Colorado Law School Alumni Awards (1990-93 Era): Vine DeLoria, Jr., & Michael Carrigan
Legend of the Month: Vine Deloria, Jr. (’70)
August 27, 2012
This month, Colorado Law pays tribute to another truly legendary alum, Vine Deloria, Jr., a lawyer and theologian, known to many as the leading American Indian intellectual of the 20th century. Deloria, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, was born in 1933 in Martin, South Dakota, near the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. After graduating in 1951 from Kent School, a private college-preparatory school in Connecticut, Deloria served in the Marines for several years. In 1958, Deloria graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in general science. Later, he earned a master’s degree in theology from Lutheran School of Theology in 1963 and a JD from Colorado Law in 1970.
After law school, Deloria accepted a teaching position at the Western Washington University College of Ethnic Studies. As a tenured professor of political science at the University of Arizona from 1978 to 1990, Deloria established the first master’s degree program in American Indian Studies. He joined the University of Colorado faculty in 1990, where he taught until his retirement in 2000. During his tenure at CU-Boulder, Deloria was affiliated with Colorado Law and the departments of history, ethnic studies, religious studies, and political science.
Deloria was a giant in the realm of American Indian policy. From 1964 to 1967, Deloria served as the executive director for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), reviving the organization and laying the foundation for its contemporary prominence. Under his leadership, NCAI’s membership grew from 19 to 156 tribes, became financially stable, and brought its platform of tribal sovereignty to the attention of Congress and the Executive Branch.
In 1969, Deloria published Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, the first of more than 20 books he would write during his career. The book is considered one of the most prominent works ever written on American Indian affairs. Custer asserted a vibrant Indian presence, drove the tribal struggle into the national spotlight, and became a centerpiece of the movement for tribal “self-determination,” a principle now recognized in tribal, federal, and international law.
Deloria’s publications spanned several fields including law, education, anthropology, philosophy, and religion. In addition to his own studies in theology, Deloria was the grandson of a medicine man and son of an Episcopalian minister, a heritage that he wrote about in Singing for a Spirit: A Portrait of the Dakota Sioux. In 1974, following the publication of his book, God is Red: A Native View of Religion, Time Magazine named Deloria one of the “primary movers and shapers” of Christian faith and theology. Deloria received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas in 1996 and the Wallace Stegner Award from the University of Colorado’s Center for the American West in 2002.
Colorado Law Professor Charles Wilkinson, a nationally renowned Native American affairs scholar and Deloria’s personal friend, once wrote, “the modern tribal sovereignty movement has had no single great inspirational leader, no Martin Luther King, Jr., no Cesar Chavez.... Yet if one person may be singled out, it is Vine Deloria, Jr." Deloria’s influence in Washington, DC, in Indian Country, and in academia can be felt to this day. At Colorado Law, the American Indian Law Program honors Deloria through a spirited tradition of research, service, and engagement with Indian tribes. Even though Deloria is gone, his legacy continues.
http://lawweb.colorado.edu/news/showArticle.jsp?id=739
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Alumni of the Month
September 2012: Michael Carrigan ('94)
In many ways, Michael Carrigan grew up at the University of Colorado. Carrigan comes from a true CU family; his father, Jim Carrigan, was a professor and member of the Board of Regents, and five of the six Carrigan children are CU alumni, including three Colorado Law graduates. After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1990, Carrigan returned to CU and earned his JD from Colorado Law in 1994.
During his third year at Colorado Law, Carrigan interned with the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office and tried 18 cases. After law school, Carrigan clerked for the Honorable Clarence Brimmer in the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming. Carrigan returned to Colorado in 1995 and went to work for the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office. In 1997, he moved to the Denver District Attorney's Office where he worked for Denver DA (and later Colorado Governor) Bill Ritter ('81). Carrigan thrived as a prosecutor, trying more than 100 cases. In 2000, he joined a small plaintiff's firm that specialized in bad faith insurance claims. After taking a year off to do volunteer service, Carrigan resumed his private practice, this time as a partner with the Denver firm of Holland & Hart, where he currently practices.
Volunteer service is a huge part of Carrigan's life. In 2002, Carrigan and his wife, Sarah, left their jobs and moved to La Paz, Bolivia where they spent a year working on various education and health projects in some of the region's poorest areas. Carrigan was a board member of the American Red Cross's Mile High Chapter, and currently serves as the pro bono attorney for Easter Seals Colorado. In addition, he has volunteered for numerous local service projects, homeless shelters, non-profit organizations, and state boards. Carrigan is frequently recognized both for his practice as a lawyer and his service to the community. For example, Carrigan has been recognized as one of Colorado's top attorneys for the last four years by Colorado Super Lawyers; in 2005 the Denver Business Journal named him one of its "Forty Under 40"; and in 2005 he received the "Outstanding Community Service Award" from the Colorado Institute for Leadership Training.
Carrigan's commitment to CU and to Colorado Law is evident from his ongoing involvement with both communities. Carrigan has served on the University of Colorado Board of Regents since 2004, and this summer he was elected by a bipartisan vote of his colleagues to serve as the Chair of the Board of Regents. Every year, Carrigan and his siblings judge the final round of the popular Jim R. Carrigan Cup mock trial competition at Colorado Law. The cup was established in honor of former federal district judge Jim Carrigan, and the two top teams in the competition are selected to represent Colorado Law at the National Moot Trial Competition, the nation's oldest and most prestigious trial advocacy competition.
Five Questions for Michael Carrigan
What is your fondest memory of being a student at Colorado Law?
While it might sound strange, the summer I took the bar was the one of the best summers of my life. The classes were full of my friends, and we could only study so many hours a day, so we had to make time for socializing and enjoying Colorado.
What do you know now that you wish you had known in law school?
That the ability to take a law school exam has very little to do with the practice of law.
What advice would you give to current students as they're preparing to graduate?
The beauty of a law degree is that it can lead you to many different careers in the same profession. In less than 20 years I've worked as a law clerk, as a public prosecutor, in a small firm, in a big firm, and as a public official.
Who was the biggest influence on your career?
Denver District Attorney (later Governor) Bill Ritter ('81). His commitment to the justice system and to the duty of public prosecutors made a lasting impression on me.
Of what accomplishment are you most proud?
In 2009-2010, I represented a construction contractor who was framed by a customer for stealing project funds. Not only was I able to convince the prosecutor to drop the case, I brought suit against the accusers and secured a seven figure, public settlement for my client. It was a wonderful testament for the positive role lawyers have in the lives of our clients.
http://www.colorado.edu/law/alumdev/alumofthemonth.htm
August 27, 2012
This month, Colorado Law pays tribute to another truly legendary alum, Vine Deloria, Jr., a lawyer and theologian, known to many as the leading American Indian intellectual of the 20th century. Deloria, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, was born in 1933 in Martin, South Dakota, near the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. After graduating in 1951 from Kent School, a private college-preparatory school in Connecticut, Deloria served in the Marines for several years. In 1958, Deloria graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in general science. Later, he earned a master’s degree in theology from Lutheran School of Theology in 1963 and a JD from Colorado Law in 1970.
After law school, Deloria accepted a teaching position at the Western Washington University College of Ethnic Studies. As a tenured professor of political science at the University of Arizona from 1978 to 1990, Deloria established the first master’s degree program in American Indian Studies. He joined the University of Colorado faculty in 1990, where he taught until his retirement in 2000. During his tenure at CU-Boulder, Deloria was affiliated with Colorado Law and the departments of history, ethnic studies, religious studies, and political science.
Deloria was a giant in the realm of American Indian policy. From 1964 to 1967, Deloria served as the executive director for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), reviving the organization and laying the foundation for its contemporary prominence. Under his leadership, NCAI’s membership grew from 19 to 156 tribes, became financially stable, and brought its platform of tribal sovereignty to the attention of Congress and the Executive Branch.
In 1969, Deloria published Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, the first of more than 20 books he would write during his career. The book is considered one of the most prominent works ever written on American Indian affairs. Custer asserted a vibrant Indian presence, drove the tribal struggle into the national spotlight, and became a centerpiece of the movement for tribal “self-determination,” a principle now recognized in tribal, federal, and international law.
Deloria’s publications spanned several fields including law, education, anthropology, philosophy, and religion. In addition to his own studies in theology, Deloria was the grandson of a medicine man and son of an Episcopalian minister, a heritage that he wrote about in Singing for a Spirit: A Portrait of the Dakota Sioux. In 1974, following the publication of his book, God is Red: A Native View of Religion, Time Magazine named Deloria one of the “primary movers and shapers” of Christian faith and theology. Deloria received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas in 1996 and the Wallace Stegner Award from the University of Colorado’s Center for the American West in 2002.
Colorado Law Professor Charles Wilkinson, a nationally renowned Native American affairs scholar and Deloria’s personal friend, once wrote, “the modern tribal sovereignty movement has had no single great inspirational leader, no Martin Luther King, Jr., no Cesar Chavez.... Yet if one person may be singled out, it is Vine Deloria, Jr." Deloria’s influence in Washington, DC, in Indian Country, and in academia can be felt to this day. At Colorado Law, the American Indian Law Program honors Deloria through a spirited tradition of research, service, and engagement with Indian tribes. Even though Deloria is gone, his legacy continues.
http://lawweb.colorado.edu/news/showArticle.jsp?id=739
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Alumni of the Month
September 2012: Michael Carrigan ('94)
In many ways, Michael Carrigan grew up at the University of Colorado. Carrigan comes from a true CU family; his father, Jim Carrigan, was a professor and member of the Board of Regents, and five of the six Carrigan children are CU alumni, including three Colorado Law graduates. After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1990, Carrigan returned to CU and earned his JD from Colorado Law in 1994.
During his third year at Colorado Law, Carrigan interned with the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office and tried 18 cases. After law school, Carrigan clerked for the Honorable Clarence Brimmer in the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming. Carrigan returned to Colorado in 1995 and went to work for the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office. In 1997, he moved to the Denver District Attorney's Office where he worked for Denver DA (and later Colorado Governor) Bill Ritter ('81). Carrigan thrived as a prosecutor, trying more than 100 cases. In 2000, he joined a small plaintiff's firm that specialized in bad faith insurance claims. After taking a year off to do volunteer service, Carrigan resumed his private practice, this time as a partner with the Denver firm of Holland & Hart, where he currently practices.
Volunteer service is a huge part of Carrigan's life. In 2002, Carrigan and his wife, Sarah, left their jobs and moved to La Paz, Bolivia where they spent a year working on various education and health projects in some of the region's poorest areas. Carrigan was a board member of the American Red Cross's Mile High Chapter, and currently serves as the pro bono attorney for Easter Seals Colorado. In addition, he has volunteered for numerous local service projects, homeless shelters, non-profit organizations, and state boards. Carrigan is frequently recognized both for his practice as a lawyer and his service to the community. For example, Carrigan has been recognized as one of Colorado's top attorneys for the last four years by Colorado Super Lawyers; in 2005 the Denver Business Journal named him one of its "Forty Under 40"; and in 2005 he received the "Outstanding Community Service Award" from the Colorado Institute for Leadership Training.
Carrigan's commitment to CU and to Colorado Law is evident from his ongoing involvement with both communities. Carrigan has served on the University of Colorado Board of Regents since 2004, and this summer he was elected by a bipartisan vote of his colleagues to serve as the Chair of the Board of Regents. Every year, Carrigan and his siblings judge the final round of the popular Jim R. Carrigan Cup mock trial competition at Colorado Law. The cup was established in honor of former federal district judge Jim Carrigan, and the two top teams in the competition are selected to represent Colorado Law at the National Moot Trial Competition, the nation's oldest and most prestigious trial advocacy competition.
Five Questions for Michael Carrigan
What is your fondest memory of being a student at Colorado Law?
While it might sound strange, the summer I took the bar was the one of the best summers of my life. The classes were full of my friends, and we could only study so many hours a day, so we had to make time for socializing and enjoying Colorado.
What do you know now that you wish you had known in law school?
That the ability to take a law school exam has very little to do with the practice of law.
What advice would you give to current students as they're preparing to graduate?
The beauty of a law degree is that it can lead you to many different careers in the same profession. In less than 20 years I've worked as a law clerk, as a public prosecutor, in a small firm, in a big firm, and as a public official.
Who was the biggest influence on your career?
Denver District Attorney (later Governor) Bill Ritter ('81). His commitment to the justice system and to the duty of public prosecutors made a lasting impression on me.
Of what accomplishment are you most proud?
In 2009-2010, I represented a construction contractor who was framed by a customer for stealing project funds. Not only was I able to convince the prosecutor to drop the case, I brought suit against the accusers and secured a seven figure, public settlement for my client. It was a wonderful testament for the positive role lawyers have in the lives of our clients.
http://www.colorado.edu/law/alumdev/alumofthemonth.htm