The Office of Alumni Relations is hosting their third annual Founder’s Day Celebration on April 23 at the Katy and E. Don Walker Sr. Education Center. The celebration is to remember the day the university was founded, how far the university has come and the direction it’s going in.
“It’s important for students to understand about the date the university was founded and the history behind that founding,” Director of Alumni Relations Charlie Vienne said.
Founder’s Day is geared toward alumni and old friends to come together and see how SHSU is changing.
“Most of them haven’t been to campus in about 20 years,” Vienne said. “The landscaping has changed, the academic programming has changed and it’s a discussion of all those things.”
The celebration will consist of an open dialogue so students and members of the community can voice their concerns or questions regarding the university.
“We are providing an opportunity for dialogue and questions and answers from alumni, friends, the community, students and people who have an interest on what is occurring at SHSU today,” Vienne said.
Founder’s Day will have all academic track sessions occurring simultaneously with professors and administrators in classroom settings talking to alumni about current topics. The event will have four academic sessions in total: new campus buildings, online education, agriculture and engineering initiatives and academic programs across campus.
“It’s not really a celebration in a sense that there’s a party and there’s balloons,” Vienne said. “It’s a celebration of our history and our tradition here at Sam Houston State University and it’s a celebration of what every person before us has one to lay the foundation from where we are today.”
The first discussions occurring simultaneously will be Jamie Herbert, President of Academic Affairs, talking about the campus construction plan, Bill Angrove, Associate Vice President for distance learning at SHSU Online and John Newbold, Associate Professor of Management and Marketing, will talk about online education on campus.
After, University President Dana G. Hoyt will lead a presentation during the continental lunch at 12:15 p.m.
The last two discussions will be at 1:30 p.m.
Stanley Kelley, Chair of Department of Agricultural Science and Engineering Technology, will talk about the future for the department. In addition, Deans Phillip Lyons, Stacey Edmondson, John Pascarella and Abbey Zink will discuss programs across campus.
The event is set to end at 3 p.m. with a complimentary baseball ticket to watch SHSU play Abilene Christian at Don Sanders Stadium.
The event will start at 9:30 a.m. with a continental breakfast. There is a $25 registration fee.
For more information about Founder’s Day, contact the SHSU Alumni Association at alu_kat@shsu.edu or call 800.283.7478.
