Meet the Admissions Staff

Janet Erickson - Dean of Admissions

Jason Makowsky - Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions

Jason Makowsky recently joined the Naropa University team as the Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions. He has 14 years of experience in various university roles working closely with students. He has earned a BA in Religious Studies and an MA in Education, and is intrigued by Naropa’s mission of contemplative education and its commitment to transformative journeys. As a native of Colorado, he loves exploring nature with his family and introducing others to his home state. An avid reader, artist, writer, researcher, and traveler, Jason enjoys seeing students embrace education as a lifelong journey and engage in inter-faith dialogue and activism.

Alexandra Gaetano - Undergraduate Admissions Counselor

Lexi Gaetano is an Undergraduate Admissions Counselor who joined Naropa with five years of experience in higher education admissions. She earned her BA in English from Saint Anselm College in 2007, and is currently wrapping up her M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration at Northeastern University. She discovered Naropa through her studies at the Boulder Shambhala center and fell head over heels in love with Naropa's holistic approach to education. Lexi loves traveling, photography, and being immersed in different cultures. She's a black belt in Shaolin Kempo Karate and practices the Tai Chi fan dance. She's passionate about creating a holistic admissions experience for her students and watching them grow and rediscover their sense of wonder and hunger for learning.

Eduardo Viezca - Undergraduate Admissions Counselor

In addition to being the admissions team's youngest member, Eduardo Viezca is also one of the newest to join the admissions team as an Undergraduate Admissions Counselor.  Born in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and raised in Denver, Colorado, Eduardo has always had a thirst for being in "intellectual" spaces, so it is no surprise that he now works in higher education. He recently obtained his BEnvd degree in Environmental Design with a minor in Ethnic Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder and is currently contemplating joining the MFA program in Writing and Poetics here at Naropa. Without hesitation he can confirm to you that the book that has influenced his life the most is Gloria E Anzaldua's text, Borderlands/La Frontera, for its having helped him navigate higher education as a working-class, Mexican-American humanist, activist. Before joining Naropa, he worked for Denver Public Schools helping high school students with the college admissions process and assisted with the implementation of other college-readiness initiatives.

Dr. Stephanie Krusemark - Associate Director of Graduate Admissions

Dr. Stephanie Krusemark serves as the Associate Director of Graduate Admissions for Naropa University. She acts as the primary admissions representative for the MA in Contemplative Education program and leads the Graduate Admissions Alumni Ambassador program (GAAAP). As an interdisciplinary, intersectional and interfaith practitioner-scholar she is passionate about issues of access, equity, diversity and inclusion within higher education. She brings 10+ years of experience as an enrollment management professional, student affairs practitioner and educator primarily in private, liberal arts environments. She brings a successful history of diversifying recruitment and admissions policies and practices for students pursuing graduate degrees in education and health care. As a womanist, scholar, artist and activist she is committed to the tenets of contemplative learning and inclusive excellence. She holds a PhD in Higher Education, a MA in Arts Administration and a BA in Art History.

Kelly Twedt - Senior Graduate Admission Counselor

Kelly is thrilled to be a part of the Admissions team at Naropa University! Originally from central Illinois, she earned a Bachelor of Music from Illinois State University and a Master of Music from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is an active performer and has sung extensively throughout the Denver metro area in musicals, operas, and concerts. As a Senior Graduate Counselor, Kelly is especially interested in helping students pursue their own passion through Naropa's unique and supportive educational environment. She assists in the admission process for the MFA Theater: Contemporary Performance, the MA in Somatic Counseling Psychology, and the MA in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology: Art Therapy programs. In her free time, Kelly enjoys yoga, learning how to cook interesting vegetarian food, and exploring Colorado's great outdoors with her dog, Annie.

Meghan Schardt - Graduate Admissions Counselor

Meghan Schardt feels honored to be working as a Graduate Admissions Counselor with the Kerouac School, Wilderness Therapy, Environmental Leadership, and Ecopsychology programs. She graduated from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University with her MFA in Poetry. Meghan is a poet, yogini, and herbal lover from a small farmtown in Connecticut, a funky Vermont lake, and the rocky ocean-stone drop-off of Nauset Beach. She finds great solace in salt and her dreams lay in the architecture of a house on Barley Neck Road in Orleans, Massachusetts. Meghan currently lives in the Rocky Mountains, upward facing the Flatirons of Boulder, Colorado. Most days, you can spot her wearing a burnt orange wool sweater. She has a great passion for Naropa's self-inquiry based contemplative education and feels blessed to be a bridge for students and families interested in exploring their studies at Naropa.

Alan Taylor - Graduate Admissions Counselor

Alan Taylor joined the Naropa admissions team in September 2012. He is a recent graduate of Naropa's M.A. in Religious Studies, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism concentration, and is currently attending the Tsadra foundation's Abhidharmakosa translator training committee with Khenpo Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen, Dr. Phil Stanley, and Dr. Jules Levinson. Alan enjoys cycling, playing guitar, studying Tibetan, and engaging in contemplative practice. Alan assists prospective students in the admissions process with the graduate Religious Studies, Master of Divinity, Transpersonal Counseling Psychology, and Contemplative Psychotherapy departments.

Megan Burke - Data and Communication Coordinator

Megan Burke joined Naropa's admissions team in January of 2013. While her background has been in the roles of admissions counselor, activities coordinator, and event planner; she is excited to apply her past professional and academic experience to her new role as the Data and Communications Coordinator. Megan graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside with her Bachelor's in Sociology and from the University of Denver where she earned her Master's in Higher Education with a concentration in College Student Development. Her passion and hope is to support prospective individuals and current students with thoughtful consideration and care. From the mountains, to the city, Megan enjoys everything the Denver area has to offer. In her free time, she's often out with her pup, Scully, taking advantage of the many foothill and mountain trails.

Martha Husick - Events & Visitation Coordinator

Martha Husick is the Events & Visitation Coordinator for the Office of Admissions. She has over twenty years' experience planning events and providing customer service within the collectibles auction industry. Martha relocated from New Jersey with her husband (who is pursuing an MDiv degree at Naropa), and quickly felt right at home in Boulder and within the Naropa community. She really enjoys the opportunity to welcome new and prospective students and their families to Boulder and Naropa as well!

Daniel Cantrick