MESA VERDE CENTENNIAL SPEECH
DECEMBER 8, 2005
Good afternoon. Fort Lewis College is proud to be a part of the Mesa Verde Centennial celebration that begins tonight. Throughout the year, the College will be hosting classes, seminars, and outdoor adventures. We will also be sponsoring gallery openings, photo shows, and special concerts featuring musical works commissioned and composed for the Centennial. We have an exciting speaker series planned, and a workshop or two for good measure. We invite you to join us in this year of celebration. Information concerning all of our Mesa Verde special events is posted at the college web site.
Today, I want to share with you the importance of Mesa Verde to higher education in general, and Fort Lewis College in particular.
First, let me share with you my personal feelings about Mesa Verde. Many of you know that I am a practicing professional archaeologist. For over thirty-five years I have excavated sites in Europe and the United States. I have been privileged to excavate some amazing sites including:
- The palace of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius,
- One of the earliest known Christian cemeteries in Europe,
- The tomb of Saint Syneros,
- The ceremonial site of the Irish Celtic chiefs of Leinster,
- The homes of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford,
- The first European settlement on the west coast of the United States.
With all of those important and satisfying projects, none compare to the wonders and importance of Mesa Verde. Here is a complex of architecture and past behaviors unparalleled in the world. Scientists have studied the adaptations to farming and hunting within the region. How did lifestyles change through time? Why did the ancestral Puebloans come to this region? What were the causes of their departure? Here too is a sense of spirituality found at only a few sites worldwide. When one walks these cliff dwellings, one is certainly aligned with the ancient ones. You feel their power and hear their voices. This combination of scientific understanding of important past behaviors, coupled with the beauty and spirituality makes Mesa Verde unique. The other critically important function of Mesa Verde from an archaeological perspective is its role in teaching the lay public about the respect for cultural heritage. With hundreds of thousands of people of all ages and nationalities visiting the park annually, it becomes the single most important site in the world for informing people about how to respect the past. It is certainly a park to be cherished.
As we gather here today for the beginning of the Mesa Verde Centennial celebration, it is important to recollect the tightness of integration between National Parks and Higher Education in the United States. Mesa Verde National Park is a prime example of this development.
Mesa Verde National Park has long been in the hearts and minds of the folks who work at Fort Lewis College. Not only is the park a favorite place to visit, but there has been constant involvement of Fort Lewis people in park activities.
Dr. Duane Smith is a good example of FLC faculty involvement. He is a long-time member of the Mesa Verde Museum Association Board, and the author of the definitive history of the park, Mesa Verde National Park, Shadows of the Centuries. He has just finished a second book about the park, Women to the Rescue, which will be released as part of the centennial celebration.
A number of our students have found exciting careers at Mesa Verde, including
- Joel Brisbin, an anthropology graduate and key member of the Archaeological Site Conservation team
- Gay Ives, also an anthropology graduate and the park’s compliance archeologist
- Gary Ethridge, Exhibit Specialist and another member of the Archaeological Site Conservation team, and
- Laura Ninnemann, Mesa Verde’s new database archaeologist.
Fort Lewis Graduates have also found seasonal positions at the park, including Brian Francis a current Park Interpreter.
Four years ago, Fort Lewis College and Mesa Verde established a unique program to provide internships for undergraduate students. For the students, internships provide a means of fulfilling graduation requirements, acquiring new skills, earning funds needed to support their education, and enhancing future employment opportunities. For the College, internships provide an arena for the practical application of academic concepts and classroom training. Such programs enhance the professional interaction of two institutions with similar educational goals. For the Park, the relationship with the College provides a professional resource for programs, access to skilled and interested personnel, and low-cost professional-level help for specific tasks.
Under the close supervision of college faculty and park staff, the interns have made significant contributions to park programs, as well as to their own professional resumes. The program has enjoyed the generous support of the Colorado Historical Fund, the National Park and Mesa Verde Museum Association, and the Fort Lewis College Foundation.
This is indeed a program and relationship that provides a “win” for everyone involved
Both Mesa Verde and Fort Lewis College are entering into their second centuries of operation. The future for each is bright; the future together, in terms of what unique synergies they bring to bear on Colorado or national issues is even brighter.
Let me highlight this with two examples.
Heritage Tourism is becoming a very important component of the Colorado economy and a multi-billion dollar industry nationally. Fort Lewis College is in the process of developing a new baccalaureate degree in Heritage Tourism. This important interdisciplinary degree would be done in conjunction with Mesa Verde. It would be the first of its kind in Colorado, and an important program where students could have considerable career opportunities immediately after graduation. We will proceed quickly with the establishment of this degree.
Finally, the National Parks Service and Higher Education have an ability to teach good citizenship to a whole new generation of students. This relationship is commonly known as “Citizen Stewardship of Public Lands.” Currently, students from twenty different colleges are at Yellowstone National Park working on various environmental projects concerning the environment and ecology under the supervision of college faculty and park representatives. The national park derives the scientific benefits while the students receive so much in terms of their discipline-specific learning, while also getting an understanding of ‘giving back’ to make these glorious parks a better place for all Americans. Clearly, President Teddy Roosevelt, who signed the 1906 Antiquities Act and established 5 national parks including Mesa Verde,
