Senate panel backs Western Colorado University trustee nominees, highlights Gunnison Valley Promise

The Colorado Senate Education Committee unanimously forwarded nominations for Western Colorado University’s Board of Trustees to the full Senate after a series of introductions and testimony from the university president and nominees.

President Brad Baca introduced the slate and praised the nominees’ varied backgrounds and commitment to Western’s mission as a small, rural institution. Nominee Kelly Nordini said she runs Conservation Colorado and offered fundraising and state budget experience; Danielle Henry, a Western alum and Adams County resident who described living with a hearing loss, said Western had changed her family’s trajectory and she wants to help preserve those pathways. Cara Buckley, the current board chair, outlined Western’s partnerships (including with CU and Gunnison Valley Health), a high-altitude physiology laboratory, a center for public lands, and the Gunnison Valley Promise—an initiative offering full tuition to local high-school students.

After the presentations, Senator Marchman moved the nominations to the full Senate with a favorable recommendation. The committee polled and the motion passed unanimously among members present; the nominees were placed on the consent calendar.