Campus and Community Celebrate Fulbright College Namesake's 111th Birthday

Fulbright College celebrated the 111th birthday of Sen. J. William Fulbright.

The celebration was at the Faulkner Performing Arts Center.

Like every good birthday, cake was in order.

Audience members heard about the legacy of Fulbright's international work.

Retiring professor Hoyt Purvis served on Fulbright's Senate staff.

A Fulbright student tells the audience about a gift for the retiring Hoyt Purvis.

A keepsake from the Baltimore Orioles.

Serving birthday cake.

Music during the festivities.

Social time during the birthday celebration.

Russell A. Cothren

Fulbright Scholars from across the university gather with featured speaker Hoyt Purvis, center, during the 2016 Fulbright Birthday Celebration.

Students, faculty and staff from across campus gathered recently to celebrate the 111th anniversary of the birth of J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences namesake Sen. J. William Fulbright.

The April 8 festivities in the Jim and Joyce Faulkner Performing Arts Center included a commemoration of Senator Fulbright's legacy, and – of course – lots of cake. The celebration was co-sponsored by the Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society.

The college began the tradition of commemorating the birthday of the former university president and United States senator in 2012. Senator Fulbright is a fitting namesake for the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, as he believed and the college has adopted as its mission:

"… [that] the highest function of higher education is the teaching of things in perspective, toward the purposes of enriching the life of the individual, cultivating the free and inquiring mind, and advancing the effort to bring reason, justice, and humanity into the relations of men and nations."