SMU Founders’ Day Weekend to celebrate Year of the Faculty

Founders’ Day Weekend shines a spotlight on faculty as part of SMU's centennial celebration.

SMU Teaching

DALLAS (SMU) – SMU’s Founders’ Day Weekend, April 10-13, will shine a spotlight on the University’s faculty as the centennial celebration of the Year of the Faculty gains momentum on the Hilltop.

Faculty Salute

SMU President R. Gerald Turner will honor the University’s faculty during a special event on Friday, April 11, at Moody Coliseum. President Turner’s Faculty Salute will spotlight the contributions and impact of the University’s prestigious scholars and include a video tribute and the taking of a group faculty photo. The faculty celebration will be part of President Turner’s annual Founders’ Day Weekend Presidential Briefing, which highlights the University’s accomplishments during the past year and provides a look ahead for the coming year.

Inside SMU Powered by TEDxSMU

This year Founders’ Day Weekend is adding a new performance program, Inside SMU Powered by TEDxSMU, highlighting faculty, students, staff and alumni. The event is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Friday, April 11, in the Greer Garson Theatre in the Owen Arts Center and is open to everyone. Tickets for alumni and the general public are $15 and available here. SMU students, faculty and staff may register here for discounted tickets at $5 apiece. The program features compelling stories and demonstrations from 16 SMU faculty, staff, alumni and student speakers on topics ranging from NSA wiretapping, to civil rights, to a whimsical exercise in giant origami. A break is built into the program, allowing the audience to meet speakers and start the conversations that are the hallmark of the TEDxSMU experience.

Community Day

Founders’ Day Weekend is expanding upon its annual Community Day activities, this year including family events at the Bush Presidential Library and Museum as well as at the Meadows Museum.

Special events, free and open to the whole family, will open the SMU campus to the community from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 12.  At SMU’s Meadows Museum, activities will complement the current exhibition “Sorolla and America,” allowing children to paint outdoors, experience traditional Spanish dances with castanets, and take part in a multi-sensory game of Texas Landscape Bingo. Student guitarists will play music that evokes the spirit of Spain, and artist Jon Bramblitt, who is blind, will demonstrate how he paints using only his sense of touch.

Native Texas ParkA short walk or free shuttle ride from the Meadows Museum, the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum’s Native Texas Park will be blooming.  Families can participate in a wildflower scavenger hunt, plant wildflower seeds and enjoy more SMU student musical performances near the Hall of State. SMU’s Peruna mascot will be on hand for photos, and there will be more family activities available inside the Bush Library. View the full schedule and download a map here for all activities at the Meadows Museum and the Bush Library.

From Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, SMU’s student Environmental Society is sponsoring Barefoot on the Boulevard, a free mini-festival that celebrates sustainable living with an afternoon of music, performances and tabletop exhibits at the north end of Bishop Boulevard. On Sunday, a Hamon Arts Library Reception is free and open to the public at 3 p.m. in Taubman Atrium and Hamon’s Mildred Hawn Exhibition Gallery. The program is “Romantic Visions of the American Southwest: Works on Paper and Painting by Edward G. Eisenlohr.”

Other Weekend Activities

Earlier in the week, featured Founders’ Day activities will include:

  • The annual Golden Mustangs Reunion for SMU alumni from 1963 and earlier
  • The Hunt Scholars 20th Anniversary Celebration, hosted by SMU President R. Gerald Turner
  • A special 10-year reunion of people who have joined SMU’s annual Civil Rights Pilgrimage.
  • A meeting of the Parent Leadership Council 
  • The President’s Associates Reception, recognizing donors of $1,000 or more from the past year
  • Sing Song, the traditional evening of performance by SMU students, this year paying homage to popular music icons
  • A Faculty Emeriti Reception hosted by SMU Provost Paul W. Ludden

Visit smu.edu/100/Events/FoundersDay for a full listing of activities.

Alumni returning to campus for Founders’ Day events will be encouraged to record their memories of favorite professors:

  • Post on Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #smufaculty.
  • Record a video memory of a favorite professor at “memory stations” at the Golden Mustangs Reunion and at Inside SMU Powered by TEDxSMU.

Those memories are being collected and shared, along with stories about extraordinary faculty achievements and contributions at a special website: http://blog.smu.edu/yearofthefaculty/.

Watch Facebook and Twitter for photos, topics and previews surrounding Founders’ Day 2014.