Ohio University student programming groups collaborated to plan birthday party-themed activities to celebrate Founder’s Day on Feb. 18.
Thursday marks a milestone for Ohio University, as the first institution of higher learning in the United States’ Northwest Territory celebrates its 212th year in operation.
This year, the Bobcats will celebrate Founder’s Day with four floors of events in Baker University Center, including an egg toss, piñata and other birthday-themed activities.
On Feb. 18, 1804 the Ohio General Assembly approved plans to charter what is now Ohio University, and the campus’ first building, Cutler Hall, was constructed shortly afterward.
“It’s Ohio’s birthday. We definitely should care and show our pride,” Allison Zullo, vice president of student outreach for OU’s Student Alumni Board, which organized events for Founder’s Day, said.
This year will be the first time the alumni board will host what it calls its “Baker Birthday Bash.”
While most birthday parties involve a rendition of “Happy Birthday,” OU can thank a former professor and student for crafting their own song to celebrate the institution.
In February 1947, The Ohio Alumnus magazine published a small announcement for a Founder’s Day song writing contest. The contest was sponsored by Arthur Johnson, former editor of The Columbus Dispatch, who promised $100 to the participant who could create a song most “appropriate for Founder’s Day and suitable for general use.”
“If the competition gives promise, I hope the result will not be a hymn or dirge; my idea is to bring ‘Old Manass’ to the campus, alive,” Johnson said in the announcement, referencing one of OU’s founders and the namesake of Cutler Hall, Manasseh Cutler.
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The song "Old Manasseh Cutler," which invents a scenario to describe Cutler’s decision to found the university, was chosen months later.
“ 'These boys need profs’ then Manasseh said, ‘Some Latin and Greek to teach ‘em, a wood pile and a well and a dorm where Athens cops can’t reach ‘em. He hired a band for the Junior prom, then galloped home light-hearted. It’s much we owe to Old Manass who got Ohio started,” the song goes.
C.N. Mackinnon, a former OU English professor, and Carr Liggett, a 1916 alumnus, wrote and composed the song and shared the award. An additional first-place prize was also given to Charles D. Giauque, a former member of OU’s faculty, for his song “Founder’s Day.”
OU is not holding a song contest this year, but several student programming organizations have other events planned.
In anticipation of the Baker Bash event, the alumni board has posted an OU trivia question on Twitter each day of the week at 2 p.m, with prizes awarded to the first person to provide the correct answer.
The alumni board will also host “pin the birthday hat on Rufus,” trivia and a sundae bar on the fourth floor of Baker.
The Black Student Cultural Programming Board will host an egg toss and other quick party games on the second floor Thursday.
“Founder’s Day is a day that we get to remember those that paved the way for all Ohio students and initially saw value in a thirst for knowledge,” Matthew Kinlow, the special events director for the Black Student Cultural Programming Board, said.
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When the university opened in 1808, it claimed just three students and one professor, all of whom were white males.
“That’s why we wanted to get involved this year. We feel that Founder’s Day should be about more than just the small diversity of the founders,” Alena Klimas, the International Student Union programming director, said. “It’s more about the traditions and the international students who make this university what it is. They’re just as important as the founders in shaping the campus.”
Diversity is also celebrated in the OU Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections annual Founder’s Day exhibit located on the fifth floor of Alden Library.
The display focuses on the 80th anniversary of the founding of OU’s seven academic colleges and the addition of ROTC on campus. Newspaper clippings, images, pamphlets and enlarged reproductions of 1936 Ohio University Catalog pages describing the purpose of each college are included in the exhibit.
“Students really love Ohio University and the Athens community, so celebrating Founder’s Day is just a really great way for them to say thank you and give back," Hannah Hershfield, the University Programming Council public relations executive, said.
mb076912@ohio.edu
@mayganbeeler
