CMU's Growth During the 2000s was Fueled by Critical Decisions Made in the 1990s
In 2004, Tim Foster was new on campus. He’d just been named the president of Mesa State College. After a national search for someone to lead the university, Foster was at the helm as a self-described “non-traditional president.”
It was a pivotal point in CMU’s history. After several years of flat enrollment in the 1990s, it started to slowly tick up in the early 2000s. But Foster saw challenges that were keeping CMU from reaching its full potential.
“Mesa was just stuck in the mud and treading water,” Foster said.
Foster, who’d previously served as the executive director of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, had been privy to see what worked well at other universities and colleges around the state.
A key part of his role was meeting with leaders in higher education and visiting their campuses. Some of his early decisions focused on cost-cutting initiatives to help rectify financial challenges.
“We were spending more money than we were taking in,” Foster explained.
Foster also recognized the need for the physical campus to change if CMU was going to grow.
He began implementing plans to build and expand CMU during a period of growth that would see the student body nearly double in size during the next decade and a half. While challenges existed in 2004, a few foundational bricks of the university’s growth had been laid more than a decade before.
Bursting at the Seams
By the late 1980s, CMU was feeling growing pains. The campus’ footprint limited its ability to accommodate new buildings and critical infrastructure like residence halls. The campus only existed on a two-block by six-block-wide grid, which caused congestion and an overarching need to expand.
Campus leadership had ideas on how to address the problem. In 1989, the administration discussed an idea to eliminate the lawn and trees to the west of Houston Hall to support additional parking space. However, the students protested the plan and caused the administration to abandon the initiative.
By 1993, there was no vacancy in campus housing and a long waitlist. Free parking came to an end as surface lots were needed for future residence halls. CMU simply did not have enough land to support its much-needed infrastructure improvements. The following year, President Raymond Kieft, PhD, proposed a bold concept to solve the issue.
Kieft suggested CMU take over nearby Lincoln Park and its nine-hole golf course to alleviate the growth pressures and provide land for campus expansion.
This idea also met fierce opposition, this time from the Grand Junction community. However, it was effective in sparking a movement that would rally CMU and the community around expanding a vital pillar of the Grand Valley.
The First Fundraiser
While Lincoln Park didn’t become CMU’s campus property, there were other opportunities in the area to expand. Doug and Jamee Simons, who attended CMU in the 1970s, were part of those early efforts.
Through 1995 and 1996, the Mesa State Foundation launched a capital campaign to purchase nearby land and aging homes. Those investments would free CMU from its landlocked state and enable significant expansion for the first time in years.
“It was the first fundraiser to help the university start buying land to the west,” Doug said. “We were part of that initial surge of buying property.”
Along with fundraising efforts, CMU received approval to build two three-story residence halls. Opening in the fall 1997 semester, Monument Hall was the first significant new building on campus in more than a decade and the first new student housing since 1978.
During this same period, the fundraising efforts by the Foundation and contributors, like the Simons, had put CMU in a position to build a new academic building.
The campus’s newest fine arts facility opened in 2002, which provided breathing room for CMU’s fine arts and performing arts. Investment in the arts became ever present with the 2024 construction of the Asteria Theatre, which the Simon’s family would contribute to later down the road.
These critical moments — and an initial, outlandish proposal to take over a golf course — helped shape CMU’s trajectory and set it up for the next two decades, which would completely alter the university’s path.
Early Signs of Momentum
“It was an interesting time to come on board,” Foster said when remembering the beginning of his tenure.
Despite the challenges he and his administration faced, the slow build of momentum that really kicked off in the 1990s and the new facilities funded by those early initiatives were the beginning of what was to come.
Throughout the next decade and a half, CMU would nearly double its campus square footage and expand degree offerings across the board. The goal was to renovate every square foot of academic space.
Foster explained that many of the early decisions were made with the understanding that growing and attracting new students and retaining current ones required investments in the campus, even if those investments meant temporary construction pains.
He recalled a conversation with a soon-to-graduate student-athlete who said everything was changing when she moved onto campus.
“There were just holes everywhere and everything was under construction,” she said. But she stayed and so did many others.
“We went from [a] 57% to 75% [retention rate],” Foster said. “So, you’re growing, and you’re also able to retain students at a higher level, and so that’s a positive sign as well.”
Everyone Played a Role
In 2024, CMU reached a milestone of more than 10,000 enrolled students. More than double the 4,000-plus students enrolled during the 90s, and the 5,750 who attended in 2005.
The campus size also doubled, as it now covers 864,000 square feet compared to 451,600 square feet when Foster took the helm.
Along the way, strategic investments and decisions have led to CMU’s growth in student body and campus facilities. Foster attributes much of the growth to the buy-in from the Grand Junction community.
“The relationship between the community and this school is like no other,” Foster said. “It is so vibrant. Mesa exists because of the community.”
The Simons agree.
“Our community is a giving community. When there’s a need, everyone steps up,” Jamee Simons said.
A Landmark Project for the Arts
Jamee and Doug Simons have had the unique pleasure of seeing CMU grow from the time they were students through today. As Grand Junction residents, they’ve had a front row seat for all the changes and played a role in making many of them happen.
CMU is a special place because it’s where they met in the band onstage at Robinson Theatre. Their passion for the arts was sparked when Doug was an active member of the theatre during his time at CMU.
Doug and Jamee Simon’s passion for Grand Junction, combined with their passion for CMU, has helped extend their impact into the community.
It was a memorable moment when they had the opportunity to chair the campaign that would raise funds for one of campus’ newest additions, the Asteria Theatre.
The campaign raised $1.5 million for the project, which opened in 2024 and serves not only CMU students, but all of western Colorado.
“We now have the largest theater between Denver and Salt Lake,” Doug Simons said. “It’s an out-of-the-park addition to the university and our community."
100 Years and $100 Million
As CMU commemorates its 100th anniversary, it’s well-positioned to continue growing for the next 100 years.
The CMU Century Project has committed to investing $100 million in the campus for its students and the community, continuing its multi-million-dollar impact on the Grand Junction economy.
Future projects will enhance the campus experience. The Formation District, located in the southwest quadrant of campus, will soon open its first residential units, the Centennial Village Apartments. More than 80 apartments with over 300 beds will provide a new home for students and meet the need for housing as the student population expands.
The Formation District Food Hall will also include national brands like Panera Bread and Jamba Juice. The space will serve students, faculty and the public.
Existing spaces, like the historic Davis House — built in 1925 — are being renovated and preserved to host faculty dinners and community gatherings. In addition, CMU has fully renovated The Moss Performing Arts Center to continue serving the performing arts on campus.
Keep the Momentum Going
It was momentum in the 1990s that helped CMU grow in the 2000s. Foster said the university’s culture is a lot like momentum.
When it’s going in the right direction, everything can fall into place. But when it stops, it’s hard to restart.
He believes President John Marshall has built plenty of momentum.
“He’s got that momentum and he’s keeping it,” Foster said.
When he looks back over the last two decades and remembers his early days as president, Foster said he knew what CMU could become.
“There was never any doubt in my mind in terms of what was going to happen,” Foster said.