It is not every day that the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Alumni Association has much affiliation with events happening across the mountains from the school. But on Saturday March 9, CMU and the CMU Alumni Association partnered with the Denver Nuggets and Ball Arena to give CMU alumni an amazing evening.

“This is my first alumni event ever, since I graduated,” said 2018 graduate Nash Dohman. “And this is the best way to reintroduce myself into Maverick culture on the Front Range.”

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The doors to Ball Arena were opened for the CMU alumni group at 5:20 p.m. and the dozen or so Mavs, with their friends and family, were brought into the arena and seated courtside behind the visitor team’s bench while the Denver Nuggets ran their pregame warm ups.

Though there wasn’t much attention drawn to the small crowd of former students, that didn’t stop them from proudly marching through the security lines in the arena and through the hallways down to the court while exclaiming that they were from CMU.

Since this was a rare occasion where the Alumni Association had an event in Denver, this drew some attention from former students scattered across the United States.

“I flew in from Montana after seeing that email. I love the Nuggets and I love the Mavs. So it was like the perfect combo. I would never miss it, never,” said 2018 graduate Tess Sanders.

Sanders was joined by her parents, who also made the trip down from Montana.

Giving alumni access to the courtside front row during pre-game warm ups made everyone who attended the game feel special.

“Mesa is already one of the top schools in Colorado. We all loved it. […] I think that it’s just gonna make it bigger. I mean, if they want to be D1, that’s how they do it. They go to the Front Range, and they have to talk to people. So if they want to be D1, they have to come over here,” said 2021 graduate Sydney Bray.

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The outreach to former students who have moved beyond Grand Junction in conjunction with the atmosphere inside of a sports arena, made the entire evening move extremely quickly. Even though the CMU Alumni were not able to remain at their courtside seats as long as anyone would have preferred, the evening was only just getting started.

Everyone in attendance was treated to a spectacle of a game, where the Denver Nuggets handily beat the Utah Jazz 142-121.

Every alum who turned up at the game was loud, vivacious and more than willing to let anyone around them know that they were from CMU. Giving them a stage like Ball Arena to show off their Maverick Pride only made them band together and show off more.

“It spreads the excitement that I have felt being an alum,” Sanders said.

The CMU Alumni Association hosts events constantly throughout the year, trying to keep former students involved in the happenings on campus and in the world. After a successful turnout at the Denver Nuggets game, there may be more events beginning to happen in the Denver area.