Early Bird

Get ready for Convocation

After the Aug. 19 Faculty/Staff Mixer, help welcome new students and hear a keynote address from reporter, podcast host and Roadrunner Vic Vela.

By Diana Ibarra

August 5, 2021

All students, faculty and staff members and administrators are highly encouraged to attend Convocation on Aug. 19 after the fall Faculty/Staff Mixer. Employees are invited to don their newest MSU Denver swag (new T-shirts will be distributed at the mixer), celebrate and welcome incoming students as they begin their academic journeys. 

Please RSVP for Convocation by Aug. 13 

Convocation schedule: 

• 5:30 p.m.: Check-in
• 6 p.m.: Ceremony including remarks by President Janine Davidson, Ph.D., and alumnus Vic Vela
• 6:30-8 p.m.: Enjoy food, outdoor activities and a resource fair. Departments and student organizations can reserve an information table for the Convocation Resource Fair by Aug. 13. 

All who RSVP for Convocation will receive an email reminder with the event details the week of the event. If you have questions or need more information about Convocation, please visit www.msudenver.edu/convocation or contact cmei@msudenver.edu. 

Keynote speaker 

Don’t miss the alumni keynote remarks from Vic Vela. He was born and raised in Colorado and was the first member of his immediate family to attend college. He’s been an award-winning professional journalist for more than 20 years since graduating from MSU Denver in 2000.  

Vela started his career as a sports anchor and reporter for an NBC affiliate in Texas and later worked as an investigative crime reporter for the Albuquerque Journal. He has covered government and politics in Colorado and was a five-year member of the Colorado Capitol Press Corps. Vela is a four-time Edward R. Murrow Award winner and has been honored with dozens of other journalism awards in the Rocky Mountain region. 

Vela is currently a news and podcast host and sports reporter for Colorado Public Radio as well as an affiliate faculty member at MSU Denver in the Department of Journalism and Media Production. He also is the host of “Back From Broken,” a CPR podcast about recovery from substance abuse. For 15 years, Vela himself suffered from a crippling drug addiction. He has been in recovery since 2015 and has since been an advocate and voice of hope for others suffering from addiction. 

He regularly talks with groups and shares stories on social media. He sees himself as putting a human face on a growing problem. 

"I want to let others know that recovery is possible," he says. "I’m proof of that.” 

Read more of Vela’s inspiring comeback story in RED.