Even though we've only known each other for less than two years, this episode feels like one between two old friends. The newly-minted Dr. Jen Gagne, Executive Director of Admissions at Colorado School of Mines, brings warmth and wit while digging into important stuff: pathways to thriving for queer-spectrum students, how she navigated being an internal candidate, why grad schools are structurally “separate and replicated,” and a spot-on pattern-match between kindergarteners and first-year college students.

We also hit college football haircuts (yes, really), her terrific bucket-list twist on the B&B.

Stick around for the epilogue where we swap stories about high-touch, memorable college welcome rituals that create community and belonging.

Highlights

00:00 — An unusual opening and origin stories
03:30 — Overseeing undergrad and grad admissions at Colorado School of Mines.
04:50 — Mountains, mines, and the glowing “M” that lights up Golden.
05:50 — College football haircuts and mustaches (look it up, friends).
06:30 — From interim to Executive Director.
08:10 — Doctoral work on queer-spectrum students and the college experience.
09:30 — Language matters: why Jen uses “queer spectrum and trans spectrum.”
11:00 — Invisible minorities, safe-space signals, and vanishing LGBTQ centers.
15:20 — Inside view: navigating the tricky path of being an internal candidate.
19:30 — A non-traditional path through advising, career, and student life to EM.
22:20 — Why graduate admissions feels “separate and replicated.”
26:30 — The complexity of overlapping grad cycles and constant motion.
29:50 — Finding community and confidence in Colorado’s admissions network.
31:20 — Leadership in flux: “If you say you know what to do, you’re lying or delusional.”
33:35 — Pattern matching: how kindergartners and first-year students share the same transition.
36:00 — Rapid Descent, (HOT TO GO!, Handsome, and The Speed of Trust)
45:15 — Epilogue: Helluva Welcome week, ten-pound rocks, whitewashing the “M,” and hard-hats. Also, class colors, dirt and the formula for chlorophyll.

The ALP is supported by RHB, a division of SIG. Music arranged by Ryan Anselment