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A drawing of the first USF campus in San Francisco. This illustration accompanies a vignette of the university’s history available on the sesquicentennial Web site.
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Plans Begun for Sesquicentennial Celebration
Although the University of San Francisco’s 150th birthday won’t roll around until Oct. 15, 2005, planners for the sesquicentennial celebration are already counting down the days.
“Over the next three years, many offices and individuals will be developing programs and events to mark our sesquicentennial celebration,” said Alan Ziajka, special assistant to the president for special projects and director of institutional research.
Ziajka and the rest of the planning committee envision a year’s worth of events including speakers and panel discussions highlighting the university’s history and future. The new student convocation, the fall Mass of the Holy Spirit, athletic events, and alumni reunions will focus on celebrating the university. The crowning event will be a pageant on Oct. 15, 2005 in St. Ignatius Church with a light and sound show dramatizing periods of the university’s history. Other ideas include dedicating a 150th anniversary garden in Welsh Field, burying a time capsule with its contents depicted on a related Web site, and staging an exhibit in Thacher Gallery of photos and art depicting USF.
“I was here for the 125th anniversary, so I feel privileged to take this responsibility on,” said Eugene Muscat, senior associate dean of the School of Business and chair of the sesquicentennial planning committee. “At the 125th we didn’t have an art gallery. We didn’t have the Koret Recreation Center, the Geschke Learning Center, Loyola Village, or Loyola House. The year-long celebration is going to give us the opportunity to bring people back on campus who remember USF as it was and who are going to be absolutely blown away by USF as it is. The sesquicentennial is to make everyone feel proud of whatever way they touch USF or the way USF touches them.
A Web site devoted to sesquicentennial activities was posted last month and includes a calendar of events as well as a link for suggestions of 150th-related events. Vignettes written by Ziajka with photos and art documenting the university’s history are also included. The Web site address is www.usfca.edu/150years.
“Among our goals are to increase the sense of pride within the USF community and to draw alumni and friends back to the USF campus,” Ziajka said. “We also want to raise campus consciousness about our ethical concerns and Jesuit mission.”
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