When Feb. 11, 2020, dawns, Colorado State University will have officially reached the ripe age of 150 years old.
To mark the momentous occasion, everyone on campus is invited to a sesquicentennial birthday celebration in the lobby of the Foundry Dining Center at Corbett and Parmelee halls, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. In addition to an array of tasty treats and appearances by the CSU Pep Band, CSU Cheer, and the ever-popular CAM the Ram, the party will feature a birthday banner for signing and some once-in-a-lifetime CSU 150 swag for the taking.
On a serious note, Founders Day was established to celebrate the day CSU was established as Colorado’s land-grant institution in 1870. It highlights the values that have sustained the University, the people who shaped it, and its enduring mission of service through teaching, research and engagement.
So, before the Fort Collins campus begins celebrating, representatives from the CSU System office will be bringing the University’s land-grant mission and message to the Colorado Legislature, accompanied by the CSU Acappella Group and the CSU Pueblo Chamber Choir. Tony Frank, chancellor of the three-campus CSU System, will accept an official proclamation sponsored by State Sen. Joann Ginal, who represents Fort Collins.
Founders Day Medal
And who, you ask, is the recipient of year’s Founders Day Medal, awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions to the University and the world? Befitting the 150th anniversary of our founding, this year’s honoree is Elizabeth “Libbie” Coy, the first woman to graduate from the Colorado Agricultural College, part of the first class to earn degrees in 1884. That makes her the first woman to graduate from any college in Colorado, a worthy recipient for the 150th anniversary.
The medal will be on display at the Avenir Museum on campus, along with her wedding dress, as part of the museum’s celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which gave women the right to vote in national elections. For Libbie, that would have been old hat, since Colorado was the first state to grant women’s suffrage by referendum in 1893 (and it was a right enshrined in the Wyoming state constitution when it entered the union in 1890).
Tickets to Susan Rice keynote still available
To highlight the global engagement of CSU in the modern world, former UN Ambassador Susan Rice will present a keynote conversation with NPR correspondent Greg Myhre at 6 p.m., Feb. 11, in the Lory Student Center Ballroom. The event, presented by the Office of International Programs with support from Women and Philanthropy, is free and open to the public, but tickets are required and still available online at csutix.com. (Scroll down to Remaining Tickets to order.) Clear bags only will be permitted at this event.
