There have recently been many large developments for our department and those affiliated with us! Here is a message from our Department Chair Tony Robinson!
"I'm writing to share some recently published news articles on local political developments, written by our own majors, Chloe Ragsdale and Harriet Falconetti.
One is a Westword article on recent developments in Denver’s pro-Palestine movement, in which our own students play a large role. Our major, Hatem Teirelbar, is featured in the piece. You can find it here: https://www.westword.com/news/pro-palestine-protests-return-to-denver-college-campus-22179001. A related article by Harriet Falconetti (also one of our majors) is in the CU Denver Sentry, titled “How Two Auraria Students Became National Antiwar Leaders.” Check it out here.
https://sentrynewspaper.com/118/news/showcase-area-displays-top-stories/
Chloe Ragsdale has another recent political affairs article in the CU Denver Sentry, here: The Drivers Cooperative Colorado – The Sentry (sentrynewspaper.com).
This article discusses the recent launch of the Driver’s Cooperative Colorado—a worker owned cooperative that is a community-owned, equitable alternative to Uber and Lyft, and which has become Colorado’s largest worker owned cooperative (I believe). Chloe also is currently earning credit as a student intern at the Drivers Cooperative.
There are a bunch of other Department connections to this newly launched cooperative. For example, our former colleague Minsun Ji has played the key role in building and launching this co-op. through her organization, the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center!
Also, the Sentry article quotes Michael Ford, who works with the co-op and is a recent graduate of our New Directions program. In addition, our student Ali Al-Nazzal played a role in early driver organizing for this project and helped draft and advocate for the change in Colorado state law that allowed this community co-op to launch with a lower licensing fee than normal. Ali’s work with the Drivers Cooperative was cited as part of his reason for winning outstanding Undergraduate student a few years ago. Also Kyoung Lee is one of our students who produced a short film about these efforts, which screened at a large community celebration of RMEOC’s 10th anniversary.
Also, the president of the Board of Directors for the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center (Minsun Ji’s non-profit that launched the driver’s coop) is Kathy Rendon—who teaches in our New Directions program!
How cool to see all these department connections to a powerful community development initiative here in Denver! And it’s a pleasure to read this kind of community development reporting by our own students; it’s a great tribute to the kinds of student achievement our program can nurture."
More coverage of the Drivers Coop in Denver 7 News: https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/drivers-coop-colorado-a-local-competitor-to-uber-and-lyft-launches-across-the-state
Denver 9 News: https://www.9news.com/video/news/local/9news-mornings/new-colorado-rideshare-co-op/73-f057c177-4635-4d15-9175-4fa470c4d23c
And Westword: https://www.westword.com/news/colorado-driver-owned-rideshare-app-now-live-tested-21898809