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> Look who's 40 -- SFU celebrates birthday and lights up the sky
Look who's 40 -- SFU celebrates birthday and lights up the sky
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Contact:
Tim Kelley, 604.787.3427, tim_kelley@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl/Julie Ovenell-Carter, Media & PR, 604.291.4323
Tim Kelley, 604.787.3427, tim_kelley@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl/Julie Ovenell-Carter, Media & PR, 604.291.4323
August 23, 2005
The radical kid is now a seasoned middle-ager. Simon Fraser University turns 40 on Friday, September 9 and will kick off a year of celebrations with a party on the hill, followed by a dramatic night-time show of light.
Revellers are invited to don 1960s apparel and join in the festivities, which will begin with a barbecue for the campus community at 11:30 a.m. SFU President Michael Stevenson will open a special celebration program at 12:30 p.m. in convocation mall featuring dignitaries, charter faculty, staff and students. Past presidents, chancellors, board chairs and others will also be recognized. Former Premier Bill Bennett will be among those sharing his thoughts. His father, the late W.A.C. Bennett, was at the opening in 1965.
Actor Kevin Conway will play the roles of Simon Fraser and Lord Lovat, head of the Fraser clan. Conway portrayed Fraser during SFU's 25th anniversary Voyage of Discovery, a re-enactment of the explorer's journey down the Fraser River in 1990. Birthday cake will follow.
The occasion will be upbeat as bands featuring musicians with ties to SFU play outside the residence dining hall, in convocation mall, and in the UniverCity's town and gown square. “We want everyone on campus to come to convocation mall to celebrate together on this afternoon,” says Stevenson. “We expect there will be more people in attendance than the 2,500 who made up the entire university population when it opened in 1965.” Today more than 25,000 students are enrolled in credit courses.
The discussion will be equally lively in the SFU theatre at an event called Radical Campus: the Inside Story, from 3 - 6 p.m., highlighting the recollections of past students and faculty and others involved with the university's early and often-dubbed radical years. Campus architect Arthur Erickson will also participate.
The day-long celebration will culminate with an evening light show. At 9 p.m., four 7,000 watt search lights will create a pyramid of light in the night sky atop the academic quadrangle and be visible across the Lower Mainland.
A new book chronicling the university's early days called Radical Campus: The Making of Simon Fraser University, by historian Hugh Johnston, also goes on sale in the university bookstore on Sept. 9. It outlines the first 10 years on campus.
Anniversary celebrations are planned throughout the year and at all three SFU campuses. Check www.sfu.ca/40th_anniversary
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Revellers are invited to don 1960s apparel and join in the festivities, which will begin with a barbecue for the campus community at 11:30 a.m. SFU President Michael Stevenson will open a special celebration program at 12:30 p.m. in convocation mall featuring dignitaries, charter faculty, staff and students. Past presidents, chancellors, board chairs and others will also be recognized. Former Premier Bill Bennett will be among those sharing his thoughts. His father, the late W.A.C. Bennett, was at the opening in 1965.
Actor Kevin Conway will play the roles of Simon Fraser and Lord Lovat, head of the Fraser clan. Conway portrayed Fraser during SFU's 25th anniversary Voyage of Discovery, a re-enactment of the explorer's journey down the Fraser River in 1990. Birthday cake will follow.
The occasion will be upbeat as bands featuring musicians with ties to SFU play outside the residence dining hall, in convocation mall, and in the UniverCity's town and gown square. “We want everyone on campus to come to convocation mall to celebrate together on this afternoon,” says Stevenson. “We expect there will be more people in attendance than the 2,500 who made up the entire university population when it opened in 1965.” Today more than 25,000 students are enrolled in credit courses.
The discussion will be equally lively in the SFU theatre at an event called Radical Campus: the Inside Story, from 3 - 6 p.m., highlighting the recollections of past students and faculty and others involved with the university's early and often-dubbed radical years. Campus architect Arthur Erickson will also participate.
The day-long celebration will culminate with an evening light show. At 9 p.m., four 7,000 watt search lights will create a pyramid of light in the night sky atop the academic quadrangle and be visible across the Lower Mainland.
A new book chronicling the university's early days called Radical Campus: The Making of Simon Fraser University, by historian Hugh Johnston, also goes on sale in the university bookstore on Sept. 9. It outlines the first 10 years on campus.
Anniversary celebrations are planned throughout the year and at all three SFU campuses. Check www.sfu.ca/40th_anniversary
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