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A Foundation in Family and Language

For Laura Marasco (PhD ’03), language is more than communication. It connects generations, identities, and opportunities.

Raised in a close-knit Italian American family, she grew up immersed in language, food, and tradition. Her grandparents came from different regions of Italy and spoke distinct dialects. They could not always understand each other, but they built connections through care. She was surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who shaped her sense of belonging.

Marasco, bottom center, as a child with members of her extended Italian American family, whose strong cultural traditions shaped her early understanding of language and connection.

Understanding Barriers and Choosing a Different Path

As a teenager, Marasco saw her father, an accomplished musician who worked with world-renowned recording artists, denied entry to a country club because he was Italian. The experience stayed with her and shaped her commitment to equity.

As the first in her family to attend college, she lacked a clear roadmap. She asked her grandfather what to study. Instead of Italian, he urged her to study Spanish. She followed his advice, majoring in Spanish and later pursuing graduate study.

Building Pathways Through Education

Marasco became a leader in culturally and linguistically diverse education, and a college administrator of major grants. In Colorado, she helped create pathways for multilingual and first-generation students, including programs that helped instructional assistants become licensed teachers.

Many of her university students completed advanced degrees and returned to serve their communities. Marasco helped them see themselves as future educators and leaders and supported them along the way.

Giving Back to Open Doors for Others

CU Denver holds special meaning for Marasco. While pursuing her doctoral degree, she balanced a demanding full-time career at Colorado Mountain College. Each week, she drove over Vail Pass, often in winter, to make it to CU Denver in-person classes. She showed up with quiet determination. She also remained deeply committed to the master’s students she mentored through a grant funded program, guiding them as they balanced year-round coursework with their careers and family responsibilities. In 2003, everything came full circle when she and her son crossed the same graduation stage on the same day. She earned her PhD in Educational Leadership and Innovation from the School of Education & Human Development (SEHD) and he earned a Master of Public Administration from the School of Public Affairs.

Laura Marasco and her son Seth Douglas Walton celebrate their CU Denver graduation together in 2003, each earning advanced degrees during the same commencement ceremony.

Through her support of SEHD, including the William Goodwin Scholarship, Marasco invests in diverse students as they navigate higher education, careers, and parenting. She also sustains a long-standing connection to the school through a social justice–focused book club that began more than 20 years ago with students in a grant-funded CU Denver master’s program she directed. Today, that community continues to meet over Zoom, with several members having earned their Doctor of Education degrees. This is powerful evidence that Marasco’s mentorship of educators endures, evolves, and shapes the next generation of scholar-practitioners.

Classrooms Without Borders

Marasco’s work extended beyond traditional settings. She led global service-learning experiences in Latin America, where students worked alongside local community members to foster cross-cultural understanding through collaborative, community-based learning.

Students in Italy study geography and language together, using maps to build English skills through shared exploration and conversation.

A student in Italy tries s’mores for the first time during a lesson that blends language learning with cultural exchange.

Today, in her retirement, Marasco volunteers as a teacher of American English in a local library in Umbria, Italy. Her experiential teaching emphasizes curiosity, connection, and cultural exchange. For her students, language becomes a bridge to new experiences.

WHY I GIVE

Laura Marasco SEHD alum and donor

“Earning a PhD while holding a demanding professional role is both humbling and deeply worthwhile. There are times when you feel like you’re barely keeping your head above water, but you keep learning. On the other side, you realize how important it is to help others reach that same goal.”