The Alumni Advisory Council

Western State College drew my attention due to numerous teachers and administrators sharing their experiences while they attended Western. I enrolled at Western for two years. Broke and seeking adventure, I enlisted in the Army at age 19. Upon my discharge with the G.I. Bill and Vietnam Bonuses helping fund my expenses; I graduated with […]

Gabe graduated Western in 2005 with degrees in Business and Recreation as well as an emphasis in Ski and Resort Management. After graduation Gabe started Colorado FreeSkier, a slopeside ski shop in Crested Butte. He is now a Colorado Realtor serving clients in Denver and mountain communities.

Laurel Becker (Butcher, ’07) moved from Hudson, WI to Gunnison in 2004 to attend Western State College of Colorado. She pursued a BA in Art: Ceramics and graduated in December 2007. She has worked at Western since 2004 when she started working in the Office of Student Affairs as a work study student, then transitioned […]

Olivia Murphy-Welconish graduated Western in 2021 as a student in the Honors Program majoring in Psychology and minoring in Philosophy. Since graduation, Olivia joined the Alumni Advisory Council as the Alumni Award for Excellence Representative and is now the Council’s Secretary. When not working for the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival, Gunnison Ice Rink or Calming […]

Paul was born and raised in Breckenridge, Colorado, and started his skiing career at age 2! Skiing is Paul’s passion and carried him to Western Colorado University where he earned a degree in Kinesiology while competing on the cross-country ski team. Paul graduated from the Student Affairs in Higher Education (SAHE) program at Colorado State […]

Shannon Bounds attended Western State College starting in the fall of 1987. I graduated in Spring of 1991 with a B.A. in Recreation. Currently she is the HR M&A Transactions Manager at CommonSpirit Health. Her role as an Human Resources leader is to help integrate health systems into the the CommonSpirit organization. She currently volunteers […]

Vicki (Figgie) Wheeler graduated in 1986 with a degree in Business Administration and Spanish. Upon graduation she worked in Admissions at Western for 3 years before following her dream to be a flight attendant. She has been a flight attendant for American Airlines since 1989. She lives in Colorado Springs with her husband Rob. Her […]