EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK: Three cheers for Phelps, et al.

If it takes a village – or a family – to raise a child, what does it take to raise a university?
Colorado State University president Al Yates has long promoted a partnership between the university and the business community, but few business leaders have responded in as dramatic a fashion as Joe Phelps.
Phelps, whose father founded Greeley-based Hensel Phelps Construction Co., has donated $500,000 to the university’s construction-management program. Moreover, Hensel Phelps and Phelps Tointon Inc. of Greeley have each donated $100,000.
Even larger gifts have been bestowed upon the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, where Richard…