[1:21] This meeting will come back to order. Regents and guests, as a reminder, this

[1:26] meeting is being livereamed and recorded. Um, we will have Regent uh

[1:31] Vanril and Regent Hood joining us remotely for the for the meeting today.

[1:36] The meeting will be back to order. We are joined today by Dr. Jay Albreight

[1:40] Albbright for a presentation on pediatric sports medicine and to give us

[1:44] an introduction of Dr. Albbright uh we've asked Chancellor Elellman to

[1:50] speak on his behalf.

[1:55] » Uh good morning regents. when uh Leonard called me and said that he wanted to uh

[1:59] he wondered who our speaker was going to be today and he said it's got to be

[2:02] something about athletics and I threatened to put our ultimate frisbee

[2:06] team uh up here but decided that we would get serious and have have

[2:11] something that we're really proud of which is our pediatric sports medicine

[2:14] program. It's uh we all know the stories about about youth and sports and the

[2:19] injuries that that are that can somehow be sometimes be lifealtering um for

[2:24] young kids and our pediatric sports medicine program is a is one of the best

[2:29] in the nation. So with that I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Albbright who uh who

[2:33] heads it up. Dr. Albbright, [snorts]

[2:37] » thank you very much. It's uh quite an honor and privilege to be here. I'd like

[2:41] to thank the board and Chancellor Hman for uh giving me an opportunity, but

[2:46] plus he told me that the uh the captain of the ultimate frisbee team was

[2:50] otherwise pre predisposed and couldn't be here. Um so um just to give you an

[2:58] overview of who we are, I'm a associate professor of the CU orthopedics

[3:03] department uh under the the watchful eye of Eve Berger uh who is the first female

[3:10] uh chairwoman of uh orthopedics. Um uh I work with Christina Wilson. She's our

[3:17] medical director. I'm the surgical director of the sports program. I've

[3:20] been in in Colorado for 13 years. uh moved from Florida originally from Iowa.

[3:26] Uh I am a NEPA baby that's my father's an orthopedic surgeon sports started

[3:32] sports medicine University of Iowa 50 plus years ago. Uh so he ap and he

[3:37] trained me too so he apologizes in advance for what I'm about to say as

[3:40] well. Um but uh in general we team up with uh Children's Hospital Colorado who

[3:47] gives us some fantastic support as well as teaming up with our adult sports

[3:51] medicine providers like Eric McCarti who heads up see sports in general. Um this

[3:58] is a busy slide. Um 13 years ago this was a much smaller slide. Um we've grown

[4:06] tremendously over the time. Last year, you heard from David Howell, uh, who is

[4:10] our our director of clinical research, but also heads up our concussion

[4:14] research at at Children's and at the university. Um, we brought him in. Uh,

[4:19] we're fortunate to steal him from Boston Children's. Uh, but, uh, you can see

[4:23] Christina Wilson is one of our primary care. She's a medical director, primary

[4:27] care sports provider. We have seven now. When I started, we had three. Uh, we had

[4:32] one surgeon and and no APS, and we had one research assistant. We had about 14

[4:39] uh athletic trainers. We had about six sports medicine the physical therapists

[4:44] and no clinical nutrition. Now we have all this um and we have a huge vast um

[4:52] network of team providers that can give care to the kids that we have in the

[4:56] state. Um so when I first got here uh we had these partnerships uh across uh the

[5:05] area mostly front range Denver metro in

[5:09] Broncos came in and over time you can see we kind of sprouted wings so to

[5:14] speak and now we as we keep going and then as of last year whoops went one too

[5:21] many as of last year we now take care of over two million kids in the state of

[5:28] Colorado um and all these partnerships and we only do it with again 11

[5:35] providers s, you know, between PAS, surgeons, and primary care sports

[5:40] providers. Uh, but, you know, just to kind of put it in perspective, we're not

[5:46] just in the state of Colorado. We take here's all the different sites, schools,

[5:51] everything that we kind of take care of. Uh, from a school standpoint, we reach

[5:56] as far north as Longmont, as far south as Colorado Springs. I get to go

[6:01] everywhere uh out to Conifer uh to Elizabeth

[6:07] the but the entire front range we again take care of uh you know seven statewide

[6:14] region. I get kids from Montana that fly in for me to take care of their ACL. Uh

[6:20] we get kids from New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas. Uh you name the state uh in this

[6:25] region, we we get a kid from there. Um so again we started with about 14

[6:31] athletic trainers. I'm proud to say we have 82 uh athletic trainers at this

[6:36] point. Um and counting. So my goal of of conquering the world of sports medicine

[6:43] is coming along. Um but uh we have athletic trainers that work with us in

[6:49] clinic. I have uh two we have four or five athletic trainers that assist us in

[6:55] surgery as well. uh Dr. Vanderberg, Ker Vandenberg and I are two surgeons. Uh we

[7:01] have athletic trainers that train in residency. We have one the first

[7:06] pediatric athletic training residency in this country. Uh at Children's um we uh

[7:14] have um athletic trainers in our clinics. Not

[7:19] just now you started off in sports clinics, now we have them across the

[7:23] entire orthopedic institute at Children's from spine to hand to hip to

[7:28] sports uh and everywhere in between. Um we have uh kid uh we have 28 a uh uh

[7:36] high schools around this area that we take care of with uh around 33 athletic

[7:42] trainers there and we have all the clubs that you saw uh on the previous slides.

[7:47] Um what is an athletic trainer you may ask? A lot of people don't know what an

[7:51] athletic trainer is. uh it's a profession of medical profession where

[7:56] they are not just the trainer that you see for the Broncos or for for CU uh but

[8:02] they do are encompass prevention examination diagnosis treatment rehab of

[8:08] emergent acute or chronic illnesses and medical conditions a lot of it's

[8:13] muskeletal but a lot of it's all over um there six years of muskal training and

[8:19] they carry their own certification including the state of Colorado. Um,

[8:23] what we do, what I get to do, what we all get to do is we get to teach the

[8:27] next generation as well, which is where I love uh working for the University of

[8:33] Colorado. [snorts] uh we get to teach fellows both uh non-surgical as well as

[8:38] surgical fellows residents from all these different uh whether it's uh

[8:43] physical medicine rehab family medicine pediatrics emergency medicine as well as

[8:48] our ortho residents that I get to teach both in clinic and in surgery we teach

[8:52] medical students we teach the physician assistant students uh you can see we all

[8:56] do a lot of things including our PT residents our dietetic interns um all

[9:03] that so which which is fun for me because uh I get to make fun of them all

[9:07] in a way. Um we teach our community partners, our our coaches, our parents,

[9:12] our uh patients and their families. Um we have all these different things that

[9:16] we do throughout the day throughout the year uh that we get to teach. We teach

[9:21] our not just that we get we get to teach at our uh annual conference every year

[9:25] that happens on campus. Uh we do concussion symposiums. we are online

[9:31] which is a bit new for a Gen Xer trying to do podcasts and uh pediatric download

[9:37] things. It's uh I I talk in the microphone a lot of times but mostly in

[9:42] front of people not online uh per se. Um our athletic trainers are in different

[9:48] roles like I said we get to cover all day events uh 200 plus team soccer

[9:54] tournaments in the summers. we got to take care of uh uh you know whether it's

[10:00] high school football games. I have 30 high school football games I'm covering

[10:04] this this uh fall alone. And we have over 150 football games that we have to

[10:10] cover as a group uh with the 28 high schools we cover. I actually cover two

[10:15] local high schools that aren't exactly partners uh with Children's or the

[10:20] university. I just do them. Yeah. Because I have extra time, I guess. Um,

[10:26] recapping our just our encounters with our just our athletic trainers. These

[10:29] aren't even clinic encounters. Over 43,000 athletic encounters, uh, you

[10:34] know, 6,000 injury evaluations, treatment, rehab, uh, preventive care,

[10:38] patient education, and wound care. Even, uh, lots of our athletic trainers doing

[10:44] a lot of great care in the community. uh our clinical side of things, the seven

[10:50] primary care sports riders, the two surgeons, two auh physician assistants,

[10:55] we see close to 26,000 patients a year. It's a few uh I would like to see more.

[11:01] Between Dr. Vandenberg and I, we do a thousand surgeries on pediatric

[11:06] athletes, adolescent athletes a year. Um, coming soon in o October, November,

[11:13] we'll be moving into a new clinic space, uh, including a new sports performance

[11:18] facility as well. The goal of sports performance in my eyes is transitioning

[11:23] from an injury or surgery back onto the field as safely as we can. Uh, as well

[11:30] as, uh, enhancing their athletic performance. But you'll see my goal is

[11:35] to prevent injuries or reduce the risk of injuries because um I love doing

[11:41] surgery. Let's put not put it not mistake anything. But I would love in

[11:45] some instances like ACL reconstruction or ACL injuries to put myself out of

[11:49] business. I would love to be able to avoid reconstructing things. So, but I

[11:55] do get to do cool things. We get to do cool things all the time. You heard from

[11:59] David How last year about the concussion research. I would love to take

[12:02] responsibility for all that research. I can't because I'm an orthopedic surgeon.

[12:06] I am not a primary care sports. When I was in Orlando before I moved to

[12:11] Colorado, I did a lot of concussion as an orthopedic surgeon, but that's

[12:15] because we didn't have the same team type of team that we have now. Um, we

[12:19] get to do things. My team, uh, Aubrey Armentoto

[12:24] scientist does female athlete clinic, relative energy deficiency syndrome,

[12:28] which called reds. I had to look that up a few times just because it used to be

[12:33] called female athlete triad but now it's called reds but females aren't the only

[12:38] ones that get it. Men can males can get it as well. Uh she also runs our runners

[12:43] clinic redundant. She also runs so I guess that's a triple R. Um and um uh

[12:50] Emily Sweeney does our gymnastic clinic. She also works with USA gymnastics. Um

[12:57] we also have uh part of our concussion care is Julie Wilson who obviously works

[13:02] at US soccer. Uh we have we do national collaborations a rock study group which

[13:07] is surgical study group on a condition called osteocondritis desicans. Yes,

[13:12] OCD, not that kind, not the kind I have, but uh it's a muskeletal disease that uh

[13:19] takes a national effort in order actually international effort in order

[13:23] to try to figure out how to take better care of this uh disorder which affects

[13:27] the joints and particularly the knee and ankle and elbow. um as well as Prism

[13:33] which is pediatric research and sports medicine which I'm founding member of

[13:37] and happy to be have served on boards but a lot of national things. So we get

[13:42] to do surgical things too. So I'm just going to switch gears to something I'm

[13:48] kind of passionate about um the ACL injuries and children adolescence. It's

[13:53] uh taking a healthy active individual uh and potentially bright athletic future.

[13:58] So, you don't know what a kid is going to be when they're 12 or 13. How good

[14:02] they're going to be. Uh, good example is a kid that I took care of when he was

[14:06] 12, did an ACL reconstruction on him. Three years, four years later, he is one

[14:12] of the fastest kids in the country, literally. Uh, he ends up getting a full

[14:16] ride scholarship to play uh, college football at a different university. Uh

[14:22] and then he ends up going to the pros, ends up uh going into medical careers

[14:28] doing sales for medical devices. Got a email from him uh couple about a year

[14:34] ago thanking me for the care of his ACL. I did when I look at him never would

[14:40] have guessed he would have been one a good athlete in general but two one of

[14:45] the fastest kids in the country. No way you would predict that. Uh so we have to

[14:49] take care of every kid that we see no matter how young or how old like they

[14:55] can have that kind of future and my goal is to bring them back from the thing

[14:59] that takes them out of the thing that they love into what they can. Um uh

[15:04] their identity is try is tied to their participation. They don't say I'm Jay

[15:08] Albbright. I'm a 4.0 student that you know good grades. Yeah. I'm still in

[15:12] 49th grade. Uh, I did 28 years of school from kindergarten to 20 to to where I

[15:18] started my practice, but I still teach. So, I'm 49 years into it. Um, traumatic

[15:24] injury, definitely a traumatic injury. It's worst thing they've had in their

[15:27] life. Then, if they're a growing child or even without it that if you mismanage

[15:32] the their care either leads to repeat injury, growth arrest, where you have to

[15:36] change your name, Diane, or does one leg shorten the other? So, they lean just to

[15:41] explain that joke. Um so it's a problem. It's been rising. It might be leveling

[15:48] off now but as s [clears throat] as recently as 2007 2011 the increased

[15:54] incidence or rate of ACL tears was rising in 5 point in 5 to nine year olds

[15:59] 10 to 14 year olds and 15 to 19 year olds. It's it's good for me

[16:05] because I like doing surgery as I tell my patients. It's bad for them because

[16:09] it's the hardest thing they'll do in their life. Uh, more importantly in my

[16:13] opinion and one of the reasons why I got to innovate in my career is young women

[16:18] have a six to eight times higher likelihood of tearing their ACL playing

[16:21] similar sports like basketball uh now flag football uh soccer and other

[16:26] cutting twisting jumping sports compared to their male colleagues. And

[16:30] traditionally we have these other graphs that we can use to try to re remake a

[16:36] new ACL. uh none of them do did great uh for the adolescent population that nine

[16:43] to 19 year old. Um if you look at hamstrings which when I first came out

[16:47] and practice was really the only source of graft which is you know the things in

[16:52] the back of your leg that make a knee bend um there was a 14 to 22% failure

[16:57] rate which if you look at adult literature it's about 5% at maximum

[17:02] usually. So that was not adequate for me. So I by necessity uh started

[17:08] thinking of different graphs, different things. Did some research for a few

[17:10] years, tried to convince my father that it was the right thing to do when I came

[17:15] up with this thing called um can well I'll talk about that in a second. But uh

[17:20] you know we had to do better. I had to think about how can we do better at

[17:24] least as strong as hamstrings. Protect your growth points. No loss of strength.

[17:28] be smarter than than uh that's my gown that my fellow put on the cords there to

[17:35] to keep things sterile and also delay me from trying to get into the operating

[17:38] room as quickly as I wanted to because they had to get another gown. So that's

[17:42] a smart fellow who tries to do more kind of idea. Um limit anterior knee pain uh

[17:48] have a better retail rate than in adolescence than uh 14 to 17%. So hala

[17:55] we found that's my wife's sign in her office at home but uh uh we found the

[18:02] quadriceps as a graft. So instead of taking what's called bone tendon bone

[18:07] which is from your kneecap down to your tibial tubacle and the patellar tendon

[18:10] we found the quadriceps above which has been around for 50 to 60 years when I

[18:14] when we found it quote unquote but I started researching it. It's really a

[18:19] good graft. So I developed a surgical technique on how to harvest it through a

[18:25] small incision. Uh how to prepare it and get it uh to be able to place into a

[18:31] child's knee. Uh and then how to avoid growth plates. So this is an 11-year-old

[18:37] BMX crash. Uh the ACL is the well the arrows are pointing at the growth

[18:42] plates, but the ACL is that oblique stripe that's going through the knee

[18:46] that isn't well it's not there anymore, but it's partly there. Um and so we had

[18:51] to figure out how do we respect the growth plates and not have to injure

[18:55] their growth plates. So this is a technique we developed here at

[18:58] Children's uh borrowing from one of my colleagues Alan Anderson who passed away

[19:03] quite a few years ago. Um he uh uh use this technique to avoid the growth plate

[19:10] and I've adapted it so that now we can use it in even really young kids down

[19:15] the age of nine. The other option, if you're not doing that one, is a thing

[19:18] called the McKilly technique. Came out of Boston, uh, which works really good.

[19:23] Uh, by the way, your your copyrights on this one, by the way. Um, but

[19:28] [clears throat] we avoid the growth plates as long as they have enough bone

[19:32] in the growth center at the below the growth plate of the femur, uh, we can do

[19:38] this technique. So we use the quad. We keep it during surgery. We keep it below

[19:43] the growth plate uh going out to the side there on the femur. The tibia we

[19:48] can cross safely but only with a small tunnel. Uh and we can then use the graph

[19:53] like this and place the bone from the kneecap into the femoral side and the

[19:58] tendon across the knee to reconstitute the ACL. And then we attach it down

[20:03] below with these suspensory little buttons. So, as I tell my parents, we

[20:09] will be able to um we'll be able to uh show you where to push, but they'll

[20:14] always be able to push their kids' buttons, not just figuratively, but

[20:18] literally. Um we can do it safely and and we do that with an X-ray to hold it

[20:23] in place. Um uh there's an X-ray of our pin that's now this drill bit and I can

[20:29] check and make sure I'm not going to injure the growth plate, but I also can

[20:31] put it in what's called the anatomic position where the ACL is supposed to

[20:35] be. Uh so do that on a tibia as well. Sorry it's not projecting as well but uh

[20:40] we can do it both safely on both sides. [clears throat] Uh the quadriceps tendon

[20:44] autographed uh if you do a bone tendon bone you have about 60% chance of having

[20:50] some kneeling or squatting pain going up and down stairs long term 10 to 15 20

[20:54] years after. In our kids, we have a 80 to 90% report their knee is near normal,

[21:01] but they have about a well in my hands about a 1 to 2% chance of having pain

[21:06] going up or downstairs, kneeling, squatting. Uh the good thing is that

[21:09] button always, you know, usually hurts for years and so I can always push on

[21:15] that and when they come in clinic and offer that as a start stop button for my

[21:19] parents. They're not doing their homework, push the button, they start.

[21:23] they're doing something stupid, push it, they stop kind of idea. Um, our fa more

[21:27] importantly, our failure rates uh with with this adolescent group is not 14 to

[21:33] 20%, now it's 1 to 5%. Uh, which uh I was the first in the country to start

[21:39] doing this technique in kids and volume. Now 80% of my colleagues around the

[21:44] country and world use this graph on a routine basis was very prideful for me.

[21:50] Um, what's the future? uh the future. So the one thing I'll say about ACL

[21:55] reconstruction, as good as we are with it, it doesn't stop arthritis from

[21:59] coming. So I want to protect kids, get them back to their livelihood, be able

[22:05] to get them back to the things that they love to do, but also hopefully prevent

[22:09] them from having arthritis. I want their knees to be like mine at my age. My

[22:14] knees don't hurt. Can't say anything about anything else in my body, but my

[22:17] knees don't hurt. um and I want don't want their knees to

[22:21] hurt when they're my age. So the the goal is to be able to stabilize the knee

[22:25] and prevent arthritis at the same time. So there's newer techniques, newer uh

[22:30] things that coming down the pike such as ACL repair. I did that 10 years ago um

[22:36] here and we found that we had a 50% failure rate. So just repairing an ACL

[22:41] in an adolescent by itself, not good enough. So now we have a new biologic

[22:46] thing that's out on the market um developed at Boston Children's by Martha

[22:50] Murray that we can institute and that's where the exciting uh research in kids

[22:56] and adult care uh team seems to be because we can with that technique if we

[23:03] can get an ACL to heal uh we can uh reduce the risk of arthritis would seem

[23:09] by up to six times reduction. So, uh, yesterday I did three ACL surgeries. One

[23:16] I was able to repair, two I couldn't, and I did reconstruction. Uh, I'm not

[23:20] upset about having to reconstruct them. I just like the idea of being able to

[23:24] repair. So, what that looks like is this is an ACL. Top left picture, um, is ACL

[23:31] where it's torn right off the femur. Uh, you can see the red streaking down down

[23:36] the the length of the ACL, but for the most part, it looks good. So, we can use

[23:40] these sutures, pull the ACL back to the femoral side. Uh, and then we have this

[23:45] upper right picture. You can I'm pulling on the ACL showing it's actually once we

[23:50] Z that grows in everybody out. I'm glad I left the other pictures. I have these

[23:57] » I have this I have a lot of other pictures I took out because I didn't

[24:01] have time. But yeah, I would have made somebody pass out maybe, but that's

[24:04] okay. Uh, and then so this that blue and white suture you see in the top right is

[24:10] what's called a a rebar suture so to speak. So it helps reinforce it. But

[24:14] over that we put this graft that then uh we push into the knee with mixing it

[24:19] with the patient's blood which forms a a clot or forms an environment where the

[24:24] ACL is much better chance of healing. Normally it won't heal because the fluid

[24:28] in the joint, the joint fluid dilutes blood, dilutes the healing factors and

[24:33] keeps it from healing. Well, this new technique, which you can see the whole

[24:37] construct in the lower right, can help change that environment, help us heal.

[24:43] So, if we can do that and get it to heal, we have a much better chance of

[24:47] avoiding arthritis in the future, which is where I think we that we go. So,

[24:51] thank you for your time and attention. Uh I could talk about this for literally

[24:56] three days, let alone 20 minutes. So uh any questions I'm happy to ask.

[25:01] » Yeah. Reading speaker. >> Great. Thanks, Chair Monter. Um Dr.

[25:06] Albbright, you know, you you started and uh Chancellor Elellman started by

[25:11] talking about the lifealtering work that you do. Um the two million patients, the

[25:15] thousand surgeries you do a year. Um, and you we're telling some of those

[25:20] stories about like you not knowing um when you're treating someone what the

[25:24] potential is and what their bright future is and how much their identity is

[25:28] tied up in that. So almost exactly six years ago um and I have permission from

[25:33] the patient to talk about this today. Um you um treated in the middle of COVID a

[25:40] young 13-year-old who had an OCD lesion that you just described earlier. It's

[25:46] you know unusual. you need national teams and doctors like you that are here

[25:50] that understand how to treat it to both preserve their knee joint um and to make

[25:55] sure that you're maximizing um their ability to have a bright future and um

[26:01] it was in the middle of COVID and um you had you had told them at the time that

[26:07] it was one of the largest lesions you had seen um and you um didn't want to

[26:14] have to tell this young woman that she would have to retire medically from her

[26:19] sport because you knew how much their identity was tied up in it. But you

[26:24] wanted to be able to help not only repair her knee and make sure she had a

[26:29] bright future, but that um she still had that drive in her. Um, and six months

[26:35] later when you saw her, you you said, "I'm not gonna, you know, you know, she

[26:39] came into your office and said, um, you you were not willing to clear her and

[26:43] you told her it'd be another two years until she could tumble." Um, and she

[26:48] asked, "Can I go do something else?" And you said, "Absolutely." And she said she

[26:52] wanted to go dive. Um, and you said, "I'm 100% okay with

[26:58] that. Um, just watch out for your shoulders." Yeah. [laughter]

[27:03] » Um that that young woman is now a full scholarship division one diver and it's

[27:08] thanks to you and she wanted me to make sure um to thank you and I as her mom I

[27:14] want to thank you because I think um you can share these incredible things and

[27:18] those stories especially about these unusual cases. You truly um the work

[27:24] that you do like truly changes lives and alters them. And um you know I told her

[27:31] this morning that you were going to be here. I said, "What do you want me to me

[27:33] say?" And she said, "Thank you." And you were right about the shoulders. Um so um

[27:37] Dr. McCarti's got that covered. So um but I I think you know there's these big

[27:43] numbers and and just really thank you for your work that you're doing because

[27:48] it makes a difference in those two million patients and in these individual

[27:51] ones. So I just wanted to thank you personally.

[27:56] » [applause] >> Thanks for sharing that reg

[28:01] I'll pay her later. By the way, [laughter]

[28:04] » she keeps those pictures under her bed. >> Sounds like you already have. Doctor,

[28:08] [laughter] um, thank you, Mr. Chairman. You talked

[28:12] a little bit about uh growth plates being one of the challenges of treating

[28:16] young people versus adults. Um will will you share with us some of the other

[28:22] issues that um pediatric sports medicine has with sports medicine that helps

[28:28] treat adult patients? >> Uh you mean differences between peds and

[28:32] sports or peds and adult? Well, I think the biggest difference besides growth

[28:37] plates is the window of activity if you think about it. So if you look at high

[28:43] school athletes, 1% of them make it college for a sport depending on the

[28:47] sport. Uh and then 1% of those are lucky enough to play a professional sport. So

[28:54] if you look at our adolescents though, they're all playing sports. They're all

[29:00] trying to get to that next level or just have fun with their friends. And so

[29:04] their window is pretty short, but their exposure is huge. And so the that's the

[29:09] challenge of pediatric uh sports in general is the idea that we're going to

[29:16] train a 100 hours a week that we're going to

[29:20] you know I I think the business of youth sports is is great in some sense but is

[29:26] also really detrimental in others. you know, uh the idea that we're going to

[29:31] when I played sports, uh I was okay at them, uh was enough to get offers from

[29:38] different schools and stuff like that and go into college, but I went to

[29:42] Michigan instead. Sorry. Uh especially about the 1991 game, but that's

[29:47] [laughter] I tried to forget that one. Didn't work.

[29:49] » Well, we we'll just take one more second.

[29:51] » Yeah. Uh about [laughter] that. Uh yeah. No, no. Uh at least Michigan didn't do

[29:57] that one. it was Big 10, cheated, whatever. But, uh, the the exposure is

[30:03] so huge because instead of, you know, having a couple practices a week and

[30:07] having one game on the weekend, now it's three or four practices a week and it's

[30:11] a tournament on the weekend where you're playing six games. And so that's huge

[30:16] amount of exposure which is the probably the biggest challenge that we have in

[30:21] youth sports is both the early specialization higher competitiveness

[30:26] which leads to more exposure which leads to more injury and you know uh so that's

[30:31] the mitigating that or or managing that kind of load not to use a professional

[30:36] basketball term load management but that is kind of true in our youth sports that

[30:41] that's a big difference that we don't have in our adult sports. Yeah, they

[30:45] train hard. They, you know, CU trains really hard, but they have a prescribed

[30:50] number of games and they don't do tournaments other than those the

[30:54] hopefully at the end of the season tournaments like the NCAA tournament,

[30:58] uh, which I hope we all our teams get to this year.

[31:02] » Thank you, doctor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[31:04] » You bet. You know, it's interesting you say that. Um, when I was a kid, if you

[31:08] were a good enough athlete, you could play three, maybe four sports if you get

[31:11] that summer baseball in. And my kid was a pretty good soccer player, pretty good

[31:16] basketball and baseball player. And his coaches forced him into picking one of

[31:21] those sports and he ended up in soccer. And when he was a junior, um, having

[31:26] trouble with his back, we took him in. He had a fractured facet. And they said

[31:30] it was because the overuse of that sport and kicking with that leg that created

[31:35] that. and they said if he probably was allowed to play more sports it would

[31:39] have given that facet time to heal in his growth period. So it sounds like

[31:44] that's a lot of what we're seeing now. >> Absolutely. uh if you look at gymnastics

[31:48] or uh linemen and football similar risk of getting a what's called a spondyolyis

[31:55] or spondolistsis there'll be a test later uh uh that where you're not only

[32:00] can fracture that and have pain but your building blocks your vertebral bodies

[32:05] can start slipping on one another >> uh and that can create neurologic in

[32:09] issues which uh are you know can be really devastating at times and so it's

[32:15] it's definitely something that we need to watch for all the time.

[32:19] » Yeah. >> Yeah.

[32:23] » President, >> thank you. So, thank you very much for

[32:26] the presentation and for your work. So, just a

[32:30] a couple questions just on kind of the structure. So, is the orthopedics

[32:34] institute part of the center for sports medicine?

[32:37] » So, the sports medicine center at Children's is part of the orthopedics

[32:41] institute. Got it. So Clay White is our chair uh as our chief of pediatrics and

[32:46] we sit under uh E Berger who's the department chair.

[32:50] » Okay. Um but yeah uh so we're part of uh that bigger entity of this CU

[32:56] orthopedics which is 100 surgeons strong relatively speaking and okay

[33:01] » we have a huge >> volume not we're just a part of that

[33:06] » and all and all of the physicians in in the orthopedics institute are faculty

[33:12] » correct? >> Yeah. Yeah, we're uh 16 16 or 17. We

[33:17] keep adding people. Uh 17 pediatric orthopedic surgeons. There's two of us

[33:22] to do sports predominantly, but we have people from uh do spine, do hip

[33:29] specific, do hand specific work and so wide variety.

[33:33] » Okay. So, so one, so I've always been

[33:38] uh so the the number of entities operating inside the Steman

[33:45] » clinic or what right on I25 is just always

[33:50] » I struggle to remember who's on what floor.

[33:53] » But um are you in that >> at times? I uh 90 plus 99% of what I do

[33:59] is based out of children's but I also uh do operate at that Steman Denver clinic.

[34:05] Okay. So yeah, so it's a wonderful space uh and great work is done there with uh

[34:12] I could go through the list of our faculty, but all of the Steman Denver

[34:17] faculty are part of our orthopedics department along with our CU sports

[34:22] faculty. Uh Jason Drago and Stephanie Meyer and Michelle Walcott. I can go

[34:28] through the list, but yeah, they're all part of it. So and and unfortunately I

[34:32] want in addition to remembrance for 911 and 25th year of that I also want to

[34:39] remember Jason Snowmak who was one of our colleagues that was taken from us

[34:42] recently tragically and very abruptly and way too soon.

[34:47] » So what what sport produces the most customers for you?

[34:52] » All of them. Um people say what's a safe sport said none. It's not even safe to

[34:57] sit on your couch technically because I have kids that fall off couches too. Um,

[35:02] volumewise it's football. Uh, just because it's, you know, whatever number.

[35:07] So, if you look at CU, it's 99 people on the roster and there's no other sport

[35:12] like it as far as volume. Uh, but exposure hours, uh, women's soccer,

[35:18] women's basketball do produce, uh, quite a bit of that volume.

[35:25] So, in fact, 55% of the ACL surgeries I do are on women and 45% on men. Just to

[35:33] give you an idea of the volume. >> And by women and men, do you mean boys

[35:37] and girls when you say that? >> Yeah, boys. Yeah. In general, women,

[35:41] men, boys, girls. >> Yeah. But [laughter]

[35:44] » young women, young women, young men. Yeah.

[35:46] » Is is a 21 and under? Is that how you define

[35:49] » uh 9 to 19 the how the WHO um categorizes adolescence? Uh so early

[35:56] adolescence is that nine to puberty type of thing and then early puberty until

[36:01] young adulthood which is 19 by their definition. So um vast majority of what

[36:06] I do is under 19. However, I always tell my families you don't graduate from

[36:10] seeing me. If you're willing to come to Children's Hospital where my clinics

[36:14] are, I'm willing to see you. In fact, I just had one of my patients uh mothers

[36:19] who um uh tore her ACL playing soccer with her child uh is coming to see me so

[36:26] that I can take care of her ACL. >> Do you hear that, Michelle? The mom tore

[36:31] her ASL playing soccer with her kid. >> So, be careful.

[36:35] » We got it. Yeah. Yeah. I I'm >> remind myself every time I try to go

[36:40] skiing with my children and they can beat me now.

[36:46] Well, Dr. Albbright, we really appreciate you taking time out of your

[36:49] schedule to inform us on what's going on and thank you for helping young people

[36:53] across Colorado keep their dreams. I know there's a young lady in Connecticut

[36:57] that's pretty happy right now because of you. So, thank you for being here.

[37:01] Appreciate it. >> Thank you. Appreciate it.

[37:08] [applause] >> Okay. The next item on the agenda is a

[37:11] memorial resolution honoring Regent Ammeritus Robert Bob Caldwell. Members

[37:17] of Regent Meredis Caldwell's family are joining us online today and we are

[37:22] grateful to have them with us as we recognize his service to the University

[37:25] of Colorado. Regent Renison, would you read the resolution for us?

[37:30] » Honored to. Whereas Robert Earl Caldwell known as

[37:35] Bob Buffalo Bob and Buff departed this life on August 4th, 2026 in Boulder,

[37:41] Colorado at the age of 88. And whereas Bob was born in Maywood, California and

[37:47] as a young man, Bob worked at his family swim club, serving as a lifeguard,

[37:53] instructor, and eventually a swim coach. And it was there that he met Linda

[37:57] Harvey. hand. Whereas Bob and Linda were married on December 28th, 1962,

[38:04] and their 64-year partnership became the foundation of a life characterized by

[38:09] devotion to family, enduring friendship, shared adventures, and unwavering love.

[38:15] And whereas after graduating from Orange High School, Bob traveled to Boulder,

[38:20] Colorado to attend the University of Colorado, where he earned a degree in

[38:24] economics and became an active member of Sigma Kai fraternity. And whereas Bob

[38:30] developed a love for the University of Colorado and its community, a devotion

[38:34] that remained an important part of his identity throughout his life and

[38:37] affectionately earned him the nickname Buffalo Bob. And whereas following his

[38:42] graduation from the University of Colorado, Bob served his country as a

[38:47] United States Naval Officer and flight navigator at Moffett Field during the

[38:52] Vietnam War, exemplifying his lifelong commitment to duty and service. And

[38:56] whereas Bob began a career in commercial real estate in 1966 and went on to serve

[39:02] in leadership roles with Caldwell Banker Commercial uh Shuck Commercial Brokerage

[39:08] and Grub and Ellis contributing to the growth and development of commercial

[39:12] real estate markets throughout Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Northern

[39:16] California. hand. Whereas Bob and Linda began donating football scholarships in

[39:21] 1978 and continued their generous support of

[39:25] the University of Colorado athletics, academic initiatives, medical research,

[39:30] and numerous university programs, ultimately establishing the Caldwell

[39:34] Family Scholarship. And whereas Bob faithfully championed the University of

[39:39] Colorado throughout his lifetime, serving on the board of regents from

[39:42] 1986 through 1992 and giving generously of his time and supported the

[39:48] institution he loved. And whereas family remained at the center of Bob's life and

[39:53] he treasured the life he built with Linda and the love he shared with their

[39:57] children Christy, Robert, and Jeffrey. And whereas Bob took great joy in being

[40:02] a grandfather to Kathleen, Anne, Lucian, and Robert, and his devotion to his

[40:08] family was among the defining blessings of his life. And now therefore, be it

[40:13] resolved that we respectfully recognize and celebrate the life and legacy of

[40:18] Robert Earl Caldwell, remembering with gratitude his devotion to family, his

[40:23] service to country and community, his commitment to the University of

[40:26] Colorado, his generosity toward others, and the friendship, encouragement, and

[40:32] joy he so freely shared. Hereby adopted by the University of Colorado Board of

[40:36] Regents on September 11th, 2026. Thank you, Regent Renison. Do I have a motion

[40:42] to approve the resolution? >> So moved.

[40:44] » Can I have a second? It's moved by Regent Renison and seconded by Regent

[40:49] McNelte to approve the resolution for Regent Emeritus Caldwell.

[40:54] Is there any discussion? Any comments? >> Mr. Chairman, I request a roll call

[41:00] vote. >> Okay.

[41:02] Uh the question before us says approval of the memorial resolution. Um,

[41:08] do I call that? And our chief legal counsel will make

[41:12] that call.

[41:16] » Regent Chavez, >> absent.

[41:20] » Regent Hood, >> yes.

[41:23] » Regent James, >> Regent McNelte,

[41:27] » Regent Renison, >> yes.

[41:29] » Regent Scott, >> yes.

[41:31] » Regent Spiegel, >> yes. Regent Vandreel,

[41:35] » yes. >> Chair Montter,

[41:37] » yes. >> Okay.

[41:41] Um, the motion passes. To Regent Caldwell's family, we want to thank you

[41:45] for joining us today. On behalf of the Board of Regents and the University of

[41:48] Colorado, we extend our deepest sympathies and our gratitude for Regent

[41:53] Caldwell's service to the university. He's an inspiration to many of us that

[41:57] are on this board today. So, thank you for taking your time and being with us

[42:00] today.

[42:03] » [clears throat] >> The next item on the agenda is a

[42:06] resolution commemorating the 25th anniversary of December September 11,

[42:12] 2001 terrorist attacks. Regent McNelte will read the resolution. And before he

[42:17] does that, I just want to thank Regent McNelte for spearheading this resolution

[42:21] and getting in front of it for the entire board. Frank.

[42:25] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. in solemn remembrance of the 25th anniversary of

[42:28] September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks by regions McNelte, Monta, Renison,

[42:34] Chavez, Hood, James, Scott, Spiegel, and Vandreel. Whereas on the morning of

[42:39] September 11th, 2001, 19 Islamic terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda

[42:44] carried out coordinated attacks against the United States, hijacking four

[42:48] commercial airliners and crashing them into the North and South Towers of the

[42:52] World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and

[42:57] Flight 93 in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. And whereas these attacks

[43:03] claimed the lives of 2,977 innocent people from more than 90

[43:08] nations, including office workers, first responders, military personnel, airline

[43:14] passengers and crew, and ordinary citizens going about their daily lives

[43:18] and injured thousands more. And whereas the selfless courage of New York City

[43:24] firefighters, police officers, Port Authority personnel, emergency medical

[43:28] technicians, and countless civilian volunteers who rushed toward danger to

[43:33] save others, stands as an enduring example of American valor and sacrifice.

[43:39] Whereas the passengers and crew of Flight 93, knowing the fate that awaited

[43:43] them, chose to fight back and thereby prevented further devastation,

[43:48] demonstrating extraordinary bravery in the face of certain death. And whereas

[43:53] the attacks of September 11th, 2001 united the American people in grief,

[43:58] resolve, and determination, inspiring a generation of service members who

[44:03] answered the call to defend the nation in the years that followed. And whereas

[44:08] 25 years later, the families of the fallen continue to bear the weight of

[44:13] profound loss, and the scars of that day remain visible in the skyline of New

[44:17] York, the rebuilt Pentagon, and the quiet field in Pennsylvania. Whereas

[44:23] among those lost were 10 members of the University of Colorado Boulder

[44:26] community, alumni and former students, Nina Patrice Bell, Chris Siridini, Scott

[44:32] Thomas Coleman, Brian Thomas [ __ ] Leslie Winningington Falenberg,

[44:38] Christopher Funen, Alyssa Horseman Jones, Chandler Chad Keller, Joshua

[44:45] Rosie Rosenlum, and Adam Shelby White, whose lives of professional achievement,

[44:51] acade academic distinction and personal promise were cut short in the World

[44:56] Trade Center and at the Pentagon. And whereas the University of Colorado has

[45:01] sustained their memory through lasting tributes including the Chandler R.

[45:04] Keller Scholarship in aerospace engineering sciences, the Leslie

[45:08] Whittington Memorial Fellowships in Economics, the service of faculty who

[45:13] assisted with victim identification in New York, academic research into the

[45:17] human and organizational dimensions of the disaster, and ongoing remembrances

[45:22] by alumni and the broader CU community. And whereas the passage of a quarter

[45:28] century has not diminished the duty of Americans to remember the victims, honor

[45:32] the heroes, support the survivors and first responders still suffering from

[45:37] related illnesses, and reaffirm the values of freedom, resilience, and

[45:41] national unity that the attacks sought to destroy. Now, therefore, be it

[45:46] resolved that we pause to remember and honor the nearly 3,000 men, women, and

[45:51] children murdered on September 11th, 2001. and all those who have since died

[45:57] from injuries and illnesses related to the attacks. Be it further resolved that

[46:01] we express our deepest gratitude to the first responders, military service

[46:05] members, and ordinary citizens whose courage and sacrifice define that day

[46:10] and the years that followed. Be it further resolved that on this 25th

[46:15] anniversary, we renew our commitment to support the families of the fallen, the

[46:19] survivors, and the responders still living with the physical and emotional

[46:23] consequences of that day. Be it further resolved that we affirm the enduring

[46:28] strength of the American people and our resolve that the memory of September

[46:32] 11th, 2001 shall never fade and that the United States of America continues to be

[46:37] a shining city on a hill serving as a beacon of hope and optimism. Be it

[46:43] finally resolved that a physical physical copy of this resolution be

[46:48] prepared and made available as a lasting record of this solemn remembrance.

[46:54] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you, Regent McNelte. Is there a

[46:57] motion to approve the resolution? >> Second.

[47:00] » It's been um moved by Regent Spiegel and seconded by Regent Kellison to approve

[47:07] Renison. Sorry, Kelly. To approve the resolution commemorating the 25th

[47:12] anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Is there any

[47:16] discussion or comments that anyone would like to make?

[47:20] » Reading Spiegel. >> Great. Thank you, Chair Monttera, and

[47:24] thank you, Regent McNelte, for for bringing this to all of us for

[47:27] consideration. Um, as many of you know, you know, I'm from New York. I taught in

[47:32] New York City and as um as we talk about the the first responders and the the

[47:38] general civilians, you know, I I today always think about um my friends and

[47:44] colleagues who were were teaching, especially the ones who were in the

[47:48] building that overlooked the World Trade Center and had to evacuate um middle

[47:53] school and elementary school students um during that day or or the families um

[47:58] that I had taught. I was already living here at the time who um lost people that

[48:03] day. Um so, but one of the things that I've held on to is one of my mentors

[48:08] when I taught in New York City, Shelley Harwain, um worked with um schools and

[48:13] students across New York City and put together a book of poetry um and

[48:17] responses, messages to ground zero. So, I pulled it off my shelf this morning

[48:21] and just thought when we talk about the hope and the optimism um that we also

[48:26] can take from that day. Um I I just thought I'd share briefly um a poem from

[48:31] a seventh grader um who was one of the students who saw the devastation and had

[48:35] to evacuate that day. Um because I think that that's what we need right now is

[48:40] hope and optimism and peace. The birds singing light and freedom. The

[48:46] flag waving proud. The wind blows my hair while our flag is still there. My

[48:54] hopes are up. We are one nation always strong. Nothing can break us. As we are

[49:02] always shiny, always. So, thank you for for the opportunity to share that and

[49:07] thank you again um for remembering this. >> Thank you, Regent Spagle. I was

[49:12] touching. Anyone else? >> Reading James.

[49:17] » Good morning. Uh I don't know that many of you know or don't know but my last

[49:22] duty station as a military officer as a naval officer was the World Trade

[49:25] Center. Uh I was not there on obviously 911. I had left number of years before

[49:30] that. But the memories of 911 um the World Trade Center uh ring important to

[49:37] me. Many times we were at the office very early um because of things that we

[49:42] had to do with the military and we met and greeted a lot of the prep workers

[49:48] and the line workers who worked at Windows on the world on the top floor of

[49:52] the World Trade Center. Most of those people were Latinos, Puerto Rican uh

[49:59] folks that had come to America looking for a better life. And sadly, it was so

[50:05] many of them that we had lost on that day. This morning at 5:30, I stood

[50:11] inside Fulsome Field with our ROC students um at the University of

[50:16] Colorado Boulder. I was there with the members of the Naval ROC battalion where

[50:20] I became the first black woman commissioned through the naval um ROC

[50:24] battalion there. the RO students from across the military branches uh included

[50:30] and joined by uh Congressman Jo Joe Nagus and Major Lang uh the Air Force

[50:36] officer who has been responsible for bringing the presence of uh uh Air Force

[50:42] ROC to UCCCs. Together we honored Americans who lost

[50:48] their lives 25 years ago. Our ROC students then climbed the steps of the

[50:53] stadium to represent the flights of steps that the firefighters, police

[50:57] officers, and first responders climbed inside the World Trade Center as they

[51:02] ran toward danger to make sure that people were moved to safety. It was

[51:07] truly a beautiful tribute. As I stood there, as I just told the chancellor, it

[51:12] was the first time that I'd been back at the fieldhouse at 5 o dark 30 in the

[51:17] morning. Um, it was the first time I've been there since I was a student and it

[51:22] hit me profoundly and it reminded me that public service is not about

[51:27] comfort. It's about courage and it's about protecting something much

[51:32] larger than yourself. And that is exactly why what is

[51:38] happening on this board is so serious. This is about whether disscent will be

[51:44] allowed to exist on this board and at this university.

[51:48] There will be another regent who walks into this room with a different

[51:51] experience, a different perspective, and the courage

[51:55] to tell the majority that they're wrong. I am fighting to protect that next

[52:01] regent, that student, and that faculty member. Because when seven white regents

[52:07] can decide, simply decide that someone's voice has become too inconvenient

[52:12] and they use the power of this institution to punish them, we have

[52:16] crossed an extremely dangerous line. That is not democracy.

[52:22] It's a dictatorship and that is not America. [snorts]

[52:27] The power of the majority does not include the right to erase the minority.

[52:32] Yet that is the precedent that this board is creating.

[52:36] The governor of Colorado has said that this board was wrong for what they did.

[52:40] Attorney General Philiser has said that this board was wrong to censure and

[52:44] sanction a regent for doing her job. Wellington Webb, the first black mayor

[52:49] of Denver, came to this board to speak about silencing black voices. And this

[52:54] board cut his microphone. Think about that. That should be troubling for every

[52:59] person sitting at this table. And then this board has the audacity to

[53:03] accuse me of failing to honor our fiduciary responsibilities to the

[53:08] University of Colorado. This board has spent more than $1

[53:12] million on lawyers, investigations, and precedents in the pursuit of one elected

[53:18] official. $1 million. Does anybody sitting on this board

[53:24] believe that the responsibility of stewardship is using these university

[53:28] resources in the correct way? Does anybody on this board believe that

[53:33] our students are better served because of it? Does anybody believe on this

[53:38] board that our faculty is better served because of it? Does anybody believe on

[53:44] this board that the reputation of this university has been strengthened because

[53:49] of it? or have seven white regions decided that $1 million

[53:55] is okay because they cannot tolerate being challenged. [snorts]

[54:00] And you cannot claim to defend this university while creating a precedent

[54:04] that tells every future regent to speak carefully, disagree carefully because if

[54:10] the majority does not like what you say, they can come after you.

[54:16] This is what I refuse to allow for the next black regent, the next Latino

[54:22] regent, our next LGBTQIA regent, or the next student that challenges this

[54:29] university, the next faculty member that challenges this university and refuses

[54:34] to stay quiet. Their voices must be protected

[54:40] because this moment dis this moment when disagreement becomes punishable,

[54:45] representation becomes meaningless. And I will not help create a University of

[54:50] Colorado where people must choose between speaking the truth as they see

[54:55] it or keeping the approval of the majority. I will fight for the right to

[55:02] challenge power and no white majority on this board should ever have the power to

[55:10] make anybody believe otherwise. This is what America stands for. This is

[55:17] why I chose to become a University of Colorado Naval ROC midshipman. Why I

[55:23] chose to serve this nation and why I chose to be a regent. I will fight to

[55:29] make sure that America and this university and our students and faculty

[55:34] are protected. >> Mr. Chairman,

[55:38] » Regent McNeli, >> thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, colleagues,

[55:41] when I sent this resolution around, um, not one of you hesitated to sign on to

[55:46] it and for that I am grateful. Um, in some places a resolution like this would

[55:52] be controversial. Not here. regardless of political

[55:57] affiliation, background, upbringing, you all signed on and did so without

[56:04] hesitation. And for that, I am grateful. Mr. Chairman, I am going to ask for a

[56:08] roll call vote. And upon completion of that vote, a moment of silence to

[56:12] remember those who we lost on September 11th, 2001. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[56:19] » So, granted, uh, Carrie, did you want to do the roll call

[56:23] vote? >> Sure, Mr. Chair. Regent Chavez,

[56:27] » excused, >> is excused.

[56:29] » Regent Hood, >> yes.

[56:32] » Regent James, >> yes.

[56:34] » Regent McNelte, >> yes.

[56:36] » Regent Renison, >> yes.

[56:38] » Regent Scott, >> yes.

[56:40] » Regent Spiegel, >> yes.

[56:42] » Regent Vandreel, >> yes.

[56:46] » Mr. Chair, >> yes.

[56:48] » The question before us is approval of the resolution. We have made a roll call

[56:53] vote. The motion passes. Thank you, Frank, for putting that together for us

[56:57] in this unbelievable day that we will never forget. Someone told me the other

[57:02] day that 25% of people in America today were not here when the attacks occurred.

[57:07] I think it's incumbent upon us as educators and as patriots of this

[57:12] country to make sure that that generation, the generations to come,

[57:16] understand what happened that day in the impact it had on this country and how so

[57:21] much it brought this country together with one view that keeping our country

[57:25] free and safe and alive is the most important thing you have to do as a

[57:29] responsibility as an American. So, thank you for bringing that forward and thank

[57:33] all the regents for remembering it in whatever way you remember it.

[57:40] » Yes. I'd like to take uh a full minute as a moment of silence and just think

[57:44] about those that can't be with us. >> Thank you, Mr.

[58:50] Thank you for that. And finally, we'll move to regent general discussion.

[58:54] Regents, the floor is open.

[59:01] » Mr. >> Mr. Mr. Chairman.

[59:02] » Um Mark, please go ahead.

[59:08] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh I will say I had a poem prepared for today as is my

[59:15] tradition. However, uh Regent Spiegel has exhausted our poetry quota for the

[59:21] day and with better and more fitting verse. I did ask um that Amber and

[59:27] Amanda uh arrange to display this poem and I wanted to talk about my motivation

[59:32] for it. However, >> uh within this last month, I had two

[59:38] different occasions where I was engaging in conversation with friends who have

[59:43] children about and and then we were talking about college and college

[59:48] affordability and I brought up the CU promise

[59:53] and both of them in in both cases where I brought up the CU promise, they didn't

[59:58] know what it was and I explained it to them and things got very intense and

[1:00:04] very emotional. Um, I mean, frankly, these families were crying. They're

[1:00:08] families of modest means. And the way that we have

[1:00:14] the the way that we keep our compact with the citizens of the state blew

[1:00:18] their minds and the promises that we have have been making recently and the

[1:00:25] way that we serve them was unknown, unappreciated and profoundly

[1:00:31] appreciated. And I just want to share with us this

[1:00:36] with us to remind us just how important it is that we remember that we're

[1:00:41] serving the people of the state and just how meaningful

[1:00:45] our uh our dedication to them and is and how

[1:00:50] when we do this the impact it has on them is and on the future of Colorado is

[1:00:56] truly natural. I wanted to mention that to everyone because I know it can be

[1:01:01] easy to forget the incredible power of what we do and I was reminded really

[1:01:10] powerfully of this so I wanted to share that. Thank you Mr. Chairman.

[1:01:13] » Thank you Regent Vandreel. We appreciate the reminder and your thoughts.

[1:01:19] » Excuse me. >> Yeah. I regent Spiegel just requested

[1:01:23] that we all get a copy of that promise. I think it

[1:01:26] » great. It'd be great to have I think Regent McNelte.

[1:01:31] » Okay. >> Great.

[1:01:37] » Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, so we go through these meetings and a lot of

[1:01:41] information is thrown at us and we have public testimony and u members of this

[1:01:47] unit community or members of the public testify. Um, but and I I'm not I'm not

[1:01:52] blaming you, Mr. President, for forgetting the chancellor reports. Um

[1:01:56] but through those chancellor reports we hear a lot of really interesting stuff

[1:02:03] that the University of Colorado is doing. um whether it's uh Independence

[1:02:08] Plaza which is going to be the new home of of CU Denver and I think bodess as um

[1:02:15] part of the foundation for hopefully rebuilding Denver and that vibrant

[1:02:20] experience that I when I was young I was down there working and had the

[1:02:24] opportunity to enjoy or um Boulder looking at new opportunities to pair

[1:02:29] with research partners. um appreciate the innovation and the optimism uh in

[1:02:34] going out and finding taking care of existing partners and finding new

[1:02:38] partners. Uh UCCCS providing a real a very real quality onampus experience for

[1:02:44] the students. Um and uh their success in athletics I think is an important part

[1:02:51] of that. Um you all know how much I value the student athlete and what

[1:02:55] athletics does for young people and our presentation here today on on even

[1:03:00] anshoot's part of making that happen. Um and our host campus uh the the three

[1:03:05] points that that Don shared advanced biologics creating a platform for

[1:03:10] individual care and then uh AI um using AI to to deal with the data lake that we

[1:03:18] have out there now. Um Mr. Mr. President, I I I hear this and I think

[1:03:23] what other universities could possibly be doing all of this stuff at one time

[1:03:28] and yet here we are at the front end front edge on each of our campuses with

[1:03:35] remarkable positive measures to highlight. Um it's

[1:03:40] a credit to you. It's a credit to the men and women uh that report to you. Um

[1:03:46] and uh I I would like to think that some of that credit goes to the border

[1:03:49] regions as well. Um but um it it really is extraordinary uh the work that's

[1:03:53] being done here at the University of Colorado and um I wanted to take a

[1:03:57] moment I did take a moment to recognize that because that can't be lost on what

[1:04:02] we hear and do and experience at our meetings. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[1:04:05] » Thank you, Regenti. And I couldn't concur any harder. President Solomon,

[1:04:11] any other comments? I just want to make a last comment and

[1:04:16] um thank uh Chancellor Elellman in the Anshutes campus for hosting us. I know

[1:04:22] we oftentimes forget what it takes to put on a meeting and our team works with

[1:04:26] your team very closely, but we appreciate you opening up your campus to

[1:04:30] us and allowing us to see a glimpse of what you do every day. It's pretty

[1:04:34] spectacular. And as Frank said, every one of our campuses has something that

[1:04:38] they're extremely proud of. and the more we hear about that, the more we can brag

[1:04:42] about it to our constituents. So, thank you for that. We appreciate it. Um, this

[1:04:47] concludes the public portion of our meeting. We will take a brief break and

[1:04:51] meet at 9:50 in executive session.

Regular Board Meeting - Sep 10 2026

Transcript