Everything old is new again as
Mary Jo Ferr helps to plan the Sesquicentennial

What can the University community expect for the Sesquicentennial?

Ferr: "One important goal is to use the Sesquicentennial to strengthen our relations with alumni; this is a birthday for all of us."

A truly memorable celebration! The Sesquicentennial is an 18-month celebration that begins officially January 2000 and ends with graduation in 2001. The centerpiece of all the planning is Sesquicentennial Weekend, October 12-15, 2000. The theme is "Celebrate the Past, Imagine the Future" and it will include a fabulous series of events and programs that showcase the University. It is also a reunion for College alumni who graduated in classes ending in 5 or 0. Most of the divisions University-wide are going to be having reunions that weekend, so it will be a grand birthday celebration. We're hoping to have about 3,000 alumni, spouses, faculty, and students in attendance.

In addition to what's going on in Rochester, we're going to have regional birthday parties in about 18 major cities across the United States. Each event will include a 150th media show, a birthday cake, and the singing of "Happy Birthday" and the alma mater by, in many cases, one of our a cappella groups or alumni of one of those groups.

We are bringing in famous, fascinating, and noteworthy speakers, including several alumni. Some speakers who have been confirmed to date include George Fisher, chairman and CEO of Eastman Kodak Co.; Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author; Mark Russell, political entertainer and PBS show host; Curt Gowdy, CBS sports commentator; two alumni astronauts, Jim Pawelczyk '82 and Ed Gibson '59; Donna De Varona, two-time Olympic gold-medalist swimmer and chair of the Women's World Cup '99 Organizing Committee; and Jack Rowe '70 (MD), president and CEO of Mount Sinai Medical Center. Another important component of the weekend is a set of open houses and events to showcase the College academic disciplines. But this is only a taste of what the weekend will be like.

What's really exciting is that every facet of the University is getting involved in this. A large student committee is growing and planning its own series of events and activities focusing on the Sesquicentennial Weekend, which is also Homecoming.

What is the overall goal of the planned events?

One important goal is to use the Sesquicentennial to strengthen our relations with alumni; this is a birthday for all of us. The Sesquicentennial will be the perfect occasion to enhance that relationship.

As a formal announcement of the Sesquicentennial, a special "birthday card" from President Thomas Jackson and Trustee and Sesquicentennial Chairman Joe Mack '55 has gone out to all graduates of the University. Alumni of the College are also going to receive a calendar with historical and humorous facts about the University. In addition, we are publishing a pictorial history that will be available at cost to all members of the University community. There will be other publications as well.

Above all, we hope that our alumni come back to campus in October 2000.

Will there be opportunities for current Rochester students to connect with alumni while they're here on campus?

Absolutely--that is one of our goals. The big weekend will be in October, so students will be around. STING, the student alumni group, is going on the front lines as the official student host of Sesquicentennial Weekend, and they will need a lot of volunteers. We're hoping that there will be a lot of opportunities for alumni and students to meet at the various lectures, programs, and events.

What kind of work goes into planning an event of this magnitude?

I could never do it alone! Everyone at Fairbank has a role in the Sesquicentennial, in addition to the staff in Conference and Events, not to mention staff in the Warner, Eastman, Simon, and medical schools. I see my job as coordinating and helping synchronize everything that is going on: working with the divisions in helping them coordinate events, working with everyone in this building (FAH), and helping Joe Mack recruit some of the key speakers on the list. We have a huge reunion job ahead of us, in addition to the Sesquicentennial.

If faculty, staff, or students have suggestions for events or celebrations, whom should they contact?

I'd be glad to hear from anyone who has ideas. My office number is x3-5927 and my e-mail is ferr@alumni.rochester.edu.

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