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By Alan Rubin (Comm’74)

I’ve contributed monthly to the Department of Communication ever since I graduated from CU, an unmentionable number of years ago. There are a number of reasons for doing what I’ve done (and will continue to do).

The first is that I very much enjoyed my college career at CU. In fact, I remember one chilly, clear January morning my junior year (I was a resident advisor in Williams Village) waiting for the Buff Bus to go to class. I looked toward the snow-covered Flatirons under a brilliant blue sky thinking, “I need to savor every minute of my time here at CU, because I may never have this much fun again.”

As it turned out, I’ve had lots of fun since then, but I remember fondly my four undergraduate years. I am particularly grateful for my professors in the department, especially Wayne Brockriede, Don Darnell and Harold Hill, all of whom inspired me and made me a better critical thinker.

And I can honestly say I’ve used my communication degree every day since I graduated. I have used the understanding I gained in school about how people receive and learn information to great effect in my career in sales and training. I have consistently enjoyed what I do, and I attribute that in part to my studies in communication. Evidently, it had an impact on my daughter, Francesca, who is currently studying communication at CU Boulder.

Finally, I contribute to CMCI because I think now, more than ever, the planet needs more people who can communicate honestly and well. We live in an age of 140-character unidirectional communications, self-publishing and very little editing. This leads to an enormous amount of disingenuousness and confusion, not to mention polarization.

I support the college because I think its graduates can contribute to reducing these problems and make things better as we adapt to this new world of digital conversations.