CSU Democracy Summit features NCAA President Charlie Baker and other leaders

Media contact: Jennifer Dimas
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A discussion about current issues in intercollegiate athletics, featuring NCAA President Charlie Baker and Colorado State University President Amy Parsons, will cap a three-day Democracy Summit on the Fort Collins campus this week.

The Presidential Session with Charlie Baker and CSU President Amy Parsons will run 10:30-11:30 a.m. Friday, March 7, in Lory Student Center Ballroom D. It will wrap up the University’s second Democracy Summit, with special guests and events set Wednesday, March 5, through Friday, March 7.

Since she began her role as CSU president in early 2023, Parsons has underscored the importance of preparing students as productive members of a democratic society.

She has written that intercollegiate athletics have a unique ability to imbue campus with a valuable sense of community and that participation helps student-athletes become well-rounded citizens. Her discussion with Baker comes as CSU readies to join the Pac-12 in July 2026 as part of a move to rebuild the storied athletic conference.

Baker became the NCAA’s sixth president after two terms as governor of Massachusetts. A former collegiate athlete at Harvard, Baker arrived at the NCAA at a moment of significant transformation. His goals include modernizing college sports, investing in growth and ensuring support for student-athletes’ academic and personal development.

CSU’s College of Liberal Arts is hosting the Democracy Summit to help the campus and community explore the many facets of democracy. This year’s theme is democratic innovation. All events are open to the campus and community.

“Scholars across CSU are already deeply engaged in research and creative activity that undergirds democratic innovation,” said Greg Dickinson, an organizer and director of the Joe Blake Center for Engaged Humanities. “The Democracy Summit will offer us a powerful opportunity to showcase that research and build deeper ties among scholars and artists.”

Other summit highlights

• Opening keynote talk by Professor Darrick Hamilton
  
  The talk, titled “Democracy, Race and Economic Inclusion: A Vision for a Human Rights Economy,” will start at 5:20 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in Lory Student Center Ballroom D. A reception will precede the talk at 4:30 p.m.

  Hamilton is the Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy and the founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School for Social Research and was recently named chief economist for the AFL-CIO.

• Keynote talk by Professor Lee Drutman
  
  Titled “Building Back a Better Democracy – Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop,” is set for 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. Thursday, March 6, in the Lory Student Center’s Never No Summer Room.

  Drutman is a senior fellow at the think tank New America, a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, the co-host of the podcast Politics in Question, the co-founder of Fix Our House – a campaign for proportional representation in America – and the co-founder of the Center for Ballot Freedom, which advocates for fusion voting.

• Bernie Rollin Memorial Lecture by Professor Lori Gruen
  
  The lecture, “Animal Dignity,” will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 6, in the Lory Student Center Longs Peak Room 302.

  Gruen is the William Griffin Professor of Philosophy and professor of feminist, gender and sexuality studies and science in society at Wesleyan University, where she also coordinates Wesleyan Animal Studies.

• Local Governance and Innovation
  
  This panel discussion will run 4-5 p.m. in the Lory Student Center Never No Summer Room. It will feature Carly Koppes, Weld County clerk and recorder; Kristin Stephens, Larimer County commissioner; Ann Hutchison, president and CEO of the Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce; and Kirsten Decker, director of organizational strategy and development with the Denver Public Library.

  The conversation will focus on the future of local governance and the role of innovation in shaping sustainable, effective communities.

• Screening of “CSU: The Democracy Project”
  
  The documentary about democracy at CSU will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, in the Lory Student Center Theatre. Doors open at 6 p.m.; a Q&A with filmmakers will follow the screening at 7 p.m.

For a complete list of events, visit https://www.libarts.colostate.edu/research-creative/cla-democracy-summit.