[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10739]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING DAVID GETCHES

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, I rise today to honor one of 
Colorado's great educators and community leaders, David Getches, who 
passed away on Tuesday, July 5, 2011, at the too-young age of 68.
  This is more than a poignant moment for me. I had planned to come to 
the floor to discuss David Getches' career and character because he was 
stepping down after 8 very productive years as the dean of the 
University of Colorado Law School.
  We all have had this terrible experience in our lives when somebody 
whom we love and respect suddenly finds they have a cancer that is 
aggressive--beyond aggressive. Literally a month ago, David was 
diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In the 4 weeks since that time, that 
cancer stole him from us. But he was always upbeat. He was always 
someone who we looked to for enthusiasm and inspiration. I will be 
inspired in my remarks today by what he did. I will attempt not to 
dwell on his loss.
  As I said, Dean Getches served as dean of the Colorado Law School for 
the last 8 years. With him at the helm, CU Law became one of the most 
forward-looking institutions of legal training in the country. I want 
to share a few examples of his vision and leadership. I could not cover 
all of them if I had a full hour. I want to share some of them with the 
Senate and with his friends and admirers in Colorado.
  He steered this school through the construction of the new LEED 
Certified Wolf Law Building, which put CU and its law school at the 
cutting edge of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency--two 
ideas that were connected to the values that Getches was committed to 
fostering throughout his career. Getches previously served as executive 
director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and as an 
adviser to the Interior Secretary in the Clinton administration. He had 
an extensive background in water, environmental, and public lands law. 
Through his work, Getches impressed upon all Coloradans the importance 
of good stewardship of our State's precious natural resources.
  Mr. President, I am not a lawyer, but I do know Dean Getches' efforts 
to teach and share the legal framework that protects our resources 
could not have been more critical to preserving our Western way of 
life.
  David Getches left a lasting impression on the demographic 
composition of CU Law School. He was committed to a student body 
composed of people from many different backgrounds and cultures, and 
that commitment made an indelible impact on the school and on 
Colorado's legal community. In 2008, the Hispanic Bar Association 
awarded him their Community Service Award for increasing Hispanic 
enrollment, and he also assembled one of the most diverse 
administrative teams of any law school in the country. He didn't stop 
there, however. He then created a commission to produce a 
groundbreaking report on diversity in the legal profession and how to 
increase diversity in law firm recruitment. The highly skilled and 
diverse alumni of the CU Law School reflects his efforts and successes.
  David Getches also built a legacy of legal access to legal education 
for all. He worked to expand scholarships and financial aid awarded by 
the law school to worthy students regardless of their financial 
background, increasing scholarship awards from $600,000 in 2004 to a 
hefty $2.1 million in 3 short years by 2007.
  In 2008, he worked with the Colorado State Legislature to pass a law 
allowing public universities to offer loan repayment assistance grants 
to graduates practicing public interest law and more recently founded 
an endowment to award grants to CU Law School graduates in the public 
sector.
  What Dean Getches did by reducing the cost of law school was make 
public service a viable alternative to private practice for bright, 
idealistic graduates of the law school. Without question, those 
students, CU Law School, the State of Colorado, and I would venture to 
say the country will reap the benefits in the future from David 
Getches' foresight and thoughtful investments.
  At the heart of why I wanted to come to the floor today was that I 
think we know we can all learn from Dean David Getches' passion for 
giving back to whatever community in which he found himself. He led a 
life of service, and he also compiled an impressive academic record as 
well as serving as the dean of CU Law School. He was, at his core, 
committed to the future of his children, our children, our 
grandchildren, and his grandchildren, and he had a deep love for the 
Rocky Mountain Western way of life. He was an avid outdoorsman, he was 
fit, and he faced any and all physical challenges just like he faced 
intellectual and emotional challenges. As I said in the beginning of my 
remarks, he was a mentor to all of us, and he always had his eye on the 
future. I know, as painful as it is for all of us who knew him to lose 
him so suddenly, he would want us to be focused on the future.
  Dean Getches did this and much more for Colorado and our country, and 
I just want to close with this, Mr. President. We have lost a unique 
man and a towering Colorado figure.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.

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