Campos Student Center celebrates community and future success
This is your home. You are always welcomed here."~Marco Campos
In a celebration-filled day, the College of Engineering and Applied Science honored the legacy of Marco Campos (CivEngr’98) on Aug. 29 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly named Campos Student Center in recognition of his $5 million investment instudent success.
“Embrace your story and your journey,” Campos said, speaking to students in the center he called home nearly 30 years ago. “Know that we are here to support you and that you can be yourself in your college journey.”
TheCampos Student Center carries out the central mission of broadening opportunities, community and leadership for undergraduate engineering students of all backgrounds. It also supportsBOLD and partner-affiliated scholars and the college’s nine student societies.
Formerly the BOLD Center, the gift creates a permanent endowment to further the center’s programming, which includes academic support, scholarships, leadership and professional development, student society programs and networking opportunities.
For many engineering students, the center is a place to gain opportunities and find community.
As for Marco Campos (CivEngr’98), the center not only bears a family name but represents a vocation of generosity through the years to ensure that students can succeed in their education.
“Marco is one of our own, a proud graduate of our civil engineering program,” said Keith Molennar, dean of the college, at the ceremony that included current scholars, faculty, staff members, college and campus leaders. “He has never forgotten where his journey started and continues to inspire students to succeed in their goals and dreams.”
David Aragon showing a class photo with Campos during his time at a summer program nearly two decades ago. (Credit: Jesse Petersen)
Campos knows firsthand the value of finding connection early on as a college student.
“The Multicultural Engineering Program, which eventually became the BOLD Center, helped me get acclimated to campus, meet professors and gave me a leg up,” Campos said. “Finding my support network was my number one focus and was instrumental at 91ɫ.”
In a full-circle moment, Campos recognized his college mentor, David Aragon, former director of the Multicultural Engineering Program, with the Campos Foundation’s first-ever community heart award.
Just as Aragon mentored Campos, staff members at the center today support the center’s programs and scholars with advising on scholarships, tutoring, keeping the space humming and creating powerful programs for students to expand their horizons.
“The center’s incredible professional and student staff and faculty, along with our student scholars and society leaders, make this community what it is day in and day out,” said Amy Moreno-Sherwood, senior director of the Campos Student Center. “I deeply appreciate the energy and care they bring to ensure students feel seen and supported.”
A vision realized
Campos and the, led by Marco’s sister, Deanna Campos-Miller (Span, Jour’99) have been longtime champions for student success at 91ɫ and beyond.
Keith Molennar, Deanna Campos-Miller, Caleb Woldemichael, Marco Campos, Justin Schwartz (Credit: Jesse Petersen)
They have been key financial contributors to the renovation of the BOLD Center in 2020, supported scholarships for the first cohort of the Lattice Scholars Program in 2023 and have funded the EngiNearMe summer bridge program for the past 10 years.
The Campos Foundation’s mantra is “powered by heart.” Campos Companies—a portfolio of energy infrastructure companies with nearly 800 employees—donates 1% of its revenues to supporting underrepresented communities in STEM.
“We’ve made it a purpose to help empower our students through our student centers,” Campos said. “We know through the dedication of their staff that they will get the support they need and have a safe place to succeed.”
More than 7,000 students benefit from STEM education initiatives through the foundation every year at K-12 schools and colleges including DSST: Public Schools, 91ɫ, CU Denver, Colorado School of Mines and Colorado State University. Through the foundation, they support summer bridge programs, scholarships, internships, facilities and smartlabs.
“We want to move the needle in education,” said Campos, “because we know there is a lot of work to be done for our communities.”
Campos-Miller notes how the aligned missions of the foundation and center made it only more fitting.
“Our mission is to break down barriers in STEM and provide access to students who will ultimately make a difference in the world,” Campos-Miller said. “This center is a way for students to feel the love and support we have for their ambitions.”
By paying it forward, the foundation hopes to embody the message for the Campos Student Center students: to receive when you need it and to give back when you have it.
“Marco sets an inspiring example for others to invest in student success — building on their own personal experiences to make a real difference for those who follow in their footsteps,” said 91ɫ Chancellor Justin Schwartz.
Community and belonging breeds student success
Julia Wall, a BOLD scholar, serves as a peer mentor and is a member of three student societies supported by the center. (Credit: Jesse Petersen)
At the heart of the Campos Student Center lies the students they serve.
Julia Wall, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student and BOLD scholar, has been involved heavily with the center since freshman year, when she took advantage of tutoring for her physics and computer science courses.
“The Campos Student Center has given me a wide breadth of opportunities where I feel supported academically, professionally and financially,” Wall said. She also participates in student societies, such as the Society of Women Engineers (SWE); Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math; and the Society of Asian Scientists & Engineers.
This past year, she served as a peer mentor for several BOLD scholars and developing her leadership skills: “It’s been an amazing experience helping new scholars find their footing and organizing events to buff up their professional and academic skills.”
“Our center has been a safe space for me where I made friends and practiced my skills through leadership and mentoring,” Wall said.
For Srishti Jerath (BioMedEngr’25), who spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony and is pursuing her master’s in biomedical engineering, her journey has been deeply connected to the programs and societies supported through the Campos Student Center.
During her second year, Jerath stumbled upon a leadership opportunity that would change her undergraduate trajectory.
As the director of community engagement for SWE, she “discovered my passion for creating equitable spaces for women in engineering. I found myself surrounded by a community of incredible women from diverse backgrounds, all working toward the same mission.”
Anika Mathur, a senior in electrical engineering and treasurer of SWE, said she knew even before enrolling that getting involved would play a pivotal role in her leadership experience at 91ɫ.
“The center has been a home away from home,” Mathur said, who lives in the East Bay of California.
Thanks to the Campos Foundation, countless more students will find here what I was so fortunate to find: support, community and opportunity.” ~Srishti Jerath
After attending a networking event as a high school senior, she saw how student organizations like SWE could shape her journey. “What I’ve appreciated has been being in a space where I can be with other women in STEM from every engineering major and connect with them,” Mathur said.
Mathur recently finished an internship at Apple this past summer with their signal integrity engineering team, which connects with the masters degree she hopes to pursue next year.
Kayo Abdi, a first-generation computer science student and vice president of 91ɫ’s National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), remembers struggling to find his place during his first semester.
“I was too focused on my classes to really connect with others,” he said, “but then I met my peer mentor who encouraged me to join NSBE and start coming to the center. I would then meet a lot of my friends.”
We have a whole space through the Campos Student Center that helps us achieve goals and overcome challenges, which is something we’re privileged to have.” ~Kayo Abdi
Now a peer mentor himself, Abdi helps first- and second-year students navigate challenges and build support networks of their own, some of the support networks that helped Campos during his college experience.
“We should care for ourselves as people first, instead of just students first,” Abdi said. “Being able to help mentees figure out their hobbies, interests and their support system on campus is truly rewarding as well.”
By setting an example for peers, he prioritizes jogging and fishing for his mental health, as well as spiritual health to take breaks from the grind of courses, exams and workload.
“Engaging with students here and hearing different perspectives on how to succeed in classes and how to overcome challenges has shaped me into the person I am right now,” Abdi said. “We may all go through the same struggles, but I know we’re all gonna make it together.”