28 debs feted at the 63rd Denver Debutante Ball at the Brown Palace
The phrase “home for the holidays” had an especially nice ring to it this year for 28 college freshmen whose late-december stays in the Mile High City included plenty of time with friends and family—and their presentation at the 63rd Denver Debutante Ball.
Chaired by Julie Wham and held at the Brown Palace Hotel, the ball is a benefit for Denver Botanic Gardens. Wham and her husband, Richard, were joined in the receiving line by ball cochair Suzanne Coxhead and her husband Thomas; honorary chair Dawn Wood and her husband, Willis; and University of Colorado president Bruce Benson and his wife, Marcy. Bruce Benson’s granddaughter, Kate Burney, was a debutante in 2017.
Ric Bellmar and Brad Coors were the masters of ceremony, introducing the debutante class of 2018, whose members included Sophia Corbett, a neurosciences major at Santa Clara University and the granddaughter of Colorado’s first Hispanic federal judge, and Lily Dines, who helped build schools and canals in Peru and helped clean up a river in Spain while attending Kent Denver School. The UCLA freshman is the great-greatgreat-granddaughter of Benjamin Eaton, the fourth governor of Colorado.
Debutante Molly Jordan Little was a five-sport varsity athlete at Thomas Jefferson High School. Her great-aunt, Sally Winters Rippey, was presented at the first Denver Debutante Ball and her great-grandfather, Joseph F. Little, was the first mayor of Cherry Hills Village. She is a Boettcher Scholar at Cu-boulder, majoring in integrative physiology.
“The Denver Debutante Ball’s focus is about giving back to the community and making Denver a better place in which to live,” Wham explained, adding that proceeds from the ball have provided funding for such Denver Botanic Gardens initiatives as the Veterans Farming program.
The 2018 debs also included Lila Arnold, a member of Colorado Academy’s 2017 Mock Trial state championship team now studying business at the University of North Carlinachapel Hill; Avery Butler, who was senior class president at St. Mary’s Academy before enrolling at the University of Oregon; Elise Corporan, a member of Alpha Phi sorority at CU Boulder and founder of Flipping for Downs, a charity honoring her brother, Scotty, who has Down syndrome; and Julia Dellasalle, who was student body co-president and a synchronized swimming state champion at Mullen High School before enrolling at Leeds School of Business at CU Boulder.
Kent Denver grad Sarah Den ck eris a member of the rowing team at the University of Notre Dame. Prior to enrolling at Moravian College in Pennsylvania, Sarah Emmanuel was a member of the St. Mary’s Academy varsity tennis team. Kent Denver grad and Cu-boulder freshman Lauren Eppich wrote a poem that was a finalist in the 2018 New York Times Found Poetry Contest.
Isabel Haifleigh was an AP Scholar at Kent, where she was editor of the student newspaper. She attends Wake Forest University. Samantha Hickerson, a fifth-generation Coloradan and freshman at the University of Denver, is the granddaughter of Diane Hickerson, who chaired the Denver Debutante Ball in 1986 and 1987. Claire Hutchison graduated cum laude from Kent Denver and is in the honors program at the University of Georgia. Madeline Johnson was on the Dean’s List at Kent and worked with special needs clients at Adam’s Camp before enrolling at UCLA.
Kaitlyn Kennedy, a Valor High grad now majoring in integrated marketing communications at Pepperdine University, has made mission trips to Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Rwanda and shanty towns in South Africa. Hannah Lester, granddaughter of former ball chair Sharon Martin, graduated cum laude from Regis Jesuit High School and is now studying at Denison University.
Cordelia Lowry, a freshman at Princeton, was co-president of the Outstanding Women’s Club at Kent; Caroline Marks was a four-year member of the High Honor Roll at Dawson High School in Boulder and was the 2018 Dancer of the Year at Production Company Dance Centre. She attends Baylor University.
Natasha Mcclain, a Rock Canyon High grad, is on the ladies golf team at Colorado Mesa University and helps run her family’s annual golf tournament that raises money for children with Epidermolysis Bullosa.
Katherine Neu is attending the University of South Carolina after graduating from Arapahoe High School, where she was a member of the National Honor Society. Julianna Pook, a freshman at Lafayette College, was captain of Kent’s soccer team and served on the youth advisory board for A Precious Child.
Carolyn Robbins was on the Dean’ s list at kent and the recipient of the 2017 Taylor Friendship Ring. She attends the University of Southern California. Trinity Rollins was editor of Kent’s literary magazine and has been published by the Live Poets Society of New Jersey. She attends Smith College. Katherine Sawyer was captain of the East High lacrosse team and was on East’s nationally ranked Constitutional Scholars team. She attends Tulane University. Wylie Schwartz, a freshman at Elon University, is the great-niece of former ball chair Pam Bansbach and was on the honor roll at Regis Jesuit High School. Her mother, the late Tracy Collins Schwartz, was a debutante in 1985.
Kathleen Trigg was editor of the Littleton High yearbook and captain of the varsity tennis team. Her twin sisters were debutantes in 2015. She is a member of Chi Omega sorority at Cuboulder. Brielle Walker, a business student at Cal Poly-san Luis Obispo, is a graduate of Cate School in California. There, she co-founded a lacrosse-centered empowerment program for lowincome Latinas and made annual trips to Mexico to improve elementary school facilities and provide meals to children.
Kelly Wulf, a student at the University of Virginia, was captain and the 2018 MVP of East High’s varsity tennis team and like Katherine Sawyer was a member of the 2017 Constitutional Scholars team.