Ohio University celebrated its 219th birthday Saturday afternoon at the Founders Day Birthday Bash in Baker Ballroom. From 1-4 p.m., alumni, students, staff and Athens locals enjoyed a variety of performances, activities and food.
The event was a collaboration between the Student Alumni Board, or SAB, and the Ohio University Alumni Association. Hannah Protsik, a graduate student studying education, serves as the early engagement graduate assistant for the Alumni Association. Part of her role includes overseeing SAB, which she said had previously led Founders Day events.
“This year, the Alumni Association wanted to make a bigger event, just kind of bring more people back to campus as well as community members,” Protsik said.
This year’s event included a plethora of things to do. Tables lined the edges of Baker Ballroom and the adjacent hallway hosted activities, student organizations and catering by Ohio Culinary. Attendees could get their faces painted or caricatures drawn, win OU-themed prizes, sign a giant birthday card for OU and participate in a host of other activities.
The event also included speakers and performances celebrating OU. At 2 p.m., OU President Hugh Sherman took the stage to speak on OU’s history and achievements, before directing the audience's attention to a celebratory video.
Members of the Marching 110 performed as Sherman cut the extravagant birthday cake and attendees sang “Happy Birthday.” For the remaining two hours, student groups took the stage, including a cappella groups, stilt walkers handing out OU-themed fanny packs and the OU Vibrations dance team. In between performances, DJ A-roc orchestrated the music.
Protsik said the event was free for attendees, as all costs were covered by the Alumni Association. Lisa Milne, assistant vice president for alumni relations in the Alumni Association, said the event was paid for using foundation dollars, or a philanthropic fund which receives much of its support from alumni.
“This is what happens when alumni donate, when students participate – all these things make this happen,” Milne said. “If you have an opportunity to give back to Ohio University, I strongly suggest it.”
OU celebrates its birthday on Feb. 18 each year, as it was the day it was founded in 1804, cementing it as the oldest college in Ohio. Lindsey Wolfe, the alumni engagement coordinator for the Alumni Association, said the Alumni Association used this year’s celebration to get the ball rolling before next year, with 220 years sparking cause for an even larger celebration.
Wolfe said they were unsure how many people attended, and would try to compile that data in the coming days using information such as how many raffle ticket slips were filled out. The Alumni Association began its work for Saturday’s festivities about one year ago, and Wolfe said despite not knowing the exact number of attendees, she was glad to see so many people come out.
Among those attending were students representing various student groups. Kaitlyn Robinson, a senior studying communication sciences and disorders, is the president of OU’s rowing team. She said event organizers reached out to the group to see if they would participate, and the crew ended up providing two rowing machines for attendees to attempt.
Joi Foy, a sophomore studying journalism, attended as a representative of the student group Ebony Minds. As the group’s vice president, she said it was fun for the organization to be able to participate in the festivities. Foy said their booth included a “pin the birthday hat on Rufus” game.
“Being able to see students who you might not interact with and have this fun experience on a random Saturday is so amazing,” she said.
Aside from current students, many alumni returned to attend. Eric Brown, a 1998 OU graduate, came down from Columbus just to attend the Founders Day event.
Milne said attendees ranged in age from toddlers and infants up to alumni who graduated in the 1960s. She said the highlight of the event for her was seeing the whole thing finally come together, and, of course, celebrating her alma mater. Although Brown did not participate in the planning, he had to agree.
“It is home away from home,” Brown said. “It’s just a great family environment, you make friendships for life here … You will feel at home when you come here.”
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