Western Newsroom

A Western Colorado University professor is taking on the rugged Great Divide Mountain Bike Route to raise scholarship funds for students, turning an endurance challenge into an opportunity to support access to higher education. The effort reflects Western’s culture of adventure, resilience, and community investment, while helping expand opportunities for future Mountaineers.

Western Colorado University is moving forward with the repatriation of Native American ancestral remains and cultural items from its museum collection, continuing a multi-year effort to identify, document, and return them to affiliated tribal nations. The process reflects Western’s commitment to cultural stewardship, historical accountability, and honoring tribal sovereignty through meaningful repatriation work.

Western Colorado University is taking an important step in its repatriation efforts by returning the ancestral remains and cultural items of Native American individuals housed in its C.T. Hurst Museum, following the completion of a federally required inventory process. The work reflects Western’s commitment to accountability, cultural respect, and fulfilling both the legal and moral responsibility of returning ancestors to their tribal communities and homelands.