Colorado State University held its annual Fall Address and University Picnic Oct. 8.
The address, which took place on the north east corner of The Oval, featured speeches from Associated Students of CSU Vice President Joseph Godshall, ASCSU President Jakye Nunley, CSU Provost and Executive Vice President Marion Underwood and CSU President Amy Parsons.
The tradition to convene every fall started in the 1980s, but it took on a new meaning after the Spring Creek Flood of 1997. Afterwards, the address became more than a state-of-the-university speech; it became a reminder of CSU’s perseverance and determination to thrive under hardship.
“It is imperative, so students know that as a student, to have a university president and so many people that care about students being informed about what’s happening and creating that agency for students is unparalleled,” Nunley said.
The address opened with Godshall reciting the university land acknowledgement, which recognizes and pays respect to the indigenous people that inhabited the land CSU was built upon.

After the acknowledgement, Nunley addressed the crowd before handing off to the CSU Concert Choir, who sung “How Can I Keep from Singing.”
“Joseph and I have the pleasure of working together as leaders at ASCSU,” Nunley said. “Representing the voices of students at CSU as we collaborate with President Parsons and members of the administration to fulfill the promise of Colorado’s land-grand university.”
Underwood then thanked student performers and speakers before relinquishing to Parsons to present her address.
Parsons first reflected on the lyrics of the choir’s performance and how it connects to the identity of CSU.
“Through all the noise and strife and the day-to-day of the world, CSU has always heard and answered the deeper call of education, discovery, democracy and service,” Parsons said. “That’s the music that keeps ringing across generations.”
Parsons then welcomed and congratulated two students, separated by nearly 80 years: Nell Taylor, a Boettcher scholarship winner and biomedical engineering student, and Johnny Matsushima, a Japanese CSU graduate from the 1940s who innovated work in cattle nutrition. Parsons celebrated both, and all of the students that came in between them.
“To see the two of them here in the front row, knowing that between their two classes, CSU has graduated 300,000 students, each with their unique story, and think of all of CSU’s unique challenges in every class in between them,” Parsons said.
Parsons spoke about CSU’s priorities, starting with student success. Parsons mentions how CSU’s students continue to succeed and bring opportunities for future students, claiming their success is the university’s number one priority.
“This fall, we welcomed one of the largest, most academically qualified and the very most enthusiastic of all-time classes in our history, with more Colorado students than ever before,” Parsons said. “Our retention rates continue to set records, and our graduation rates continue to rise. Those numbers tell a powerful story: one that every person here should be tremendously proud of.”
CSU’s second priority is access to academic and research excellence, according to Parsons. She called attention to CSU’s history as a land-grant institution and the values she says CSU represents.
Institutional competitiveness is CSU’s third priority, according to Parsons. She pointed out high rankings for CSU in sustainability, value of degrees and quality of life.
“Yes, we aim to compete and we aim to win,” Parsons said. “When CSU rises, Colorado rises. That’s why our third priority is institutional competitiveness.”
Parsons also called attention to the CSU Office of Outreach and Extension as an organization that exemplifies CSU’s fourth priority: outreach and impact.
“Through CSU Engagement and Extension, led by Vice President James Pritchett, we are present in every county in Colorado, supporting agriculture, forest health, 4H, extension, online and communities of every size,” Parsons said.
CSU’s fifth and final priority is democracy, which Parsons credits with allowing CSU to remain a university where CSU can thrive and find its identity via the Morrill Act of 1862.
“The heart of the Morrill Act was a bold aspiration to democratize higher education and establish land-grant colleges and universities that would create opportunities for people of all walks of life,” Parsons said. “We stake our claim that CSU is democracy’s university.”

Parsons’s speech about democracy drew the ire of protesters who sat at the address. The protesters held signs that expressed concerns about CSU’s actions regarding free speech, which the protesters believe contradict Parsons’s comments about CSU’s openness to free speech and dialogue.
“[CSU should] commit itself to the pillars of democracy that are necessary in a time when we have to be brave as institutions of higher learning in a time of authoritarian fascism, which is rampant in the nation that could affect our university, that which will affect the livelihoods of our students and the community at large in Fort Collins,” CSU student Santino Martinez-Richardson said.
Before dismissing the crowd to the university picnic, Parsons reflected back on the lyrics to the song “How Can I Keep from Singing,” closing the address the same way she opened it.
“That is the CSU spirit,” Parsons said. “We lift our eyes; we keep our faith, and mission, and knowledge and service. We find joy in the work of building a better future, together as one CSU.”
Reach Robert Sides at news@collegian.com or on social media @CSUCollegian.