September 2022 Meeting - The Life and Legacy of Judge William E. Doyle

We are pleased to announce a terrific panel discussion to celebrate the profound impact Judge William Doyle has had upon the Denver bar, and particularly, this Inn.

50 years ago Judge Doyle served on the 10^th Circuit panel that decided Moritz v. C.I.R., which, in addition to being Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s first oral argument in the Court of Appeals, was the pivotal decision holding that discrimination on the basis of sex was illegal. 

Judge Doyle was by no means done blazing a trail for equal justice.  Six months later, SCOTUS issued its decision in Keyes v. School District No. 1, mandating the integration of Denver city schools.  Judge Doyle issued the trial court opinions initially requiring integration and oversaw the remediation phase following the remand.   

It is no coincidence that Judge Doyle participated in both of these critical decisions.  Judge Doyle cared about equal treatment under the law.  Judge Doyle was one of the first 10^th Circuit judges to hire a female law clerk.  To understand the impact of that decision, we will hear from Jane Michaels, Judge Doyle’s first female law clerk, about who Judge Doyle was as a person.  Her perspective on Judge Doyle is unique, and she hopes to share some of the lasting impact Judge Doyle had upon her and this community.

In addition, we will hear from Inn members Rico Munn and Jack Robinson about the impact that Judge Doyle’s decisions have had on school segregation and discrimination.  Please come prepared for a lively and engaging discussion about the life and legacy of our Inn’s namesake!

October 2022 Meeting

Name, Image, Likeness in Division 1 Sports

Please join us on October 26, 2022 at the University Club to hear from Joe Parker, Athletic Director for Colorado State University who will discuss Division 1 athletics in the era of the new Name, Image, Likeness (“NIL”) rule.  

The Issue 

For the uninitiated, on July 1, 2021, the NCAA implemented a policy allowing all incoming and current student-athletes the opportunities to earn money from NIL deals.   Players can accept money from businesses in exchange for using them in products or advertisements, and they can also promote themselves or other companies in public appearances.  Previously, student-athletes could not sell their likeness while being on scholarship. The new NIL rule changes overturn that precedent completely.

The NCAA interim NIL policy says there is to be no pay for play, no recruiting inducements and that athletes must provide a service in exchange for pay. With the schools themselves left out of the loop in the wheeling and dealing, booster collectives sprung up to provide earning opportunities — and, critics say, recruiting enticements.

Basketball player Nijel Pack made one of the first big splashes in April, 2022. When his transfer from Kansas State to Miami was announced, it was made public he would get a two-year, $800,000 deal with a medical tech company that came with a car.  That, and other “deals” have generated a lot of criticism.

Our Speaker

By way of introduction, Joe Parker is the Director of Athletics at Colorado State University.  Under Parker’s leadership, the CSU Rams have won 21 Mountain West championships, including 15 across women’s programs.  Mr. Parker came to Colorado State after having previously served as the deputy athletics director at Texas Tech of the Big 12 Conference since April 2011. He also has served as senior associate athletic director at the University of Michigan (Big 10), the University of Oklahoma (Big 12), Washington State University (Pac-12) and the University of Texas (Big 12).

Parker was a three-time All-America swimmer at Michigan, and also became team captain. He earned a gold and bronze medal as a senior in the 1987 World University Games in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. Parker earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from Michigan, and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas. He and his wife, Jen, have two children, Emma and Will, both of whom are graduates of Colorado State.   

November 2022 Meeting

The Past and Future of Newspaper Journalism in Colorado and the Nation—and What it Means for Our Democracy.

The Rocky Mountain News is history, and The Denver Post is a mere shadow of its former self, with a newsroom staff reduced from a high of more than 250 to fewer than 100.  Many of The Post’s physical assets, such as the downtown newsroom building, have been sold.  News coverage of important public events, such a court trials, or city council meetings, has suffered or evaporated completely.   In an April 2018 editorial attacking its “vulture capitalist” hedge-fund overseers at Alden Global Capital, the Post Editorial Board lamented, “A flagship local newspaper like The Post plays a critically important role in its city and state: It provides a public record of the good and the bad, serves as a watchdog against public and private corruption, offers a free marketplace of ideas and stands as a lighthouse reflective and protective of — and accountable to — a community’s values and goals. A news organization like ours ought to be seen, especially by our owner, as a necessary public institution vital to the very maintenance of our grand democratic experiment.”   Colorado Sun editor Larry Ryckman has said, ““It’s communities that suffer when newspapers shrink and die. We’ll never know the stories that won’t be told, the corruption that won’t be exposed, the politicians who won’t be held accountable. A free press is part of the very foundation of our democracy. We all lose when it goes away.”

The November 16 Doyle Inn of Court meeting will feature a panel discussion of esteemed, award-winning journalists and publishers, addressing the past and future of objective professional journalism:  why it seems to be disappearing in the new digital age, where (if anywhere) it is headed, and what it all means for informed, public participation in our democracy.  The panel will include:

Linda Carpio Shapley—Publisher of Colorado Community Media; former managing editor of Colorado Politics trade journal; veteran of 21 years at The Denver Post, including six years as managing editor and director of newsroom operations through December 2017.

Cara DeGette—Award-winning Editor of the local Denver neighborhood paper, the Greater Park Hill News; Affiliate Professor of Journalism at Metropolitan State University of Denver; former editor and publisher of Colorado Public News; founding executive editor of The Colorado Independent; founding editor of the Colorado Springs Independent.

Dan Cotter—Publisher and Editorial Director of The Vermont Standard, Woodstock, Vermont—Vermont’s oldest weekly newspaper; former Director of Sales Development and Training at GateHouse Media New England, Boston—publisher of 6 daily newspapers, 98 weekly community ppers and 168 local news websites serving the Boston metro area; former executive director for the New England Newspaper and Press Association representing and advocating for hundreds of publishing companies in New England; veteran of nearly 20 year career with the Pulitzer Publishing Company, including roles at the Santa Maria Times and St. Louis-Post Dispatch.

January 2023 Meeting

Exposure on Colorado’s High Peaks: A Conversation With Lloyd Athearn, Executive Director of the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative

Colorado is a special place to live, and hiking in the high country is an important part of the appeal for many people. In 2021, an estimated 303,000
people climbed one or more of the state’s fifty-plus “fourteeners,” mountains with summits at least 14,000 feet above sea level.

But access to some of these peaks is under threat after a recent case from the Tenth Circuit upheld a multimillion dollar verdict in favor of a cyclist who
was injured while riding his bike on Air Force Academy land. Now private landowners across the state are concerned about their potential liability under
state law for injuries sustained by those recreating on their property.

Complete with maps, photos, and video clips, this presentation unpacks the issues involved, touching on the growth in climbing over the decades,
long-standing issues with access, the Colorado Recreational Use Statute, and more. We hope you will join us.