Under an open tent in Skyline Park on Thursday, a Metropolitan State College professor lectured to his students and hoped to catch the attention of an occasional passerby.
Professor Robert Hazan’s microphone and the tent-classroom’s open walls were meant to draw in parkgoers and workers on their lunch breaks. It’s an effort that college officials hope will bring town and gown closer together.
Since June, Metro State has held classes in Skyline park twice a week to try to attract attention to the school, located just a few blocks away on the other side of Speer Boulevard. But for most downtowners, it’s another world.
An image consultant came to campus last month and told school officials they had a “Speer gap,” college spokeswoman Cathy Lucas said.
“All of our students stay here at Metro, and the business community stays on the other side of Speer,” Lucas said. “We might as well be in the Denver Tech Center.”
By bringing professors and students to the heart of Denver for classes, officials hope to make the 37,000-student campus more visible, Lucas said.
Hazan said he designed his lectures to appeal to large audiences – Thursday’s American government class was on the upcoming G8 summit and Russian-American relations.
While Hazan lectured, a banner hanging from the tent advertised the class to onlookers, including diners at nearby restaurants.
“What we’re hoping is … people pull up a chair and listen in,” said Carol Svendsen, executive director of the college’s extended campus program. “People will have a sense of what a great resource Metro State is, and how close it really is.”
For much of Thursday’s lecture, no one grabbed a chair and sat down, although a few people paused to read the banner or listen in.
One was Brad Rogers, who works downtown. “I haven’t had a reason to notice (Metro State),” he said as he ate a salad in the park. But Rogers said he might drop by a park lecture someday now that he knows about the classes.
A more visible campus could draw in downtown workers who want to take classes to supplement their education, Svendsen said, or companies interested in recruiting graduates.
The outdoor classes are also a chance to showcase the quality of the professors and students, Svendsen said. The image consultant said the college’s reputation as a “last-hope, four-year community college” is a misconception the school must dispel by remaking its image.
The classes are a cooperative effort with the Downtown Denver Partnership. The partnership thought Skyline Park could get a boost from hosting the lectures, and businesses would benefit if students spent more money downtown, said Sarah McClean, spokeswoman for the partnership.
The summer lectures come to an end next week, but the college hopes to offer more in the fall.
Staff writer Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer can be reached at 303-820-1316 or awittmeyer@denverpost.com.
