Severy Family Names Columbine Cartouche

In 1966, newlyweds Larry and Linda Severy were living in Boulder as Larry completed his PhD at CU. “We lived in married student housing on East Campus,” says Linda. “There was a drive-in movie theater next door, and we would sit on our porch to watch the movies since we couldn’t afford to go in!”

They loved cheering on the Buffs at Folsom field; “We remember the days when Colorado would beat Nebraska,” Linda laughs. And they would hike the Colorado Rockies, where they recall stumbling upon enormous fields of columbines, Colorado’s state flower.

Now, after retiring from careers spanning academia, public health, marketing and athletics,  they returned to Boulder.

This year, they decided to name a cartouche, or stone ornament, in the new Center for Community. There are a total of 25 cartouches in the new Center for Community Building, each of which is a stone flower representing a country or location that is significant to CU-Boulder. The Severy Family made a $10,000 gift to name the Colorado columbine cartouche, honoring the state they consider home.

“We were very impressed with how the building is designed to bring together students from all different backgrounds and prepare them for different aspects of real life,” says Larry. “Now that we are in a position to give back, this was an initiative we wanted to support.”

One more reason they support the Center for Community: their daughter Dr. Lisa Severy, Director of Career Services, will soon work and spend much of her time there. In fact, the Severys casually refer to the center as “Lisa’s Building.”

“We went to visit the new building and see our cartouche,” says Linda. “The columbine is on the highest tower, and ours overlooks the main campus area. It’s breathtaking.”

For more information about the Center for Community, visit the C4C website.

To see the cartouches available, click here.

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