Latest News | Fort Lewis College | Durango, CO

In a guest column for The Durango Herald, President Tom Stritikus reflects on the milestones of his tenure and looks forward to what is to come for FLC in the next three years.

Fort Lewis College saw an astounding jump in first-year student retention—from 62% in 2019 to 68% in Fall 2020—just as the College was heading into a full pandemic school year. Provost Chery Nixon spoke with Colorado Public Radio about how creating a "community of care" contributed to students' decisions to return to campus. 

The Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College had just installed its latest exhibit, PIVOT: Skateboard Deck Art, when the pandemic hit in March 2020. Over the subsequent year, the exhibit’s title took on new meaning as “pivoting” became common practice, not only in response to the pandemic but in effecting more profound shifts at the core of what CSWS does, why, and for whom.

Professor of Environment & Sustainability and Biology Heidi Steltzer published a paper on the importance of intellectual diversity and the need for scientists to broaden their consideration of the ecological sciences and work with BIPOC to establish community-based scientific partnerships.

Fort Lewis College was represented well at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships this month. Senior Savilia Blunk came away with two titles in the U23 cross-country race and elite women's short track cross-country race.

Fort Lewis College's backyard and home city of Durango has been named one of the Best Home Base Cities for Adventure Enthusiasts by Livability.

Colorful murals, lego sculptures, and window art are popping up all around Durango thanks to the Durango Arts Brigade, a legion of artists that includes FLC senior Zyon Frauen and alumnae Hayley Kirkman (Art, ‘17) and Elise Boulanger (Studio Art & Design, '21).

Hundreds of Native American students whose ancestors were forcibly relocated from their homelands throughout the 1800s by the U.S. government will be given in-state tuition to Colorado public colleges and universities beginning next June, after a new bill was signed into law on June 28.

Recent Fort Lewis College graduate Ian Teller (Business Administration, '21) has been selected to join the newly formed New Mexico Indigenous Youth Council, a program that supports the resiliency of tribes, nations, and pueblos across New Mexico.

The Red Road to D.C. Totem Pole Journey stopped at Fort Lewis College in June as part of a two-week endeavor to raise awareness around protecting sacred lands, waters, and wildlife. The Lummi Nation in Washington state carved the 24-foot totem pole and took it on a cross-country tour on its way to Washington, D.C., where it will be displayed outside the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.