Here.
Approve. 🙂
University of Colorado
Northern Colorado UNITY Council Event November 4th
University of Colorado Grants Tom Fredericks Distinguished Alumni Award
Thomas W. Fredericks Honored with University of Colorado Alumni Award
Boulder, Colorado, 10/25/13. – Last night, the University of Colorado Boulder honored Thomas W. Fredericks of Fredericks Peebles & Morgan LLP, the George Norlin Award, University of Colorado’s most prestigious alumni award. The award recognizes outstanding alumni who have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in their chosen field of endeavor and a devotion to the betterment of society and their community.
The tradition of honoring the University of Colorado Boulder’s Alumni began in 1930 when the Alumni Association wanted to honor the CU president George Norlin and the growing legions of extraordinary alumni. George Norlin was a passionate and courageous activist who fought the rise of extremist racist groups in the United States while others stood idly by and turned a blind eye to the injustice the KKK and Nazi’s inflicted on vulnerable people. The George Norlin Award was created to celebrate Norlin’s spirit of courage, passion, and community activism that he demonstrated despite great personal risk. Since the award was established, the association has been fortunate to recognize several generations of outstanding alumni with the Norlin Award, including President Norlin himself who received his medal in 1939 when he retired after 20 years of presidential service.
Like Mr. Norlin, Mr. Fredericks has passionately and courageously fought for parity and justice for Indians and Indian Tribes in the United States. He was the Economic Opportunity Program Director for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. As a liaison between the California Indian Legal Defense Fund and law school, he facilitated the founding of the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) in Boulder, and later became its executive director. He has also served as the Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs, and later served as the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs under President Jimmy Carter. In these roles, he was an essential component of the overall legal policy during the 1970s and influenced policy in a way that survives today. Furthermore, he was instrumental in development tribal and intertribal organizations that allow Indian people to organize and implement their self determination. Now in private practice, he remains as involved in influencing federal policy, self determination, self governance, water/infrastructure/roads/housing/facility/oil/mineral/gas development, as he ever was.
Not only has he passionately and courageously defended his clients’ rights and pursued their interests, he taught many young associates throughout his career, particularly Native American attorneys to do the same. Many of his prodigies advance to important positions and successful careers beyond his firm. At a small ceremony for him yesterday, Mr. Fredericks’ associates thanked him, not only for the opportunity to do meaningful work for Indian tribes across the United States, but also for his guidance and mentorship: “Mr. Fredericks is constantly teaching his associates to be better attorneys, better advocates, and better thinkers” and “he teaches us something new every day; his work has cleared the path for Indian lawyers.” One attorney spoke about how Mr. Fredericks inspired his career choice: “When you see your elder is doing something like Mr. Fredericks has done, it tells you that you can do anything you want to.” Lance Morgan summed it up: “Before I met Tom, I knew about him. He’s a pioneer and every young Indian lawyer knew him. I couldn’t wait to work with him. He has impacted his family, his firm, and those people that have worked for and with him. That triple level of accomplishment is impressive. This is a well-deserved recognition, like a cherry on top of a mountain of a career.”
His friends, family, and community members that came together to honor him said “He has taken care of all of us, his brothers and sisters, the children, and all tribes. He has made sure we have good water and good air. Thank you, brother, for taking care of us.” They continued, “We came to you for advice, and it did not fail that when we listened to you, the tides turned for us. You guide us, you lead us, you help us.”
The George Norlin Award medal was presented to Mr. Fredericks at a standing-room only Awards Ceremony where he delivered a powerful acceptance speech. Martha L. King and Rebecca A. Rizzuti, two of the principal nominators of Mr. Fredericks’ award, said
We set out to lasso a star in the form of the George Norlin Award. What happened, however, was that we learned we barely touched the surface of what he has done in his lifetime. His colleagues, family and friends have way more information on his accomplishments, and we have got to expand our ability to accept that information and do something with it. Judging by the two standing ovations he received and the swarms of people who came up to us afterward, it is clear there is an audience for more information on his work and its impacts in the west and in the Americas.
Getches Stepping Down as Dean
From the University of Colorado-Boulder Law School press release (h/t Faculty Lounge):
CU-Boulder Law School Dean Announces Intention to Resign in 2011
September 1, 2010
David Getches, dean of the Law School at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has announced that he intends to resign as dean effective June 2011.
Getches, who will stay at CU-Boulder as a law professor, said he is “eager to return to teaching and research.” Now in his eighth year as dean of CU-Boulder’s law school, Getches announced his resignation to the faculty on Aug. 20.
“I have reached this decision with confidence that the Law School is on a solid footing,” Getches said. “With the support of alumni, faculty, staff, students and donors, we have many achievements that distinguish Colorado Law among the nation’s best law schools.”
Interim Provost Russell Moore will appoint a search committee by the end of September.
“Dean Getches forever left his mark by guiding the Law School into a new era and into the state-of-the-art Wolf Law Building,” Moore said. “I am very pleased we will be able to retain his vast expertise in water, natural resources and Indian law as a continuing member of our faculty.”
Under Getches’ leadership, the academic offerings at the law school have been greatly expanded. New programs include an endowed Experiential Learning Program, three Master of Laws degrees, three legal clinics, three certificates and eight dual-degrees.
An active fundraiser, Getches has helped raise $28.5 million in donations, increasing the law school’s endowment 80 percent since 2003. The increase in fundraising allowed Getches to fulfill one of his primary initiatives, to significantly increase the number and amounts of law student scholarships to attract the most promising students, regardless of financial capacity.
Getches, who has been on the faculty since 1979, is the Raphael J. Moses Professor of Natural Resources Law. He teaches and writes on water law, public land law, environmental law and American Indian law.
Getches is a nationally renowned expert in natural resources and Indian law issues. A prolific writer, he has published several books on water law and has written many articles and book chapters on water, natural resources and Indian rights issues that have appeared in diverse scholarly and popular publications.
In 1970, he became the founding executive director for the Boulder-based Native American Rights Fund, a national, nonprofit Indian-interest law firm. From 1983 to 1987, he was executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources under Gov. Richard D. Lamm. The department is responsible for the operation of 10 divisions of state government that deal with parks, wildlife, land, water and minerals. In 1996, he served as special consultant to the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Getches earned his undergraduate degree from Occidental College in California and his law degree from the University of Southern California School of Law.
Contact
Malinda Miller-Huey, 303-492-3115
University of Colorado Indian Law Symposium — Jan. 28-30, 2010
January 28, 2010:
Book Signing: “Broken Landscape: Indians, Indian Tribes and the Constitution”
Leading scholar in American Indian law, Professor Frank Pommersheim will talk about his new book, “Broken Landscape: Indian Tribes and the Constitution,” which is a sweeping chronicle of Indian tribal sovereignty under the U.S. Constitution and the way that legal analysis and practice have interpreted and misinterpreted tribal sovereignty since the nation’s founding. After demonstrating that the federal government has repeatedly failed to respect tribal sovereignty, he closes with a proposal for a constitutional amendment that would reaffirm tribal sovereignty and accord Indian tribes and Indian people the respect and dignity that are their due. Book signing and reception to follow.
January 29-30, 2010:
The Next Great Generation of American Indian Law Judges
This conference will convene federal, state and tribal judges, practitioners, and academics to engage in a lively and open discussion about the future of federal Indian law in the judiciary. Academics, practitioners, students, and interested members of the public are welcome. CLE credits will be applied for.
Agenda here: The Next Great Generation Agenda Jan 2010
Jury Finds in Favor of Ward Churchill — Awards $1 in Damages
From the NYTs:
DENVER — A jury found on Thursday that the University of Colorado had wrongfully dismissed a professor who drew national attention for an essay in which he called some victims of the Sept. 11 attacks “little Eichmanns.”
But the jury, which deliberated for a day and a half, awarded only $1 in damages to the former professor, Ward L. Churchill, a tenured faculty member at the university’s campus in Boulder since 1991 who was chairman of the ethnic studies department.
The jurors found that Mr. Churchill’s political views had been a “substantial or motivating” factor in his dismissal, and that the university had not shown that he would have been dismissed anyway.
“This is a great victory for the First Amendment, and for academic freedom,” said his lawyer, David A. Lane.
Whether Mr. Churchill, 61, will get his job back, and when, was not resolved. Mr. Churchill’s lawyers said they would ask Judge Larry J. Naves of Denver District Court to order reinstatement, in light of the verdict.
Ward Churchill Trial Begins Monday
From Race to the Bottom (via Legal Theory Blog):
[S]tudents from the Race to the Bottom and the Student Employment Law Association at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, and faculty from the College of Law and the Daniels College of Business, will be providing daily coverage of the suit brought by Ward Churchill, a former tenured faculty member in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado, against the University of Colorado. The trial begins on Monday, March 9.
The complaint and answer are here.
Turtle Talk 
You must be logged in to post a comment.