Boulder, CO Located in Boulder, Colorado, Naropa University is a Buddhist-inspired, nonsectarian liberal arts university that is recognized as the birthplace of the mindfulness movement. Naropa offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs that emphasize professional and personal growth, intellectual development, and cultivating compassion. “Naropa’s mission is not neatly divided into east and west; it’s actually an international and intersectional mission completely…. We aspire to be a place of integration and appreciation, where challenging conventional thinking is welcomed and celebrated, even if it’s messy. We strive to be a place where challenge comes not only from debate and exchange based on logical mind but also from practicing contemplative disciplines, learning how to be kind to ourselves and others, how to be in the world with both fearlessness and kindness.” —President Charles G. Lief The Naropa Community Compass—Naropa’s mission and guiding principles—makes it unique among America’s institutions of higher learning: We are the only school in the country that grounds the student experience in contemplative education principles. Through rigorous academics, contemplative practice, and experiential learning, Naropa cultivates compassionate, creative, and critical engagement with an ever-changing world through the discipline of contemplative education.