Don’t worry if you’re having difficulty nailing down exact plans for Founder’s Day 2012. Even the top cheerleader of this re-emerging holiday has difficulty defining Western University’s newest tradition.
And that doesn’t worry him one bit.
“It’s a volunteer inspired effort from the alumni who saw the need for this unifying activity. This is a true grassroots effort. The idea started at the grassroots and its success, in fact, depends on the grassroots,” said Robert Collins (BA ’77), Western Alumni Association incoming president. “As it continues, people are seeing the power and the potential of it.
“It’s fun to watch different people bring their insight as to what is meaningful. That’s in the true Western spirit.”
One of Canada’s oldest universities, Western was founded on March 7, 1878 when the UWO Act was proclaimed. Although celebrations of that day, dubbed Founder’s Day, existed until the 1940s, its audience was limited to campus and would eventually fade away.
Flash ahead 70 years.
In 2009, Collins, then chair of the Alumni Outreach Committee, spearheaded an initiative to “reinforce that pride of going to Western and staying connected to Western” through an annual celebration.
The Outreach Committee saw a gap between the university’s Homecoming celebration, recognized as Canada’s largest, and its extraordinarily engaged chapters around the world. Those efforts were strong in participation, but localized to specific areas. The committee lamented there was no one day for all of Western to celebrate together – be they in London, Toronto or around the globe.
Enter Founder’s Day.
“It could be not only an opportunity to reaffirm ourselves, but also an opportunity to share the Western Experience with others,” Collins said, who cited as inspiration many universities in the United States and United Kingdom who hold Founder’s Day activities.
“When you look at the landscape, our people are doing great work in, say, publishing in the academic journals. But how do we tell the story a bit differently to get that broader recognition,” he continued. “Founder’s Day gives us the opportunity to remind people of their sense of belonging to Western, its value and also to reach out and celebrate people who shared that experience be it virtually or in person.”
Events for Founder’s Day 2012 are scheduled from Halifax to Vancouver, United Kingdom to United States.
On campus, a Founder’s Day dinner will be served in residences. A staff and faculty coffee break is scheduled for 2-2:30 p.m. in the Great Hall, Somerville House. A cocktail reception at Western’s founding college, Huron University College, will be held from 7-9 p.m. in its Great Hall. Terry Rice (BA’98, MA’00), marketing and creative services director, and Diana Cunningham, alumni and development communications director, will deliver a short talk entitled, Brand New – Western’s new visual identity.
‘Bishop Isaac Hellmuth,’ or at least as close an approximation as possible to the Western founder, will appear at the latter two events.
Supporters and organizers intend the day to be a time for the university to remember the contributions of its founder and celebrate the university community and its accomplishments. Now, Collins said, they are looking to define the day a bit more.
Collins threw out numerous ideas: Send a note to a former classmate long out of contact. Wear purple and explain why. Post a message to social media. Even visit Western’s website to see what the university is up to. In the long run, Collins would love to see a lecture series, an event that would share with the world the “intellectual output” of the university.
“With us having this shared Western Experience, we can use Founder’s Day as a bit of an anchor to reach out to our friends, engage in events on reflect on Western,” he said.
But in the end, he is counting on alumni to define the day. He stressed alumni can use their own creativity and passion to reflect a love for Western. And when they do, he said, be sure to share their ideas back with the university.
“It’s exciting to see the tradition taking off,” Natalie Devereux, alumni outreach officer, said. “It’s a real grassroots effort from the alumni, and we’re excited to see how it grows and matures over the years.”
She stressed the day is a wonderful opportunity for those who cannot make it back to campus to join the celebration.
“People are doing a lot of this without us pushing it,” Collins added. “This pays tribute to this as a grassroots initiative to promote Founder’s Day.”
Founder’s Day won’t become a tradition overnight, he stressed. But in 10-15 years, Collins hopes to see alumni-driven events popping up across the globe as Founder’s Day becomes a much-celebrated milepost on the university’s calendar.
“I would consider it a successful event for clusters of alumni to celebrate in their own way,” he said.
JOIN IN THE FUN
Visit the Founder’s Day website for the latest activities and news. Alumni with celebration ideas for Founder’s Day, are encouraged to contact Natalie Devereux, alumni outreach officer, at ndevereu@uwo.ca.