April 4, 2026 · 2pm · Macky Auditorium
On the Contrary challenges us to reconsider the tension between opposites not as conflict, but as connection. Just as we don’t know light without shadow, or sound without silence, it is through juxtaposition that meaning emerges. Our theme explores the beauty of contradiction and opposition where tensions like chaos and order, friction and flow, and comedy and tragedy, remind us that opposing viewpoints are often two halves of a deeper truth. In duality, we can find dialogue, rather than division.
Doris Yuen is a wife, owner of MAKfam, a nontraditional Chinese restaurant in Denver, CO, and a mother of two who stands firm in her beliefs and is unapologetically vocal as a voice for the AAPI community. MAKfam is a self-proclaimed “pro-MSG” restaurant dedicated to celebrating Chinese American roots and sharing its flavors with the world. In her TEDx talk, Doris will discuss MSG, the misconceptions surrounding it, its deep ties to racism, and how you might be consuming it every day without even realizing it.
Dr. Vik Bebarta is the Chair of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the Founding Director of the CU Center for COMBAT Research, and a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He has spent his career caring for those who run toward danger and has watched trauma care, critical care, TBI treatment, and mental health solutions evolve in real time under pressure. In his TEDx talk, Vik will focus on how innovations in military medicine can be applied to improve care for patients at home.
Kya Leptrone is a student at CU Boulder studying Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences and Psychology. As a successful TikTok influencer and stuttering activist, Kya challenges the notion that the goal of communication should be fluency. In her TEDx Talk, Kya will reframe stuttering not as a speech impediment that should be fixed, but rather an element of diversity that shouldn’t determine success.
Benji Billman is a mathematics teacher in Eerie, Colorado, who has spent 17 years working in education in a variety of capacities. Benji’s goal is to bring an educational experience that is enlightening, entertaining, meaningful, and comprehensive to the theoretical tangle that is mathematics. In his TEDx Talk, Benji will explore a new path to meaningful mathematics that focuses on the practical applications of math in the real world for the everyday person.
Ben Forman is the 2026 Student Voices Competition Winner and an Integrated Design and Mechanical Engineering major at CU. As a spokesperson and producer for Disconnected, an upcoming film about digital detox, Ben explores how stepping away from screens can help restore community and strengthen human connection. In his TEDxCU On the Contrary talk, he challenges our relationship with technology and invites audiences to rethink how we engage with the digital world.
Dr. Aimee Bernard is an immunologist, medical educator, and science communicator devoted to sharing her love of science with the world beyond academia. Aimee’s mission is to build bridges between science and society, transforming jargon into connection and curiosity into conversation. In her TEDx talk, Aimee will share the importance of spreading accessible science in an era of significant disinformation and distrust in science.
Leo Heuring is a student at CU Boulder studying Creative Technology & Design who designs and builds open-source robots so that anyone can make their own, lowering the barrier to hands-on learning. Leo will deliver his talk with Corndog, his robotic dog. His TEDx talk will explore the meaning humans convey to their robots and the positive outcomes of these meaningful connections.
