Congrats and more!

Commencement on Sunday was a great reminder of what and who Metro State is. Every conceivable walk of life is reflected in our graduates and in their families. Other places could only wish to be what we are. More importantly, who we are is filling a role that no other school in Colorado is capable of doing. I encourage you to share your thoughts in all of your circles about the Metro State experience: people know what the know, and in our case, it maybe slightly off kilter or flat out incorrect. Yes we are a modified open enrollment school - that's perfect: you get a chance to succeed. Our faculty are incredibly diverse and strong - and many, like our students, have been in the "real world", then they earned their terminal degrees and have brought their rich mixture of experience, theory, research and skills to our classrooms. Congrats to the class of 2012. Welcome to the emerging force that is the Metro State Alumni Association! Mark

Metro State's impact continues to amaze

We have a great alumni board meeting last night in the Aviation and Aerospace division. The Board met faculty, had a chance to fly the simulators, take in a demonstration of "battle space" projects and more. Even after almost a year and a half here, I find something new about what our students, faculty and staff are doing here. There is no doubt in my mind that this institution is emerging as a critical part of Colorado's educational and economic engine. And that's saying alot for we are already firmly established as Colorado's quintessential state institution of higher ed. Thanks to all who do so much for our City, state, region and beyond.

Mark

Help us Grow YOUR network!

Our alumni & friends network is growing fast! We have 217 Twitter followers, 1,444 LinkedIn Group members and 1,840 Facebook fans. That's pretty incredible considering last year this time we had just a few hundred alumni engaged in the Metro State network. Help us grow YOUR network even bigger in the next month. As part of our 45/45/45 Campaign, we are trying to get 4,500 Facebook fans in 45 days to celebrate the 45th Anniversary. Encourage your friends to like our Alumni & Friends Facebook fan page.

Alumnus Ed Coet Publishes First Book: "SLK-Serial Killer"

In the 35 years since graduating from Metro State, Ed Coet has worked as a career counterintelligence and human intelligence officer, taught kids in an alternative school and a confinement facility, written poetry, married, had children, and, most recently, published his first book. “SLK-Serial Killer” delves into the dark past of Colorado’s most prolific serial killer. The book took more than two years to research and write, was an expensive endeavor that required a lot of travel to meet with SLK, and was time consuming and stressful.

“It had an emotional price attached to it, the extent of which I did not anticipate,” he explained. Now that it’s done, he feels relief. Unfortunately, not long after publishing the book, the stress returned when he discovered that his daughter has a very rare form of cancer (Proliferal T-Cell Lymphoma). The proceeds of “SLK-Serial Killer” will be donated to help her pay off her medical bills.

Metro State recently traded some emails with this poet and author.

Metro State: Who was your favorite professor?
Ed Coets: My favorite professor back then was Professor Reed (now deceased) in the Law Enforcement and Criminology Department. He was a very tough yet kind professor. More than anything else, he was brilliant. You couldn’t possibly make it through one of his classes without becoming a whole lot smarter. It was a privilege to have been one of his students, and I signed up for his classes whenever I had the opportunity to do so. This in no way diminishes the other professors who were also outstanding. It just that Professor Reed was, well, special.

MS: What inspired you to write this book?
EC: My writing experience previously was as a poet and short story fiction writer, and I also wrote a number of non-fiction articles.

MS: Why did you choose this topic?
EC: It was never my intent to write a true crime novel. The SLK story practically fell in my lap, and I just couldn’t ignore it. I was privy to SLK’s life history and, in some measure, to the inner workings of his unique criminal mind. This special and privileged access, coupled with my own experiences, collectively gave me the skills that I needed to undertake this project. In other words, I was well positioned to reveal, in its grand scope, this spectacular true crime story.

MS: What does this book mean to you?
EC: I view it as a “mission accomplished” endeavor. It was simply a story that had to be told. If I didn’t write it someone else, without doubt, would have. The SLK case and story is just that unique and compelling. SLK is the most prolific serial killer in Colorado history according to numerous news reports. His case is so unique in the realm of true crime that professionals and students of criminology, criminal justice, psychology, sociology and other behavioral sciences will probably study this case for many years to come.

MS: How do you feel about publishing the book?
EC: The first thing that comes to my mind is “relief.” For reasons I already noted, it was a relief to finally finish this work and get it published. It was also very satisfying to know that I could complete a project of this magnitude. My only hope now is that “SLK-Serial Killer” will be widely read and that my readers will enjoy my work. After all, I believe, writers should not write for themselves. They should instead write for the benefit and pleasure of others. Writing is an art form and if others don’t appreciate it, then it’s not good. That’s why I never judge my own work. Only the reader can decide how well I write “for them.” In the end it’s all about them – the reader. So far I have had a very good response to this book and I am deeply grateful for that.

MS: When did you find out about your daughter’s illness?
EC: When I started this writing project I had no idea that my daughter would be diagnosed with cancer and how much her medical bills would be crippling to her and her family financially. For that reason this book has taken on new meaning. I hope that it will earn enough royalties to pay down a major portion of her medical bills.

MS: Is there anything I’m not asking you that you want to share with me about this book?
EC: Metro State has a large student population in the fields of criminology, criminal justice, psychology, sociology, and related behavioral sciences. Metro State also has a huge alumni base in these disciplines. It is my hope that they will especially become aware of this book and read it. For everyone else it’s just an interesting and entertaining true crime thriller but for them, and other professionals in these disciplines, “SLK-Serial Killer,” I think, offers a lot to learn from.

To read more about the book or to purchase it, please click here.

Name Change Initiative Town Hall Meeting, Monday, Feb. 21, 7-8p.m.

In an effort to directly communicate with our diverse alumni community concerning the recent announcement of the Strategic Name Initiative, we invite you to join Dr. Jordan and other leaders from Metro State to talk about the proposed name change and share your views, questions and concerns. This meeting is focused on ‘our’ prospective alumni and how it will affect our existing degrees. We will also address Metro State’s continued commitment to our mission of providing high-quality, affordable and accessible education opportunities.

The discussion also will elaborate on how this name change would help us enhance our mission to ensure continued growth among students of color, increased retention and graduation rates, tuition strategies that ensure access and post-graduate opportunities for our students.

Call Us. Tweet Us. Watch Us. Email Us. Join Us!

Share your views, questions and concerns LIVE during the Town Hall meeting:
Call: Town Hall Call In Number: 1-800-392-9307
Web: Watch the meeting LIVE on-line at http://www.justin.tv/metrostatealumni
Tweet: Tweet a question or comment at http://twitter.com/metrostatealum
Facebook: Post a question or comment on Facebook.
Email: Email us at alumni@mscd.edu

In addition to attending this Town Hall Meeting, we encourage you visit the name change website and to provide your thoughts by completing the name initiative survey: http://www.mscd.edu/namechange/. Please encourage your peers, neighbors and former classmates to complete the survey as well.

Future Alumnus: (soon to be) Alumni Award Winner Phillip Eggers

Phillip Eggers, Human Services major & minor in Non-profit Management Fall 2011 or Spring 2012

A nationally and locally recognized volunteer for his contributions in helping veterans from all branches of the military from generations since pre-World War II, he saw the needs and addressed them. He started the student organization Student Veterans at Metro State (SVMS) in February 2010 and it continues to gain momentum as an organization where he currently serves as President. Student Veterans at Metro State has engaged many veterans and their first large scale program, PTSD TBI Briefing Taking Off the Pack, was an instant success as other colleges and universities are now requesting information on mirroring this event such as the University of Michigan. Student Veterans at Metro State is now recognized through the national student 501 C(3) organization, Student Veterans of America (SVA). Philip is a U.S. Marine veteran who has faced combat and has received a disability rating from the Veterans Administration as a result of his war time experiences, and from that he is now disabled.

Phillip also currently serves as Treasurer of the student group Human Services Education Organization, a community of like minds whose goal is helping the community through volunteerism and fundraising. Most recently he started participating in the student group, Association for Non-profit Students.

He also has high academic proficiency at Metro State have been excellent as he is on the Provost Honor Roll, and he is also hoping to be on the Presidents Honor Roll after this semester. He has been enrolled at Metro State full-time for 9 consecutive semesters, including summers. He also received a Who’s Who award and has been recognized through Student Support Services as an outstanding student.

Future Alumnus: (soon to be) Alumni Award Winner Adrian Puryear

Adrian Puryear, English with a minor in Secondary Education Spring 2011

Adrian is a Metro State senior who is paragon of student leadership, academic excellence, and community involvement. She is a person of great integrity who cares immensely for her fellow humans. Her Nominator Stephanie Martin said, “I believe that as an alumna, she will bring honor to the name of Metro State College for decades to come.”

Currently, Adrian is a Writing/Reading Tutor with Student Support Services (SSS), a Federal TRiO program. She is professional and is incredibly caring with her students and is an excellent teacher to all of them. She has found her right path to become a teacher because she is a natural, and very gifted. As a tutor, she has helped many students who might have otherwise slipped through the cracks to not only achieve success at Metro State, but also to feel as though they belong. She asks excellent, critical-thinking level questions of her students, encouraging them to do their own intellectual work and empowering them with the academic skills necessary for success. She not only works on writing and reading skills with her students, but also fosters in them good study habits, time-management skills, and organizational skills. Adrian does an excellent job of establishing rapport, trust, and mutual respect with each of her students. I have come to rely on her to train newly-hired tutors, to present workshops to groups of students, and to act as a sounding board when students are struggling in non-academic areas of their lives.

After graduation from MSCD with a Bachelor’s degree in English with Secondary Education Licensure, Adrian plans to put her outstanding teaching skills to use in the community as a high school English teacher. We admire Adrian’s choice to enter into this noble profession, where she will work long hours for little pay or glory, but make an enormous contribution to the lives of the youth in the Denver-metro area. Adrian will be an excellent teacher and touch the lives of each of her students, but that she will further Metro State’s reputation for providing skilled, well-prepared teachers for our community.