Academic News - May 2018
CSU-PuebloFest
CSU-Pueblo will host its inaugural CSU-PuebloFEST noon – 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 30, 2018 in the newly renovated Occhiato Student Center and outdoor grounds between the student center and campus fountain. The event will bring craft vendors, food vendors, and entertainment to campus in a community festival free and open to the public. As part of the festival activities, the University will also host a non-profit service fair as well as campus presentations to celebrate service work and community partnerships in Pueblo and Southern Colorado.
For more information, including vendor registration information, please contact David Volk at david.volk@csupueblo.edu or 719.549.2122.
Discover Downtown 2018
Incoming students at Colorado State University-Pueblo and their families once again will descend on Pueblo’s downtown to help kick off the new school year. The 3rd Annual CSU-Pueblo Discover Downtown is set for Friday, August 17, 2018 from 5-8 p.m. on the Riverwalk. This is a great way to welcome new freshmen to our community and introduce them to all that Pueblo has to offer.
Commencement 2018
On Saturday, May 5, friends and relatives of Colorado State University-Pueblo graduates celebrated with more than 650 graduates as they walked in this year's Commencement Ceremony. Graduates and family members who were unable to attend the event in person were able to watch it online.
Pueblo native Thais Magallon received the first diploma as the 2018 recipient of the Threlkeld Prize for Excellence. Named for the late Budge Threlkeld, a former administrator and professor, the award is presented to a graduating senior who demonstrates excellence in academic and co-curricular activities as well as in service to the University and to the community. Magallon will pursue a Master of Social Work degree after graduating summa cum laude (4.0 GPA) with dual degrees in social work and Spanish. Thais works as a bilingual victim advocate for Pueblo Child Advocacy Center providing for Pueblo’s most innocent victims. She has received academic honors and acknowledgements from the Spanish department and College of Humanities and Social Sciences, been inducted into the Alpha Lambda Delta National Academic Honor Society as well as the Sigma Delta Pi Hispanic National Honor Society, where she serves as co-president. Magallon also was a Kane Family Foundation Scholar during her career at CSU-Pueblo.
The second diploma went to Pueblo West native Teagan Boda as winner of the Diane Blackwell President’s Leadership Award. This award is presented to a student who excelled as a student leader with a distinguished record of extraordinary leadership, service, spirit, advocacy, and involvement within the University. Boda is graduated magna cum laude with a double degree in history and political science.
An award-winning 2005 mass communications graduate of Colorado State University-Pueblo who has been involved in numerous Star Wars films and Disney franchise efforts shared her insights with graduates in May. Megan Matousek will presented the Commencement Address during the spring ceremony.
Matousek’s film career began in July 2007 when she worked at LAIKA Animation as a marketing and public relations coordinator and assistant to Oscar-nominated Director Henry Selick, who directed the stop-motion animated film Coraline. Matousek managed asset creation, press events, interviews, and VIP lists for the world premiere of the movie.
Matousek began working for Lucasfilm Ltd. in May 2011 and was initially responsible for marketing and creative content for the Lucasfilm Franchise across all lines of business including, television, film, animation, consumer products, online social media, home entertainment, exhibits and partnerships. She also oversaw and maintained the original creative vision for creative content to increase the Star Wars Franchises reach and relevancy. In May of 2017, she earned a Bronze Cannes Lion from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the Mobile Category as Associate VFX Producer for Battle Test: A Nissan 360-Degree Virtual Reality Experience. She also earned two Lovie Awards in 2013 for Best Entertainment Campaign and People’s Choice for her global social media campaign for Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures Blu-ray Box set release.
In October 2015, Megan moved to Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), where she produced the visual effects for numerous commercials for Star Wars Battlefront II PlayStation, Nissan/Rogue One, Nissan/The Last Jedi, Duracell How the Rebels Saved Christmas, Star Wars Battlefront VR, Verizon Rogue One Recon 360 Experience, and Chrysle/The Force Awakens as well as park commercials for Disney World Hong Kong Star Wars Takeover, Disneyland Paris: Star Wars Galactic Spectacular, and Disney World Star Wars Awakens.
Matousek currently serves as Associate VFX Producer for Industrial Light & Magic in the San Francisco Bay Area. She’s produced more than 100 digital projects for the Walt Disney Company and oversees post-production support teams of VFX artists, support staff, and supervisors for the Star Wars franchise. She has received credits for her work on Coraline, Star Wars The Force Awakens, Star Wars Rogue One, and Star Wars The Last Jedi. Currently, she is working on the upcoming release of SOLO, A Star Wars Story, which is set to release May 25, 2018.
While earning her bachelor's degree at CSU-Pueblo, Matousek was also an announcer/producer at Rev 89 and a member of the CSU-Pueblo Dance Team.
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