A Letter from Dr. Jake Bucher

"May (Perennial) Flowers"

I try to vary, with awareness and intentionality of needs of a particular point in the year, the themes of these monthly letters – except for May. As we close each academic year I am committed to consistently, if risking redundancy, preserving this space for gratitude. For the last couple of years, I have organized the May letter with the framing of “May flowers” – using flowers in the context of expressing gratitude by “giving someone their flowers”.

As a sociologist playing botanist, I have reflected on our dry winter in Colorado, and I worry about if and what flowers will persist through the summer and into the fall. For us, in a year marked by change, challenge, and real heaviness, I don’t worry about persisting – I’ve been struck by how much, at the core, did not shift – did not succumb to the weather. We have perennials that are worthy of gratitude:

Our commitment to students.

I remain grateful for the meetings, conversations, and spaces in our work where the focus returns consistently, insistently, to students. That throughline has held, even as circumstances around us have changed. I was recently speaking with a student who described a faculty member taking time not to review course material, but to help them figure out how to just keep going. It was a small moment in the scope of the year, but personally knowing what that faculty was carrying themselves, it was everything. That is the work. That is who we are.

Our care for one another.

This year asked a great deal of this community. There were moments that were difficult in ways that extended well beyond our professional roles. And yet, again and again, I saw people show up for one another with compassion, with patience, with a willingness to carry more when needed. Not in ways that seek recognition, but in ways that reflect a deep commitment to one another.

And our mission.

Not just as something we reference, but as something lived. In decisions, in conversations, in the ways people navigated complexity and uncertainty, I continue to be struck by the seriousness with which this community takes its responsibility to the mission and values that define Regis.

As we move into the summer months and begin to turn our attention, gradually, to the year ahead, I find a sense of steadiness in knowing that whatever changes may come, and they will, we are not starting from scratch – our perennials provide long-lasting structure. We are carrying forward a community that has demonstrated who it is, repeatedly, even under strain.

Thank you for the ways you have shown up this year for our students, for one another, and for this community. Thank you for the you that you bring – your identities, perspectives, expertise, personalities, and care. It is a privilege to do this work alongside you.