Connecting Art & Alumni to Highlight Our Sense of Place, Impact
Last summer, world-renowned artist Thomas Evans, known as Detour, brought his iconic mural style to our urban campus with colorful depictions of seven CU Denver alums. An alum with two CU Denver degrees himself (BS ’08, MBA ’12), Evans captured the bold spirit of our campus community and the incredibly diverse career paths of our graduates, from health care to public policy and finance. These pieces are displayed on campus and serve as a point of inspiration for our students, literally showing them that CU Denver is a place where anyone, from any background, can find a home and succeed.
Frank Dávila
PhD ’98
A journey from Texas’ migrant labor camps to become an educational leader
For Frank Dávila—who was born in Marlin, Texas and grew up as a migrant worker—being a kid meant never staying in one place for very long. “My dad worked for the railroad,” Frank said. “Every year, his job took us back and forth between our home and a migrant camp 300 miles away.” The family would travel in a two-and-a-half-ton truck as part of a caravan that moved from location to location. When he was 10, his mother passed away, which put an incredible strain on Frank, his dad, and his six siblings.