April 14, 2005

Inaugral centennial weekend set for September

MARYVILLE, Mo. – A series of special events and gatherings will mark the official opening of Northwest’s year-long centennial celebration on Friday Sept. 9 and Saturday Sept. 10.

The festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. that Friday in College Park, located just west of the Performing Arts Center, with a reunion gathering for alumni and friends of the institution. Food will be available for sale during the reunion, which precedes an Encore Performance in Mary Linn Auditorium at 8 p.m. The performance will feature magicians and illusionists.

Three major centennial events will take place the following day, beginning with the 9 a.m. dedication of Centennial Garden, now under construction in the courtyard between the South and North Complexes. The ceremony will be followed at 10 a.m. by the unveiling of a major commissioned work by sculptor Gregory Johnson of Gainesville, Ga., to be installed near the J.W. Jones Student Union. The garden is a University project; the sculpture is being made possible through the Northwest Foundation Centennial Committee.

At 1 p.m. the Bearcats take the field against the Truman State Bulldogs in the annual battle for the Hickory Stick traveling trophy, a football tradition at both schools since 1930. Dr. Bob Boerigter, Northwest’s athletic director, has named this year’s contest the “Centennial Bowl.”

Additional activities following the centennial’s inaugural weekend include rotating displays of documents and artifacts from the Northwest Archives to be housed in special cases in the union, Administration Building and Alumni House.

An illustrated book-length history of the University by Janice Brandon-Falcone, “Transitions: 100 Years of Northwest,” will be available in late summer 2005 and sold through the Bearcat Bookstore along with commemorative mementoes and souvenirs.

Already underway is a series of brief radio essays by Professor Emeritus of History Tom Carneal, which are broadcast each Friday on KXCV/KRNW, the University’s public radio station. The essays describe people and traditions that have shaped Northwest over the past 10 decades. They can be heard during the 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 11:50 a.m. and 5:19 p.m. newscasts.

Events still in the planning stages include a black-tie banquet in March, 2006; a centennial-themed Homecoming weekend on Oct. 22, 2005; an alumni lecture series (dates to be announced); the premier of a specially commissioned musical composition; and continuing work on a number of Centennial Grant projects.

The grants, totaling $20,000 and made available through the Northwest Foundation Centennial Committee, were awarded to campus departments, offices and individuals whose projects will leave behind a permanent legacy relating to University history or the centennial itself.

The celebration concludes with two events in Aug. 2006. The first is a special summer commencement to be attended by direct descendants of the first students to receive teaching certificates from the Fifth District Normal School in August 1906. The second is the reburial of a Student Senate time capsule, which will not to be re-opened until 2105-2106 – the University’s bicentennial.

Planning for the centennial began several years ago with the founding of the Centennial Society, a group of alumni and other friends of the University who wanted to underscore the importance of Northwest’s contributions to higher education over the past 100 years.

Alumnus Don Beeson was selected to chair the Northwest Foundation Centennial Committee, which is responsible for the overall celebration. A second panel, the on-campus planning committee, was formed to coordinate details for the wide variety of events scheduled throughout the 2005-2006 academic year.

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