Press Release

NAROPA UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPOINTS THREE NEW MEMBERS

Dr. Laura I. Rendón, Carol Grever Gray and Thomas D. Hast Join Board of Trustees

BOULDER, Colo. (May 25, 2004) -- Naropa University (Boulder, Colo.) announced the appointment of three new members to its board of trustees: Dr. Laura I. Rendón, Carol Grever Gray and Thomas D. Hast.

"The Board has been energetically and strategically seeking individuals to fill vacancies on the board and to strengthen the board as it oversees the development and growth of Naropa University as a leading institution of contemplative liberal education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Each of these individuals brings a unique strength to the role of Naropa trustee," said Martin Janowitz, chairman of the Naropa University board of trustees.

Dr. Laura I. Rendón is a prolific writer and scholar on issues of diversity and transformative education. Rendón has been named by the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of the nation's leading experts in the field of Hispanic students and faculty. Her current research focuses on access, retention and graduation of low-income, first-generation college students. She holds the Veffie Milstead Jones Endowed Chair in the College of Education at California State University, Long Beach, Calif. In 1998, she was awarded a Fetzer Institute Fellowship for work on a self-directed project that involved connection to the spiritual traditions in Mexico, Central America and Puerto Rico, and the development of a study of holistic teaching and learning practices that embrace intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual development.

Prior to her current position, Dr. Rendón was associate professor in the division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Arizona State University and served as a senior research associate with the National Center for Postsecondary Teaching, Learning and Assessment headquartered at Pennsylvania State University. She is also the past president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (AHSE), the premier scholarly organization of more than 1000 members concerned with teaching, curriculum, research and professional service in the study of higher education.

Currently she is a member of the Spirituality and Education Network created at the American Educational Research Association and a member of the Initiative on Authenticity, Wholeness and Spirituality, a group of nationally known higher education scholars and practitioners who are interested in the connection between education and spirituality. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Council of Community and Educational Partnerships (Washington, D.C.) and the National Advisory Board of the National Initiative of Women in Higher Education and the Research Scholars Panel of the Pathways to College Network. Previously, she served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Association for Higher Education.

Dr. Rendón has co-edited two books, Educating a New Majority: Transforming America's Educational System for Diversity and The ASHE Ethnic/Racial Diversity Reader and has authored or co-authored more than 60 book chapters, journal and magazine articles and research publications. She serves on the editorial boards of The Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, VOCES: Journal of Chicana/Latina Studies, Review of Higher Education and Journal of Latino Education.

Carol Grever Gray is a community leader, businesswoman, writer and a past chairwoman of the Naropa University board of trustees. She has also chaired the Boulder Chamber of Commerce, the Boulder Development Commission, the Private Industry Council, the Economic Futures Panel and the Boulder Rotary Club. She presently chairs the Advisory Council for the Colorado Business and Professional Women's Education Foundation. She was also a founding director and vice president of the Boulder Technology Incubator and has been a director of Colorado National Bank, the YWCA, the Community Hospital Foundation and several other non-profit boards.

Ms. Gray was co-owner for 23 years of Express Services, a local and international staffing firm, and was instrumental in founding the Express International franchising organization, which earned 1994 revenues of $425 million and employed at that time more than 30,000 people each week. Her responsibility with Express Services centered on marketing and public relations. Her advertising and public relations efforts were recognized with numerous national awards from the National Association of Temporary Services.

She has received many community honors, including the 1997 Business and Professional Women's Woman of the Year award for the state of Colorado, the Colorado Community Service Award for the National Association of Personnel Consultants, Entrepreneur of Distinction, Zonta's and BPW's Boulder County Woman of the Year, the YWCA Hall of Fame for Corporate Leadership, and the Boulder Business Pacesetter Award. In 1999, her name was added to the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame. The Boulder Chamber of Commerce honored her in 1994 for her breadth of volunteer service on behalf of the business community, and Colorado Business Magazine named her firm twelfth in its top 100 woman-owned companies of 1995.

As a writer, Ms Gray has published articles and poems in a variety of magazines and collections. Her first non-fiction book, My Husband Is Gay, was released in April 2001 by The Crossing Press. She is a member of the Colorado Authors' League and Boulder Media Women.

Thomas D. Hast is the founder and owner of Hast & Company, one of the largest property management companies in Boulder, Colo. The company currently employs more than 65 people and manages residential, office, retail and homeowner association properties worth over $300 million throughout the Denver metropolitan area. He was also involved in the founding of Naropa University where he served as an administrator from 1973 to 1975 and was instrumental in implementing logistical arrangements for hosting Naropa's early programs.

Mr. Hast is currently on the board of directors of the Yesod Foundation, which he co-founded in 1998. The Yesod Foundation supports the work and vision of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in Boulder and throughout the world. Hast is on the board of Bayit Chadash which supports the work of Mordechai Gafni in Israel and the United States. He is currently serving on the Peace Track committee of the 2004 Sustainable Resources Conference. He also serves on several City of Boulder and Boulder Area Board of Realtors committees.

Mr. Hast also helped start the City of Boulder Mediation Project for which he continues to serve on the steering committee. He has also served on the boards of Shambhala Training, Karma Dzong, the Boulder Jewish Community Foundation, Heart of Stillness, and the Friends School, a pre-school and elementary school which he helped start in 1988. He was a founding member of the steering committee of the Colorado Movement for Children, which, in concert with the Colorado Children's Campaign, has very successfully worked and lobbied to raise the consciousness of Colorado citizens and lawmakers on issues involving children in the state.

Naropa University is a private, non-profit, non-sectarian liberal arts institution whose core mission is contemplative education. Contemplative education is an approach to learning that integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, creating and implementing a new paradigm in higher education. This model seeks to help students know themselves deeply so that they can engage constructively in a world of individuals who are not like themselves. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental studies, psychology, religious studies, and creation spirituality. It offers BA, BFA, MA, MFA, MDiv and MLA degrees, as well as professional development training and classes for the community through its School of Extended Studies. In addition, the university runs study abroad programs in Sikkim, the Czech Republic, South India, Bali and Costa Rica. For more information, visit www.naropa.edu.