Planning for University's 150th Continues; Idea Submissions Sought

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University Hall, as Old Main was originally known, not long after its construction finished in 1875.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas Sesquicentennial Planning Team encourages the campus community to submit ideas for sesquicentennial events and activities by early November, to allow for sufficient time for review, approval and implementation ahead of the university's 150th anniversary celebration in 2021.  

"We're looking for ideas that help reinforce the university's current impact and future direction as well as celebrating previous accomplishments and milestones," said Ann Catherine Jouett, co-chair of the Sesquicentennial Planning Team. "The sesquicentennial provides an opportunity to celebrate our past and present while thinking about where we're headed for the next 150 years."

Larry Foley, professor and chair of the U of A's School of Journalism and Strategic Media, is leading the development of a documentary film and other video projects highlighting some of the people who have made a profound impact on the university, state and world. His inspiration - Senior Walk.

"If this walk could talk, the stories it would tell," Foley said. "Each of the names on Senior Walk has a story. Many are worth telling and remembering. We plan to do just that as a part of the university's 150th anniversary."

Foley is one of 14 members of the Sesquicentennial Planning Team and also serves as a co-chair of the Video and Digital Projects Working Group, one of 10 specialized working groups helping plan projects and events for the sesquicentennial. 

"We received more than 40 ideas from campus during the initial idea review cycle that wrapped up late last month and some of those submissions have already been approved including the documentary idea," Jouett said. "We've seen so many great ideas. It's really exciting to imagine them taking shape. And many other ideas are still being refined by the working groups and I know there are more wonderful ideas yet to be submitted."

The second idea review cycle is now underway, with an online submission deadline of Friday, Nov. 8. The third and final idea review cycle of the sesquicentennial planning phase is tentatively planned to conclude in early 2020.

More information about the planning process is available online at 150planning.uark.edu.

The year-long commemoration will begin Jan. 1, 2021, building momentum to late March, when the university was founded in 1871, and continuing through the fall semester and ending in early 2022. A celebration of the 150th anniversary of the university's first day of classes on January 22, 2022, will mark the sesquicentennial's official conclusion.

Two new student reprsentatives were added to the Sesquicentennial Planning Team this fall. Sarah Feather, a sophomore who serves as the deputy director of university traditions for the Associated Student Government, and James DiLoreto, who serves as president of the Graduate Student Congress, attended their first planning meeting in September.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among fewer than 3 percent of colleges and universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.