Off Limits

Doors Closed Denver

Comments (0) Thursday, Apr 14 2005

Q: In your application, you indicated that curriculum reform was a top priority at EWU. Is that a priority at Metro?

A: This is an area where I need to sit down with the deans and the vice presidents and get a better understanding of the curriculum. But I think it is becoming more and more evident that people are looking for graduates who have skills that come from multiple disciplinary areas.

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Q: You canceled a speech by CU professor Ward Churchill for reasons of safety and were criticized by EWU students and faculty. How do you define academic freedom?

A: I'd sure hate to have both my remembrance of my presidency here and my characterization coming into Metro being defined by this one issue. I do think academic freedom is important, and even in that case -- where we were concerned with safety issues -- we tried to find other means for him to make his presentation, such as interactive video, in order to preserve this issue of academic freedom.

Q: You're known for strolling EWU in the evening with your wife. What will you do to create that kind of connection here, since Metro is a commuter campus?

A: I have thought about that, and I don't know that I have an answer yet. What that was about is visibility, and we need to find a way to be visible in this community.

Q: What neighborhood will you buy a house in?

A: We're looking at the corridor from LoDo down Speer Boulevard down to Cherry Creek, stopping at Colorado Boulevard. We don't want to get any farther from campus than that.

Q: Now for the most important question: What is your favorite drinking establishment in Denver?

A: I'm probably going to get the name wrong, and it's my favorite for a lot of reasons, going back to the fact that I played rugby for twenty years in Colorado, but the Campus Lounge.