BY PHILIP P. DISTEFANO
This Thursday evening the University of Colorado Boulder will be on the national stage yet again. As I shared with you in December of last year, the Colorado Buffaloes will be playing in the exclusive Thursday Night Football slot on ESPN.
I am pleased we have an opportunity to highlight our beautiful campus and its many achievements. These broadcasts are an excellent national platform to highlight our university on and off the field, and the scenes we can share of Boulder and its environs underline the reason we all choose to call this area home.听
I know, however, that these games also present a logistical challenge to the day-to-day business of the university. I want to extend my sincere appreciation to the faculty, staff and students who have been working for the past ten months to prepare our community and our campus.
I am fully aware that the academic life of our campus continues past 5 p.m., and that there are traffic, parking and scheduling impacts that start well before kickoff. In December, I charged the committee that led the planning efforts for the evening game against USC to bring its experience and logistical know-how to the planning for this year鈥檚 matchup. They have done extensive work to minimize the impact on buildings surrounding the stadium, the academic schedules of the campus, and to prepare us for this national TV opportunity.
An overview of the campus鈥� preparations was sent to you last week. If you are unsure how this event may affect your day, please feel welcome to revisit the message at this link:
For those who are planning to attend the game, I invite you to arrive early and support our football program loudly and with pride. Our players, coaches and football staff put themselves out there every game representing the University of Colorado Boulder, and we must stand shoulder to shoulder with them as they display the tenacity and character of our university.
Pac-12 scheduling requirements will make one weekday game a year a more regular occurrence on the campus. Fortunately, we have a strong record of minimizing their impact and celebrating these moments of community. With this in mind, please accept my personal thanks for your flexibility and cooperation, and Go Buffs!
