In fall 2024, the Cornell Club of Colorado (CCoC) renamed its scholarship in honor of Keo Latel Frazier ’00, the regional club’s former president, who died on June 10, 2024.
“We wanted to do our part to carry on Keo’s formidable legacy by ensuring a Cornell education remains accessible to all deserving Coloradans,” says Makenna Nielsen MBA ’15, the club’s vice president and chief marketing officer. “The scholarship will also serve as a loving reminder for us to live as Keo would have: creating long-lasting impact, breaking barriers, challenging limiting beliefs, and leading fearlessly with heart.”
Gary Schueller ’03, the president of CCoC, says that renaming the scholarship animates the club’s values—one that is impelled by service to others and inspired by a spirit of imagination and the power of collaboration.
“The scholarship is a constant reminder that the Cornell experience is transcendent,” Schueller explains. “We, as alumni, have a unique opportunity to steward all that Cornell represents and live up to Keo’s ideals.”
Friends describe Keo as embodying curiosity and creativity. At Cornell, she was deeply engaged in various organizations, including the Pamoja-Ni Gospel Choir, the Quill and Dagger Society, and the Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority. She maintained a strong connection to the sorority and later served as a national trustee.
After graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences, Keo returned to her home state and became a trailblazer in the burgeoning field of guerilla marketing. A proud Coloradan, Keo strived to positively impact Denver throughout her life. In a 2016 blog post on KEOS Marketing Group, she wrote:
My charge in life is to make a positive impact. Whether this is at a micro-level by picking up other’s trash, at the human level by donating my time or money to those in need, or at the macro-level of influencing a brand in marketing that affects us all.
Nancy Neuman ’90 describes Keo as someone who was always thinking, planning, stewing, collaborating, and connecting. “She was just nonstop, larger than life.”
This dedication and perseverance earned her numerous accolades, including:
- Denver Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Winner, 2012
- ColoradoBiz Magazine’s Top 50 Minority-Owned Businesses, 2012 and 2013
- ColoradoBiz Magazine’s Top 25 Most Influential XYZer, 2016
- Denver Business Journal’s Outstanding Women in Business, Real Estate Winner, 2017
- TEDx speaker, 2022
- Colorado’s 2022 Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business
Keo embodied the best of Cornell’s ethos, explains Nielsen. “She was not only the former president of the CCoC but also a trusted leader and catalyst in the Colorado business and social community.”
“Keo was very determined and really wanted to help others and give back,” adds Meredith Coors ’99. “She cared about local politics and making Colorado better. She was also very dedicated to bringing Cornellians together and creating a strong community.”
The CCoC scholarship—now named the Keo Frazier Cornell Club of Colorado Scholarship—was established to help make a Cornell undergraduate education more accessible for admitted Coloradans. The club has raised over $31,000, allowing scholarship recipients to fulfill their aspirations of studying at Cornell.
“The scholarship reflects the growth and engagement of the Cornell community in Colorado,” says Schueller. “It supercharges our purpose. It allows us to ‘pay it forward’ by cultivating opportunities for the next generation of Cornellians.”
“We are excited to come together as a club to make a long-lasting impact on the lives of recipients,” he adds.
