of Astronomy in DU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. She also directs DU's historic Chamberlin Observatory.

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Undaunted by adversity, Lynnzee Brown ends her DU career with a hurrah ATHLETICS By Jon Stone

“I knew right away,” she recalls. Once again, Brown had torn her Achilles tendon, but this time in her left leg. “We had an even stronger team than we did when I had my first tear, so they were going to be fine without me,” she says. “I knew I just needed to be there for them.” Unfortunately, Brown’s injury was the first of three torn Achilles for the Pioneers. Three weeks later, Mia Sundstrom tore hers, and two weeks after that, the same happened to Emily Glynn. Oddly enough, all three student-athletes were graduate students taking advantage of the COVID year, and all three lived together in the same house. Brown said they had a ramp built, so they could access their house. Once inside, all three had to hop up and down the stairs. “It was just shocking. Everyone was in just such disbelief,” Brown says. “The three of us had to band together and support the team, because that is scary to see three people go down with the same injury. Our support for the team and instilling confidence in them was very important for their mental well-being.” The team competed hard all season, but without the veterans in the lineup, they missed qualifying for the NCAA nationals. The chance to repeat the team’s 2019 feat at nationals fueled Brown’s decision to return for a sixth season this year, an opportunity that arose when she was granted another year of eligibility because of how early in the season her second Achilles injury occurred. “I knew we could make it to the national championships if I was healthy and made a strong recovery. I thought I could help push this team even further,” Brown says. “That was my goal, for this team to experience the national championships.” Brown once again bounced back from her injury and helped the Pioneers achieve that goal. In April, the team hosted and won the NCAA regionals, earning a return trip to nationals. Although Brown went on to break her own program record for best all-around score in an NCAA nationals meet, it would not be enough to help the team advance to the finals. Ultimately, her final collegiate performance came on the floor. She closed out the competition by posting a 9.95, the same score both she and McGee put up when they won their national titles. “I don’t think people truly understand what she has been through,” says Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart, the Joy S. Burns head women’s gymnastics coach. “In the six years of her journey at the University of Denver, to be at the highs of being a floor national champion and an All-American to the lows of losing her mom and having injuries, she’s a true inspiration.”

It was a Sunday afternoon at Magness Arena in February 2020. The University of Denver women’s gymnastics team was hosting George Washington University in front of nearly 5,500 fans. The Pioneers and then-junior Lynnzee Brown were competing on the floor, their final rotation of the afternoon. “As I’m going up for the double back pike, I realize that I’m probably not going to land this,” Brown says. “Thankfully, I was able to think quickly and land safely.” As she pushed off for that final flip, Brown knew right away that she had torn her right Achilles tendon. It was the first major injury of her career, and it came less than a year after the sudden passing of her mother. “This physical pain woke me up from this sense that I was just going through the motions in life,” she says. “Neither of those experiences was fun, but I feel like the combination of those two made me realize how for granted I was taking the whole experience.” Up until that time, the experience was well worth savoring. During her sophomore year, Brown became the first DU gymnast since Nina McGee in 2016 to win an individual na tional championship. Her performance on the floor exercise helped lead the team to a fourth-place finish at nationals, the highest finish in program history. But after losing her mom and facing an eight-month recovery, that remarkable success seemed so distant. Brown was only a week removed from surgery when the campus, and the entire world, shut down due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Because of the surgery, she was unable to fly home to Missouri, and since it was her right leg, she could not drive. “The whole team went home, the whole campus went home, and I was the only one on campus. That whole summer I was kind of sad,” Brown says. “I did a lot of reflecting, but at the same time I watched a lot of gymnastics. Being forced to be alone for the recovery helped me come back.” And come back she did. Her senior year, the media studies major returned as strong as ever. She set a new program all around record; she won the all-around, bars and floor titles at the Big 12 championship; she scored two perfect 10s in the NCAA regional final; and she had three top 10 finishes at the NCAA nationals. Her DU career might have ended there, but because of the pandemic, the NCAA granted student-athletes an additional year of eligibility. Brown, by then pursuing graduate studies in communication management, decided to compete for one more year. But at the fourth meet of the season, tragedy struck again.

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Photo courtesy of NCAA Photos/DU Athletics

Photo by Wayne Armstrong

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At the Denver Publishing Institute, book champions prepare for careers in an ever-changing marketplace ARTS By Magazine Staff

lectures, networking events and field trips. “We teach everything—from acquisition to printing and distribution. We try to cover the life cycle of the book,” Smith says, noting that DPI students benefit from programming that explores a range of book products, from children’s stories to college textbooks. The institute was founded by influential New York publisher Elizabeth Geiser in 1976. In 2007, she was succeeded by Joyce Meskis, a formidable champion of First Amendment rights and former owner of Denver’s Tattered Cover Book Store. Smith has been running the program since 2015. Over the years, the DPI has adapted its program ming to include everything from new technologies and changing demographics to equity issues. To address the latter, DPI launched a scholarship in 2021 for students from underrepresented populations. Smith hopes the move will help diversify publishing’s workforce and the titles published. “Those things are interconnected,” she says. “If there is a lack of diversity among acquiring editors, they might be less likely to acquire books by diverse authors.” Thanks in large part to the scholarship, applications and attendance

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic turned life upside down, the U.S. publishing industry has found itself on a wilder-than-usual roller-coaster ride. First, the picture seemed encouraging. With millions of people suddenly homebound, books emerged as a welcome distraction—and sales reflected that. Later, as supply chain issues escalated, publishers faced paper shortages and production delays. And when life returned to near normal, sales wobbled, confirming the findings of a 2022 Gallup poll that shows book consumption on the decline—whether readers are swiping on their e-books or turning paper pages. So, how is the publishing world preparing to navigate the latest challenges? At the renowned Denver Publishing Institute (DPI)—one of only four summer programs in the country dedicated to training the next generation of innovators—the focus has expanded. The industry still wants to hire people who can produce and sell great books. But it also wants a talent pool tuned to the tastes of underserved audiences. “People have different reading preferences, and publish ing is trying to meet those preferences,” says DPI director Jill Smith. A four-week graduate-level program in the University of Denver’s College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, DPI enrolls about 95 students for its summer workshops,

“ WE TEACH EVERYTHING— FROM ACQUISITION TO PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTION. ”

from marginalized and underrepresented communities have grown from 16% to 25% in the past two years. As it aims to connect with new readers, the industry is also seeking professionals who can harness their life experiences—including a deep familiarity with social media—to make a difference in the industry. Social media know-how represents a significant advantage for an indus try focused on integrating the tried and true with the new. “They are looking for employees who understand how to reach audiences in new ways,” Smith says. Like the industry it serves, the institute has also had to reach its target audience in new ways. In summer 2022, DPI introduced its first dual-modality program to address the

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changing the industry. For one thing, it’s no longer imper ative to move to New York to land a publishing job. Last year, DPI leaders sent out 442 job postings to alumni. Those postings came from 35 states, Washington, D.C., Canada and the United Kingdom. Twenty percent of them had a remote or hybrid option. Ultimately, Smith’s goal is to help people who love books find their niche in the industry. While many enter the pro gram eager to become editors, others find their calling in publicity and sales, or as literary agents. “It is a program of self-discovery,” Smith says.

challenges presented by the pandemic shutdown. One group of students attended live lectures from an auditorium on campus, while the other watched the same lecture remotely. “What we liked about having a dual-modality program is that we could meet students where they were and where they wanted to learn,” Smith says. She considers the remote component a success and hopes to optimize it in the future. Students share her enthusiasm for the dual-modality program. When asked if it made DPI a more compelling choice for him, Nicholas Goudsmit offers an unequivocal answer: “Yes with a capital Y.” “The content in ’22 was current and forward-thinking,

offered by some of the leading figures of the publishing world,” says Goudsmit, who entered the institute as a remote student hoping to become a full-time editor after graduation. He is now an editorial spe cialist at Harvard University. “My new role runs the gamut of the publishing process, and my exposure to more than just the editorial side of publishing made me a qualified candidate.” Looking to the future, Smith expects to see renewed interest in print on demand as publishers continue to contend with supply chain complexities. When books can be printed in the U.S. in smaller print runs, she explains, “you don’t have to order the mas sive volumes to have them shipped from overseas and encounter possible delays.” Smith credits the rise of remote work and freelancing in a gig economy with

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Ethics courses teach students how to ‘walk the walk’ in business and life ACADEMICS By Emma Atkinson

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process, Reshotko says, is intersectionality—the consideration of marginalized groups, cultures and perspectives when making decisions. This generation of college students is particularly adept at making room for intersectionality, in large part because more faculty are introducing the concept into their courses, she adds. Students have learned to spot how the context for, say, a woman of color might differ dramatically from another person with a different constellation of identities when she’s hospitalized or in a situation involving law enforcement. Bruce Klaw, chair of the business ethics and legal studies department at the Daniels College of Business, says he hopes students are deeply affected by ethics courses. After all, he says, today’s college students face daunting ethical issues— among them, climate change and digital privacy. “It’s kind of a great time to reconnect with them and remind them that there is hope to be had, but that hope is not enough,” he says. “It needs to also be the motivation to engage in change and not cynicism, and [to recognize] that they will have a unique opportunity to make a difference.” Klaw says DU’s business ethics courses are driven by a holistic strategy that allows for a traditional focus on case studies and the opportunity to speak to DU community members about ethical decision-making. One sophomore-level class has students gather on a weekend for a co-curricular ethics bootcamp, where faculty, community members and alumni come to speak about their experiences in business ethics. “These are challenging personal ethics conversations about what it means to be a person of character and integrity,” Klaw says. “We’ve tried to get them engaged with the community, because often, community members are really attuned to this. They’ve realized over the course of their professional lives that ethics is one of the things that matters. It defines who you are, how people remember you, what your legacy is, and in which direction your business and industry are going to go.” Ethics, Klaw says, is all about walking the walk, not just talking the talk. “Business ethics is critical, particularly because business has a unique power to affect change on a very large scale,” he says. “And so, particularly at the Daniels College of Business, where we think business should be and can be a force for public good, it’s important that we show our students how to harness that power of business and direct it toward the shared problems we’re all facing. A lot of that comes down to adopting ethical business practices in reality and not just talking about it.”

Teaching college ethics can be murky. There are no shortcuts, nor formulas for evaluating how well students are grasping the material. It’s all sensitive to the context. And when there is an ethical aspect to almost every decision, an ethics course can quickly seem overwhelming to even the most conscientious students. Naomi Reshotko, a University of Denver professor of philosophy, teaches a course on feminist ethics. She contends that every aspect of our lives has an ethical dimension. “You can’t live a life in which you never make an ethical decision,” she says. “Even if it’s by omission—which a lot of us do all the time. We don’t pay enough attention to who’s cleaning our house, or how our clothes were made, or all of the various things that people like to bring up in our privileged setting, where we probably oppress a lot of people—even if we have the best intentions in the world.” With that perspective comes a whole new understanding of the world, one that can change how students approach their work and even their lives. Reshotko says she does her best to guide students through the complicated paths presented in her courses. “They’re just really good at saying, ‘Gee, there’s nothing neutral here, is there?’ And so I think it’s scary for them,” she says. “I also think it’s a very, very difficult time to be a young person. It’s a hard time to be anybody in this world. But I hope classes like mine are getting them to think more clearly about things.” When it comes to evaluating students’ grasp of the course work, Reshotko says it’s not about whether students make the “right” ethical decision. Perhaps a given scenario involves organ donation and the complex set of questions that face donor, recipient and all of their loved ones. “It’s not enough to say, ‘Should Pat donate his kidney to Mary?’ And somebody says, ‘Yes.’ And you say, ‘Oh, that was the right answer. I'll check it off,’” Reshotko says, outlining the process for evaluating the dilemmas at hand. “Students might say yes. And students might say no—I don’t care which one they say. And they might say, ‘I'm not sure, because when I think about it this way, it seems like he should; when I think about it that way, it seems like he shouldn't.’ “But yeah—‘When I think about it this way,’ that’s the important part.” Ethics isn’t like math, she reminds her students. There’s often no perfect answer that leaves you feeling good about everything that happened. The process is important and there is no universal formula for thinking through a concrete ethical dilemma. One of the most important parts of the

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New titles—fiction and nonfiction—offer engaging stories and sharp analysis BOOKS By Tamara Chapman

Toward a better supply chain and a revitalized America Most people give little, if any, thought to the supply chain. Until it fails. And with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 and 2020, it did fail—frequently and sometimes spectacularly. Factories closed. Stores and restaurants shut tered. Container ships idled offshore for weeks, awaiting a berth at their

creative fixes and demonstrates how a retooled supply chain can lead to the revitalization of American communities. Among his proposed fixes: a move away from what he calls a “long-tailed global supply chain” to more of a commu nity-based, peer-to-peer supply chain. The latter, Buffington argues, will lead to “a greater balance between supply and demand and a movement away from price to value.”

Debut children’s book cultivates curiosity in young girls As the mother of a young, perspi cacious girl, alumna Jodie Antypas (MBA ’05) delighted in her daughter’s curiosity. That others weren’t equally delighted came as something of a shock. “When my daughter was just 6

destination port. Meanwhile, driver shortages slowed the trucking of essential goods. Making the quandary more complex, consumer demands shifted as Americans spent more time at home. In “Reinventing the Supply Chain: A 21st-Century Covenant With America” (Georgetown University Press, 2023), Jack Buffington, academic director of DU’s supply chain management program, argues that the pandemic

years old, she came home from school and said that someone told her she was too curious,” she says. “It broke my heart. I needed her to see what I see—her curiosity is a gift.” To help her daughter make that connection, Antypas, a marketing executive at a Bay Area tech company, wrote “Just Like an Astronaut” (Mascot Books, 2022), a children’s book that introduces readers to curious Grace, a girl who loves learning about outer space. “‘Grace’ was invented to help [girls celebrate their curiosity]. The curiosity in my daughter—in all our kids—is magical and will lead us all into a better world,” she explains. “Just Like an Astronaut” tackles two of the major “blockers”

itself did not break the supply chain. Rather, it exposed problems that were festering for decades and that were readily apparent in deindustrialized cities and depopulated rural areas. In assessing the situation, Buffington puts the global supply chain under the microscope to identify just where and when the system went wrong. Finally, and optimistically, he proposes several

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Harnessing positive psychology to make better decisions Over the course of any given waking hour, most of us will make dozens of decisions, a fair number of which we’ll come to regret. Some of them may be downright disastrous. In “Wise Decisions: A Science- Based Approach to Making Better Choices” (John Wiley & Sons, 2022), behavioral geneticist Sheila Walker

that keep young girls from embracing the STEM (science, technology, engi neering and mathematics) disciplines: self-doubt and embarrassment. Grace experiences both, after a day where everything goes wrong. She starts to listen to a negative voice in her head and begins to question her self-worth. But with the help of her parents, teachers and friends, she regains her adventurous spirit. With illustrations by Ana Sebastian, the book is res onating with children and their families in the Bay Area, where Antypas has promoted the book at readings and book fairs. “Parents and teachers are loving the combination of social-emotional learning and STEM themes in the book,” Antypas says. “My goal is to encourage kids to stay curious and get them to talk about feelings like embarrassment and shame that some experience when they ask questions and make mistakes, while they are learning about new topics.”

and co-author James Loehr put the decision-making process under the microscope, all in the interest of helping young people and their families make decisions and choices that are grounded in science and likelier to support their big- picture goals and complement their values. In doing so, Walker and Loehr remind readers that “Human beings are skillful fiction-making machines. Our brains are always working to get us what we want in life and can deploy a surprising number of ingenious reality-distorting strategies to do just that. If you want to buy a car that you really can’t afford, eat unhealthy foods that you know are not good for you, or get involved in an office romance you know should never happen, be very careful because your brain can figure out a way to get you there.” The first chapter anchors sound decision-making in holistic health: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Subsequent chapters cover everything from training one’s inner voice to managing stress, energy and emotions. Along the way, Walker and Loehr offer guidance on upload ing decision-making priorities into what they call the brain’s “command center” and on harnessing the brain’s capacity for “reflec tive consciousness.” Walker, the founding donor and visionary behind the Center for Sport and Human Development at DU’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology, is a renowned expert on positive psychology. A former professional tennis player, she focuses her research on how nurture (environment) shapes nature (DNA). Drawing on this framework, she explores how to create contexts in sport, school and nature settings that unlock the potential of youth. Friends of DU will appreciate that the book’s foreword is authored by Chancellor Emeritus Dan Ritchie. “I whole heartedly believe,” he writes of “Wise Decisions,” that “its pages hold life-changing wisdom and perspective.” In his deeply personal piece, Ritchie chronicles his 16-year tenure at DU, referencing decisions that made a huge difference for the institution and for him personally. “Decision by decision,” he writes, “we moved in the direction of True North, and slowly but surely, we began to turn a corner.”

Alumna’s first novel draws on her passions and values Coloradans eager to see their beloved state as a backdrop will appreciate the first novel from alumna Shelley Read (BA ’88), “Go as a River” (Spiegel & Grau, 2023), which opens in the 1940s in the ranch town of Iola, now underwater due to the 1960s construction of a dam. The tale fol lows Victoria Nash, the only surviving

female in a family of men, through her teens and a life characterized by tribulations and greeted with fortitude. Read, a fifth-generation Coloradan, was a senior lecturer at Western Colorado University for nearly three decades. There, she taught writing, literature and environmental studies. For her novel, she drew on some of the central

preoccupations of her teaching and reading life. “This novel,” she says, “gets at the heart of what is most valuable to me and what I think the world needs now: a strong connection to nature, a belief in love, and a deep faith in personal resilience. I hope that my novel will leave readers exploring

some of the relevant issues of our time—displacement, prej udice and notions of progress; the value of women, mothers, and the natural world; resilience in the face of adversity; and, of course, the extraordinary power of love.” To date, the book has generated significant interest in the publishing world, with plans afoot for its publication in international markets. Read’s novel has also earned kudos from the literary community. Novelist and playwright Adri ana Trigiani, bestselling author of “The Good Left Undone,” puts it this way: “‘Go as a River’ is a stunning debut set in the soul of the American dream.”

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FAST FASHION’S DIRTY LAUNDRY From environmental destruction to harmful labor practices, DU experts agree that we pay a high price for cheap clothes BY CONNOR MOKRZYCKI

Discarded textiles befoul the beach in Accra, Ghana.

The Atacama Desert in Chile stretches more than 600 miles along the Pacific Coast. It’s the driest place on Earth. Stretches of the desert are so inhospitable that NASA uses it to train for missions to Mars. And now, tragically, the Atacama is the backdrop for an environmental nightmare. Every year, on this remote but hauntingly beautiful plateau, roughly 40,000 tons of textile waste from around the globe are dumped and left to rot. The party dresses, cropped sweaters and jogging shorts accumulate in dunes that stretch for miles. Much of the clothing has never been worn. The price tags still cling to collars and waistbands. A continent away, the beaches of Accra, Ghana’s capital city, are unlike any you’ve seen before. Where sand once marked the transition from land to sea, never-ending piles of T-shirts, jeans and other textile waste form an unsightly landmark along the shoreline. Home to the Kantamanto Market—the largest second hand clothing market in West Africa—Accra receives more than 15 million used garments on a weekly basis. Nearly half of them end up as waste. This is the unsightly underside of fast fashion—an indus try valued at nearly $100 billion annually. The rapid rise of fast fashion While the fashion industry has always produced waste and pollution, recent decades have seen the brisk growth of fast fashion—hyper-trendy clothing made as cheaply and quickly as possible—and an acceleration of the envi ronmental damage that apparel production causes. Rising to prominence in the early 2000s, the fast fashion industry turned the four traditional clothing seasons—spring, summer, fall and winter—into 52 micro-seasons. Globally, more than 100 billion pieces of clothing are produced each year—more than double the industry’s output in 2000. With companies such as H&M, Shein and ASOS collectively bringing thousands of low-cost garments to market each week, consumers have nearly endless options to buy. And buy, we do. On average, Americans spend more than $100 per month on clothing and apparel. Ali Besharat, associate professor of marketing in the Daniels College of Business and co-director of the Consumer Insights and Business Innovation Center (CiBiC), says low prices and consumer convenience are the primary drivers of fast fashion’s explosive growth. “With the emergence of fast fashion, there’s a tempta tion: With $15 you can get a new sweater or a pair of jeans,” he says. “So, what’s the point of getting a pair of jeans that will last four years but is going to cost $100 versus getting a $15 pair that you only wear twice and then you can move on?” For younger shoppers who tend to have less disposable income, the temptation grows even stronger. Brick-and-mortar stores filled with an ever-changing lineup of ultra-low-cost apparel are designed to encourage impulsive purchases through what Besharat calls “incidental exposure to a product.” While online shopping can offer consumers a chance to plan, research and compare items before buying, he says retailers frequently send reminders about impending discounts or limited-edition runs to

There’s more behind fast fashion consumption than a persistent cycle of new, cheap outfits to wear. Meet the social media influencers. motivate customers to spend. “If there’s a matter of urgency or scarcity, consumers are going to act in the same way that they do in a retail store,” he says. Melissa Akaka, co-director of CiBiC and director of DU’s master of science in marketing program, says a push for trends over styles also shapes purchasing decisions. “Trends are much quicker cycles of popular, desirable styles. Styles can be much longer lasting than trends like bell-bottoms or crop tops. Fashion trends move more and more quickly because of the ability of the clothing to reach mass markets in shorter amounts of time,” she says. But there’s more behind fast fashion consumption than a persistent cycle of new, cheap outfits to wear. Meet the social media influencers. They’ve emerged as fashion brands have confronted an ever-growing challenge. Typically, brands engage in costly advertising to bridge the gap from the factory to the con sumer. But these days, advertising falls on unreceptive ears. “Broadly speaking, advertising has not been consumers’ favorite form of entertainment or information,” Akaka says. In fact, many consumers install ad-blocking software, pay premiums for ad-free services or take other steps to avoid traditional advertisements. And, Besharat adds, younger consumers trust brands less than they used to. “Nowadays, peer-to-peer trust is a much stronger, more reliable and trustworthy channel that people use,” he says.

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