Come November, Boulder residents will vote on one of three seats up for election on the University of Colorado's Board of Regents.
Colorado Springs Republican Ken Montera and Boulder Democrat Lesley Smith, as well as two third-party candidates, will face off for the at-large seat that is elected by a statewide vote. Regent Stephen Ludwig, D-at large, who currently holds the seat, is term-limited.
Regents hire the university's president, approve its $4.5 billion budget and set tuition rates. In recent months, too, they've approved new freedom of expression and academic freedom policies, and they're exploring a mandatory civics requirement on each of the campuses, which, if implemented, would be the first time in history the regents mandated curriculum.
Beyond that, several former regents said, the races take on added significance this year because the regents are in the midst of a search for President Bruce Benson's replacement. He announced he'll retire in July.
Although the current board has already chosen a firm to assist with the search and will have named the members of the search committee before the elections, the new regents will interview finalists and vote on a successor to Benson, who was chosen in 2008 on a 6-3 party-line vote.
"One of the most contentious but also the most important (decisions) is the hiring and firing of the president of the university," former Regent Jim Martin said. Martin served as a Republican but said he is now a conservative Democrat. "That's why this will take on different political proportion or dimensions based on the importance of the position of the president of the university system."
Regents Heidi Ganahl, R-at large, and Irene Griego, D-Lakewood, who are co-chairs of the search committee, said they would get the new regents up to speed and pledged to keep the search non-partisan.
"It can be a challenge for any incoming regent to learn the responsibilities of the position and the complexities of the university, but coming aboard during the critical activity of the presidential search makes it even more challenging," Ganahl and Griego said in a written statement provided by a university spokesman. "However, we have every confidence that the board and the administration will get the new regents up to speed quickly so they can contribute to finding CU's next leader. We are committed to a non-partisan process and look forward to working with the new board members on it."
In their race for the at-large seat, the candidates face unique challenges, including the amount of territory they have to cover with little name recognition and a $400 cap on individual campaign contributions, several former regents said, including Martin and Steve Bosley, the Bolder Boulder founder and a former Republican regent.
"Statewide, nobody knows what a regent is, so it's very hard, particularly down-ballot, for someone to make a knowledgeable decision based on who they should vote for regent," Martin said.
"People should care about what the regents are and what they do because they affect the quality of education and the cost of education," former Democratic Regent Bob Sievers said. "They are the ones who are the stewards for the students of this state and on all four campuses of the University of Colorado."
Smith, a Democrat from Boulder, served eight years on the Boulder Valley School Board and worked for nearly 30 years as a scientist and educator at CU. During her time on the school board, the board oversaw a $400 million budget and hired two superintendents. At CU, she served in a number of positions, including as a researcher, educator and most recently as the associate director of outreach and education at CU's Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.
She's always been passionate about education, she said, and she'd bring the faculty voice to the board.
"I would be the only voice of CU faculty if I got elected, which would provide a slightly different perspective than everyone else," Smith said.
Among her priorities would be examining the pay and benefits for faculty and graduate students, which she said are low compared to CU's peers and present challenges for recruitment and retention. She'd also prioritize lobbying the state for more funding, and she'd look for a president who'd do the same. She'd also look for a president who would be both visible around the state and on each of CU's campuses, she said.
She'd examine affordability, including the CU Boulder initiatives of a four-year tuition guarantee and eliminating class fees, and how those could be extended to the other CU campuses. It's an equity issue, she said.
She'd also examine pathways from community colleges to CU to ensure that students' credits transfer and that they have the support needed to graduate from CU. And she'd prioritize efforts to increase diversity on CU's campuses.
"CU's got some great programs, and I would certainly want to make sure we continue with those programs to try to attract a more diverse student body."
Montera, a Republican from Colorado Springs, was a first-generation graduate of CU, and he went on to work in four Fortune 200 companies; most recently, he spent 16 years as the executive vice president of retail operations for L Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, Bath and Body Works and other brands, where he oversaw 40,000 employees and a multibillion dollar budget.
He said one of the issues that most alarmed him was the decrease in state funding for the university.
"When I think about the significant growth in the state of Colorado and the fact that we have natural resources, we have tourism, we have industry, we have technology, what concerns me is: Are we really thinking about the universities that will provide the future employees for all of those industries?" Montera said.
He said he'd use his experience negotiating with corporate boards and present a compelling case to the Legislature about the value in providing more funding to CU. He'd also seek to increase CU's marketing outreach to alumni to encourage donations, he said, and reduce expenses in the budget.
In a president, he said, he'd look for someone with experience leading large organizations, a track record in fundraising and an ability to work with a multitude of groups.
He also said he'd continue to examine CU's policies regarding freedom of expression and academic freedom.
"I think CU has done a pretty good job considering the rest of higher education in the environment of free speech, but I still think we have to get deeper into the school at the classroom level, at the coffee shop level, and ensure that people understand that we foster a culture of free speech, where ideas are respected regardless of where they come from," he said.
Otwell, a Unity party candidate from Aurora, is a computer systems engineer and adjunct cyber security professor at Colorado Technical University. Two of his main focuses, he said, would be what he described as modernizing the university and expanding its science, technology, engineering and math education to more of the state.
He said he'd explore the idea of students purchasing low- to mid-range tablets and use electronic books, rather than purchasing physical books, as a means to save money. He'd also prioritize the expansion of online classes, he said.
"CU has become so expensive that it's difficult for people that are either underprivileged at this time or live several hours away from being able to afford an education," Otwell said.
He supports the freedom of expression and academic freedom policies the regents recently instituted, he said, and he'd look at ways to expand upon them.
"I would certainly review the policies they put in place, try to find ways to improve those policies and take a much harder stance to enforce the fact that everybody should have a freedom of expression available to them."
In the next CU president, he'd look for someone with leadership skills and the ability to command a room, he said.
Treibert, a Libertarian from Thornton, works in a library on the Anschutz Medical Campus as a materials handler. He said the job gives him experience working with different higher education departments and stakeholders.
He said he'd like the regents to be more conservative with the budget and examine the pay of top administrators, as well as other departmental expenses.
He'd like to see the university partner with businesses more to promote internships and other opportunities, he said. He'd also like to see the university reduce class sizes and promote scholarships, as well as institute more of what he called non-traditional classes, such as online and evening classes.
"I want the president to be a visionary, look toward the future, regarding having partnerships with various local businesses, along with having the ability to invest in technology," Treibert said.
October 2006: Elephant Revival Concept debuted in Colorado at the Gold Hill Inn featuring Bonnie Paine, Dango Rose, Daniel Rodriguez, Sage Cook and Bridget Law. The band dropped "Concept" from its name shortly after.
Fall 2010: "Break in the Clouds" released on Ruff Shod, an indie label headed by Chad Stokes of State Radio and Dispatch and wins an album of the year award from the Indie Acoustic Music Project.
Fall 2012: Band releases an EP, "It's Alive," which wins acoustic ensemble album of the year award from the Indie Acoustic Music Project.
April 2012: Elephant Revival makes its debut on Nick and Helen Forster's syndicated eTown radio show in Boulder.
Fall 2013: "These Changing Skies" is released, later to win progressive edge album of the year award from the Indie Acoustic Music Project.
Summer 2015: Opening slot for Trampled by Turtles with Shakey Graves at Red Rocks for a sold-out show.
Winter 2015: Sage Cook announces his departure to pursue farming and focus on his new band, We Dream Dawn.
Spring 2016: Band releases "Petals," which ties for Americana album of the year award from the Indie Acoustic Music Project.
Winter 2018: Elephant Revival announces an indefinite hiatus "due to family matters" and canceled dozens of shows.
• The band's current members are vocalist Bonnie Paine, who also plays stomp box, washboard, djembe and musical saw; Charlie Rose on pedal steel, banjo, cello trumpet and trombone; Dango Rose on double-bass, mandolin and banjo; Daniel Rodriguez on acoustic guitar, electric banjo/guitar and vocals; and Darren Garvey on drums. Past members Bridget Law and Sage Cook plan to appear as special guests during the band's May 20 Red Rocks show.
• Dango Rose's buddy Marc Tonglen coined the term "transcendental folk" in 2009, a new music genre the band ran with. "Interestingly, our first record label requested that we drop it because they didn't know how to market it, and so we did," said Rose. "I'm glad that Transcendental Folk has stood the test of time, and I'm pretty sure Thoreau would be happy."
• In its early days, Elephant Revival toured in a vegetable oil-powered 1989 school bus that was converted in 2008 by Sage Cook.
• Elephant Revival's name comes from Dango Rose's experience busking outside an elephant cage at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Two elephants that had lived there together for 16 years were separated, then both died within days of the separation.
• The band escaped a bus fire in 2016 in Hickory, N.C., where they lost unique instruments and many belongings were destroyed. They still played a show that night with borrowed instruments and donated clothes
• Elephant Revival appeared on "Extra TV" in 2017 and performed "Raindrops" from the album "Petals."
Dango Rose: We spent the summer of '05 camped along the Spring Creek in Tahlequah (Okla.). I look back fondly upon these times and the spirit of the music that was created during this period. I'll always remember when we were traveling from Idaho to Missouri in Sage's (Cook) veggie-oil powered school bus. Bonnie was driving very early in the morning when she noticed an old woman hitchhiking on the side of the road. We pulled over to pick her up. I'll never forget hearing the most low-pitched masculine voice that thanked us for stopping. We had some great bus jams on that trip, as the hitchhiker switched off from whittling wood with his buck knife, to joining us on improvisational jams on his piccolo.
Bonnie Paine: I remember driving the late night shift up the coast of California while the rest of the band was sleeping. I was singing to the drone of the engine and tapping on the steering wheel to stay awake when the song "Rogue River" started to form. At one point I heard Dango (Rose) stirring in his bunk behind the driver's seat and thought I might be bothering him but was relieved to hear him mumble "that sounds cool." We ended up parking in a redwoods grove called Richardson Grove to sleep, and when I woke up I could feel the excitement for the beauty of where we parked. I climbed to the highest point I could get to and marveled at the tribe I was traveling with. Some of them were bathing in the river, some were tucked away with their instruments or journals writing, some doing yoga, meditating, climbing, cooking and playing. It's not a very eventful story but a very happy memory that to me imparts part of the spirit of the band.
Dango Rose: The first show I saw at Red Rocks was the "O Brother Where Art Thou"-inspired "Down from the Mountain" tour back in 2002. The most memorable experience I can recall was listening to our dear friend Gregory Alan Isakov singing "Stable Song" with The Colorado Symphony Orchestra. I still get chills when I think about it.
Bonnie Paine: The first show I saw at Red Rocks was Yonder Mountain String Band. My friend Kirk Rundstrom, who used to play with Split Lip Rayfield, brought me there. Yonder played an amazing show and this was the last time I hung with Kirk before his death, so it has always been a special memory for me. My favorite show I've ever seen there was Bonnie Raitt. I grew up hearing my mom sing her songs and was actually named me after her. I was amazed at her guitar playing and how strong and sweet her voice rang through the place.
Bonnie: My mom has been a strong inspiration for me. She was orphaned at a young age and has experienced a lot of struggle though continues to be very loving and caring. Watching her as I grew up, singing seemed to be a kind of peaceful refuge for her. When there were tragedies in our family the house would grow quiet for a time, then I would hear her humming and eventually singing around the house and feel that healing was in progress. Letting music come through a person was introduced to me in this way as a kind of surrendering and embracing of the uncontrollable and willful parts of living.
Dango Rose: Theresa Kratzer was our band mentor for many years and I spent most of my days with her in my hometown of Nederland when we were off the road. Her spiritual guidance was non-denominational yet drew upon many great traditions. After her long journey with breast cancer, we held a funeral pyre ceremony for her up in the mountains.
When Elephant Revival played its first headlining gig at Red Rocks, Dango Rose unintentionally did exactly what he feared he'd one day do: He dropped his pick in a transition from upright bass to the mandolin during the song "The Pasture."
"In that moment, it felt like a performance catastrophe," said Rose, in an email interview, "but we never missed a beat. I'll always remember hearing Bridget's (Law) fiddle soar in that moment without her even knowing how much she had just picked me up. That's what you do when you're in a band; you pick each other up, even when the pick falls."
That's what this Nederland crew of musicians, activists, environmentalists, has been doing for 12 years. Picking each other up when they fall. Like when they escaped a tour bus fire in 2016 in Hickory, N.C. Vintage instruments, "cherished belongings" and spirits were lost, but they banded together and played a show that same night with donated items.
And just because the band announced in February it would embark on an indefinite hiatus "due to family matters," the folk band will do what it does best: pick up its instruments so the musicians can pick up their fans. Before the hiatus, Elephant Revival will play one last show, on Sunday, May 20, at Red Rocks, a venue that makes a 9,525-capacity audience feel like home.
"I'll never forget our first headlining show there, walking out onto the stage, looking up and feeling like I was amongst close friends and family in a glorified outdoor living room," said Rose. "There was a sense that we were all there together for a unified purpose."
Elephant Revival has been soaking humanity with sunshine since it forged its unique transcendental folk genre in 2006. The musicians, who famously exude warmth and humility, marry rich and diverse sounds from a variety of instruments among poetic lyricism. Each musician brings a meaningful voice to the ensemble.
The current lineup — Bonnie Paine, Charlie Rose, Dango Rose (no relation), Daniel Rodriguez and Darren Garvey — will be joined at Red Rocks by Enion Pelta-Tiller, of Lyons band Taarka, on fiddle. Founding members Bridget Law and Sage Cook will also perform as special guests. (Law departed in September to pursue personal endeavors and to focus on her family; Cook left in 2015 to pursue his passion of farming and his music project, We Dream Dawn.)
The Red Rocks show, Paine said in an email interview, will surely be filled with emotion, which they'll organically weave into their music.
Rose agreed, saying the breadth of emotions for the show is tough to articulate. Calling it "bittersweet" doesn't do it justice, he said.
"Elephant Revival has been the constant throughout our adult lives," Rose said. "Everything transforms and evolves, and for me this show is about honoring each other and all who have listened to and supported us throughout the years. In other words, just as much as this show is for us, it is for (fans) ... I've felt every definable emotion and more ... Transformation can be a painful and difficult process, yet it is also beautiful. I believe we are entering into a chrysalis phase, and what better way to do so than with 9.5 thousand of our closest friends?"
When asked to expound on the "indefinite hiatus," Rose offered: "According to my 1983 copy of the Webster's New World Dictionary, the definition of hiatus is 'a gap or break, as where a part is missing.' My intention is for us to heal this missing part, so that we can come back — a more unified whole."
Rose said that while the core group will be on sabbatical, he will focus on Elephant Collective, a project focusing on new collaborations, as well as studio and production work.
Paine, who said it will be nice to "slow down for a bit and connect with friends, family and myself," has plans to continue working on her "song story" of 30 songs (26 are completed).
"My mom is writing the story portion while I am writing the music for it," Paine said. "I have been writing songs for this since I was a teenager and have enjoyed imagining performing it as a simple folktale setting with acoustic instruments or a little edgier version with loop pedals and electronic beats and video projection and maybe someday will have the honor to get to perform the songs with a mini-orchestra and live dance performance."
Elephant Revival has performed with and among iconic musicians and have been backed by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra at Red Rocks. Through peaks and valleys, they remain balanced. But they're also human, they've faced anxiety and trepidation.
"Assuming any position of ('other') can cause lots of anxiety," said Paine, "Whether it's fame, or feeling too weird, or not good enough to ever fit into any kind of society. I've felt many forms of separation, from an over-glorified sense of self to self-deprecation and have found that the idea that we are equal, in the sense that we are different expressions of the same thing, has brought some peace for me."
"I've had a few teachers tell me that they were enjoying teaching their kids in music class some of our songs," said Paine. "That has been very endearing."
Rose said that receiving letters about how Elephant Revival's music has helped fans through the throes of life, then meeting that fan at a show is "incredibly rewarding."
"I recall a story of a family playing our music on repeat to the dying breaths of their beloved," said Rose. "There've been stories shared about our music being played during home births and while loved ones are walking down the aisle to be wed. You never imagine these kinds of things when you first begin playing. There's nothing more meaningful than knowing we have contributed in some small way to the lives of others."
What comes of this hiatus, time will tell. But as Paine sings in "Ring Around the Moon" — "What it is is not ending is a sweet mystery."
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