Events planned for anniversary
SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock University will celebrate its 125th anniversary in a yearlong celebration.
The theme is “Celebrating Our Honored Traditions. Embracing Our Unlimited Potential.”
Major scheduled events include:
• Jan. 21 will signal the official kick-off of 125 Days of Service in which student organizations will offer community service time for campus and community projects.
V SRU will host its official 125 Kick Off Celebration on Jan. 30. The day begins at 11:30 a.m. with a ringing of bells throughout the community to call people to Old Main.
From there, participants will march through campus from the oldest building, Old Main, to the newest, the Smith Student Center. A short program at noon will follow the procession.
As part of the program, the names of everyone who has attended the school stretching back to its beginning in 1889 will be read aloud.
The weekday readings, offered at locations across campus by volunteers, will continue through December's graduation. An afternoon program of activities for students, sponsored by the University Program Board, will follow the formal ceremony.
• March 26 will have the annual Founder's Day celebration with speakers and a birthday party including games and amusements for students in the Smith Student Center.
• March 28, SRU will celebrate An Evening of the Arts presented by the College of Humanities, Fine and Performing Arts. The ticketed event will celebrate the talent and contributions of students and faculty.
• Kaleidoscope, SRU's three-week, on-campus arts festival that opens April 15, will mark the anniversary with a variety of art and entertainment programs.
• May 31, the University will take guests “Through the Looking Glass” at the biannual President's Scholarship Gala.
• A Founders Picnic will be June 21, with invitations issued to anyone related to the original founders of the Slippery Rock Normal School.
• Fall semester will see the SRU football team take on Mercyhurst University at the University of Michigan on Oct. 18 and the 35th anniversary of SRU's first appearance in “The Big House.” At that game, SRU helped to set the record for attendance at a Division II football event. SRU will attempt to break that record.
• The year's Academic Honors Convocation and both the fall and spring semester commencements will focus attention on the 125th anniversary.
• SRU's Office of Alumni Engagement and the SRU Alumni Association will host a number of alumni events at SRU alumni chapter locations across the United States, including Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Florida, North Carolina and Michigan.
• The year will include lectures and documentary films keyed to the anniversary celebration.
Wilma Cavill, assistant professor of safety management and SRU's longest serving faculty member, and Robert Watson, interim vice president for student affairs, are honorary chairs for the celebration.
George Mihalik, professor of safety management and head football coach; Laurel Dagnon, director of programming in SRU's Center for Student Involvement and Leadership; and Judy Silva, assistant professor in Baily Library in charge of university archives, are co-chairs of the steering committee.
A full schedule of events will be available soon at www.sru.edu.
