Colorado State University System leadership and mascots joined state lawmakers at the Capitol on Monday in an annual celebration of CSU’s founding date of Feb. 11.

The Founders Day activities at the State Capitol included campus leadership taking time on the floor of the House of Representatives and the Senate in recognition of the contributions of the university to the State of Colorado.

On the floor of the Chambers, lawmakers reflected on personal experiences with the three CSU System entities – CSU, the flagship campus in Fort Collins; CSU Pueblo, a Hispanic-Serving Institution; and CSU Global, a fully online university focused on serving working professionals – as well as the System’s contributions to Colorado, which includes educating more than 50,000 students annually, and serving every county in the state through the Office of Engagement and Extension.

Founders Day celebrates when CSU became the state’s land-grant university on Feb. 11, 1870, thanks to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s earlier signing of the Morrill Act, creating a system of universities nationwide that focused on accessible education and societally important research.