Naropa University's commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 3 p.m. in Macky Auditorium at the University of Colorado Boulder featured Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont, chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005-2009, and current CNBC contributor. Read more. And enjoy these photos from Commencement.

Dr. Carolyn Jacobs, Smith College of Social Work Dean, joined Naropa University Board of Trustees. Read more.

Naropa University announced the appointment of Janice Willis, PhD, Professor of Religion at Wesleyan University to its board of trustees. Dr. Willis is one of the earliest American scholar-practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism, and has published numerous essays and articles on Buddhist meditation, hagiography, women and Buddhism, and Buddhism and race. Read more.

President Stuart Lord was featured in a recent issue of the Denver publication, 5280; Here, he talks about walking the talk, meditation and prayer, and why education cuts hurt America.  Read the article. 

Lyn Hejinian has been named the 2011 Visiting Fellow at Naropa University, funded by the Allen Ginsberg Estate. Read more.

 President Lord spoke with Michael Lerner, from New School Commonweal, about his journey from being a foster child to leading America's foremost center of contemplative education. Listen to this compelling interview here.

A new book just released, "Composing while Dancing: An Improviser's Companion" examines the world of improvisational dance and the varied approaches to this art form, and includes interviews with our very own, Barbara Dilley.  Read more.

Naropa hosted a two-day series of lectures, dialogues, and workshops titled "Emerging Paradigms For Leadership: What's Needed Now?" in February. Among the speakers who led the discussion and dialogue was Dr. Peter Senge, prominent author of "The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization."

Naropa was honored to host meditation teacher and author Sharon Salzberg for a public talk and book signing in support of her new book, "Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation" in February.

The website "BestCollegesOnline.com" recently posted an article entitled, "10 U.S. Colleges That Are Totally Unique."  No surprise...but Naropa University is listed as one of them!

Meet a few Naropa alumni who are meeting the world as it is and changing it for the better. 

In NYC, alumna Kate Barrow, BA '05, is the youth services coordinator/clinical social worker at Midtown Community Court, the first community court in the country. In March, 2010, Kate gave the keynote address at the 2011 Power of Social Work Conference hosted by the National Association of Social Workers - NY Chapter. Her talk, entitled "Weighing the Evidence," examined how social workers can incorporate anti-oppressive approaches into their evidence-based work. Read more.

Kate is also the founding organizer of RISE: Social Work to End Oppression, a collective of social workers in New York City. RISE works to undo institutionalized oppressions through education, training, and community events. The Huffington Post covered the RISE Conference in this recent article: The New Generation of Activists: How Social Workers from RISE are Restoring Social Justice to their Profession 

Stress Management Services Massage & Wellness Co-Op in Boulder was founded by TCP alumna Velina Lujan, MA '05.  Velina practiced solo for 3 years before realizing that working in community was essential for her own health and well-being. She connected with her Naropa community and now there are six alums, including herself, in this co-op. Just recently, Velina decided to change her business model from focusing on herself and her business to a cooperative model where all practioners are featured and supported in their private practices.

L to R: Vivian Sylvest, MA; Jenna Robbert, MA; Lou Stenger, MA;  Chiwa Higashi, BA; Velina Lujan, MA and Kristen McCormack, BA

Alumna Margaret Emerson, MA '09, is a freelance writer, designer and ecopsychologist, and has a collection of essays and suggested activities on how to connect with nature through contemplative practices while hiking, on her website, contemplativehiking.com.  She recently wrote and published a book, "Contemplative Hiking Along the Colorado Front Range" and offers a variety of retreats and workshops. 

Constantin Parvulescu (Costi), BA '89, premiered his string quartet Voronets Blue at the 3d Annual Occultural Music Festival in May of 2010. He continues to be active in the Seattle music scene, playing with the Bucharest Drinking Team, Bat Country, and with his teacher's band, Lache Cercel and Roma Swing. By day he repairs violins and makes bows. 

Megan E. Drimal holds a MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana, for which she focused on the human emotional and spiritual response to the present mass extinction of species and cultures. Megan joined the Naropa community as Annual Fund Officer in December 2010, moving her family from Livingston, Montana to Boulder. Megan comes to the Development team with over a decade experience fundraising for non-profit organizations.  She is thrilled to offer her writing and relationship building skills to enliven, deepen and broaden Naropa's annual giving community. 

"May no gift be too small to give, nor too simple to receive."  L.O. Baird

Our Goal: 300 alumni donors!

With more than 5,000 Naropa alumni, we feel it is possible for 300 to make a gift of any size by June 30, 2011. So far, more than 150 alumni have participated. Please help show others how much we believe in a Naropa education by making a gift today.  

President Lord is pleased to participate in the community effort to increase alumni giving and has offered a $5 match to all new alumni gifts of $5 or more. View Invitation

Sneak Peek. Online Alumni Network coming SOON!

BIG news... Late summer/early fall, we will be launching an online alumni network enabling alumni to connect with each other and Naropa!  

Features in this online Naropa alumni community will include:  alumni directory, alumni profiles, professional networking and job search opportunities, groups such as regional areas and by program/majors, bulletin board, news and events, calendar, online event registration and more.  We will inform you when the online alumni network is up and running and look forward to your participation.

Regional Volunteers.
We are launching a new alumni volunteer program:
Regional Volunteers. Regional Volunteers are alumni who agree to serve as alumni contacts in their geographic area. We thank the following alumni for agreeing to serve Naropa in this meaningful way:

Arizona (Phoenix)
Nick Head, MA, Buddhist and Western Psychology, 1983 

 California (Los Angeles)
Ryan Harrison, MA, Transpersonal Psychology (low residency), 2003

California (Santa Cruz)
Alison Hanwit Harre, MA, Transpersonal Counseling Psychology, 2002  

Illinois (Chicago)
Diana M. Conley, BA, Traditional Eastern Arts, 2004
 

Minnesota (Crookston)
Daniel Wolpert, MA, Contemplative Psychotherapy, 1987
 

New York (New York City)
Kate Barrow, BA, Contemplative Psychology, 2004
 

North Carolina (Asheville)
Sajit Greene, MA, LPC, Dance/Movement Therapy, 1994
 

North Carolina (Winston, near Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill)
Kevin Mays, Ed.D., MA, Contemplative Psychotherapy, 1994
 

Oregon (Portland)
Aaron Hill, BA, Environmental Studies, 1997 

If YOU are interested in learning more about the Regional Volunteer program, and may be interested in this role, please contact Melissa Holland, alumni relations officer.
  

Alumni Advisory Circle.
 The newly developed Naropa Alumni Advisory Circle provides guidance, input and feedback to the Office of Alumni Relations on alumni programming and communications. 

The Advisory Circle consists of dedicated alumni , who have expressed commitment to Naropa through key leadership roles, as either past alumni relations staff member, as a Trustee or former Trustee.

Gabrielle Edison '88
Sam Elmore '07
Steve Grad '98
Pamela Krasney '83
Heather Philipp '02
Jeff Price '97
Nick Vail '05
Brooks Witter '05