Mary Rippon was a bona fide pioneer who became a Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØicon, but Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØalmost did not become her home. When CU’s first president, Joseph Sewall, invited Rippon to teach at CU, which had just opened its doors in September 1877, Rippon initially declined.