By Lauren Hernandez
Staff Writer
East Stroudsburg University is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.
The kick-off events were “very well attended,” said Brenda Friday, director of university relations and head of the planning committee due to her position at the university.
During the Canniversary event on Jan. 22, volunteers collected over 1,100 items for the Warrior Food Pantry.
Free t-shirts were given to those who donated more than five items, and overall 70 shirts were given out.
President Welsh was accompanied by over 50 individuals and several news outlets during the official anniversary launch.
ESU has been planning anniversary events since March 2017.
The anniversary committee not only consists of faculty, but also students, staff, alumni, and the general community.
Meetings occurred every other week, meaning a lot of time and effort was put into planning the events for this year.
The committee is receptive to adding more events and programs, so anyone interested in the anniversary celebration is welcome to pitch their ideas.
Once the ideas were in order, Friday explained that the original, bigger committee was split into sub-committees to better attend to individual events.
It was split into Foundation/Alumni/Fundraising, Student Initiatives, Community Initiatives, Faculty and Staff Initiatives, Communications/Promotion, and Athletics. The goal was to make all festivities well-rounded and inclusive.
Unfortunately, the time capsule that was buried in 1993 began to leak before the opening event.
Facilities Management broke into the time capsule in attempt to recover the items, but they were too late.
Most of the items in the time capsule were paper products, leading to them being destroyed.
Right now, the university is attempting to recreate the items that were damaged, and have obtained many replacement items that they plan to put away in the 2018 time capsule in December.
The 2018 time capsule will be sealed on Dec. 5, 2018.
The university is taking suggestions for what should be placed in the capsule.
To see the replaced items from the 1993 time capsule, you can visit Stroud Hall’s lobby and find them in the display cases for the remainder of the year.
Most events for the 125th celebration will be in the Fall semester, after ESU’s Founder’s day in September.
So far, the only event planned will be Service on the Sixth, which is affiliated with the MLK Day of Service on Feb. 6.
The event will provide health and self-care services to the entire campus and the community.
Brenda Friday assures more events are to come.
There are also several exhibits that will be in the University Center this year.
Every month, a new exhibit will be on display celebrating the university.
There will also be “oral histories” available, so students will be able to listen to alumni talk about their own time at ESU.
To find out about more events, exhibits, or to pitch an idea to the committee, you can visit https://quantum.esu.edu/125/.
Email Lauren at:
lhernande2@live.esu.edu
