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CSU celebrates its 150th birthday with dancing and cake

Serena Bettis

February 12, 2020

Celebrating Colorado State University’s Founders Day never seems to grow old — even after 150 years.

Mascot CAM the Ram, the CSU Pep Band, CSU Cheer and more came together Feb. 11 at the Foundry Dining Center to wish the University a happy sesquicentennial. Students had the opportunity to sign a large birthday banner and receive what CSU SOURCE called “once-in-a-lifetime” swag.

“It’s a good day for us all to come together and remember where we’ve come from,” said Dawn Burton, spirit coordinator and cheer coach. “We’re so blessed and lucky to be here on this campus, so for us to all be able to get together and recognize that we’ve been strong for 150 years, it’s amazing.”

This year’s Founders Day Medal has been awarded to Elizabeth “Libbie” Coy, a member of CSU’s first graduating class and the first woman to graduate from the University. The medal is currently on display at the Avenir Museum in the University Center for the Arts.

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CSU Chancellor Tony Frank and President Joyce McConnell appeared before the Colorado Legislature Tuesday morning to deliver the University’s land-grant mission and accept an official proclamation sponsored by state Sen. Joann Ginal, according to SOURCE.

Founded as Colorado Agricultural College on Feb. 11, 1870, CSU is a land-grant institution as designated by the Morrill Act of 1862.

We’re so blessed and lucky to be here on this campus, so for us to all be able to get together and recognize that we’ve been strong for 150 years, it’s amazing.” -Dawn Burton, spirit coordinator and cheer coach

According to the Library of Congress, the Morrill Act’s title officially reads “An Act Donating Public Lands to the Several States and Territories which may provide Colleges for the Benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts.”

It provided each state with 30,000 acres of federal land, which the states then sold to fund public agricultural colleges.

However, this land was not officially owned by the federal government and instead belonged to Indigenous peoples, which CSU’s land acknowledgment recognizes. With this in mind, CSU strives to be a leader in research, education and outreach programs.

Cheerleader and freshman Mack McMillan said representing the school and its legacy means a lot to her, and she is excited to continue to do so at future sporting events and ceremonies.

CSU’s commitment to continuous improvement is why junior and chemical and biological engineering major Sydney Villers thinks celebrating 150 years is so important. Villers said she knows many students at smaller colleges whose schools are closing permanently.

“It’s made me especially grateful to have a school that’s successful now, that is doing things, but (that) has also made such great plans and has left such a good impact for the next 100 years,” Villers said. “I’m really grateful for all that CSU has done in its 150 years. I’m really grateful that people have put in place programs for the future of CSU.”

Serena Bettis can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @serenaroseb.

About the Contributor

Serena Bettis, Editor in Chief

Serena Bettis is your 2022-23 editor in chief and is in her final year studying journalism and political science. In her three years at The Collegian, Bettis has also been a news reporter, copy editor, news editor and content managing editor, and she occasionally takes photos, too. When Bettis was 5, her family moved from Iowa to a tiny town northwest of Fort Collins called Livermore, Colorado, before eventually moving to Fort Collins proper. When she was 8 years old, her dad enrolled at Colorado State University as a nontraditional student veteran, where he found his life’s passion in photojournalism. Although Bettis’ own passion for journalism did not stem directly from her dad, his time at CSU and with The Collegian gave her the motivation to bite down on her fear of talking to strangers and find The Collegian newsroom on the second day of classes in 2019. She’s never looked back since. Considering that aforementioned fear, Bettis is constantly surprised to be where she is today. However, thanks to the supportive learning environment at The Collegian and inspiring peers, Bettis has not stopped chasing her teenage dream of being a professional journalist. Between working with her section editors, coordinating news stories between Rocky Mountain Student Media departments and coaching new reporters, Bettis gets to live that dream every day. When she’s not in the newsroom or almost falling asleep in class, you can find Bettis working in the Durrell Marketplace and Café or outside gazing at the beauty that is our campus (and running inside when bees are nearby). This year, Bettis’ goals for The Collegian include continuing its trajectory as a unique alt-weekly newspaper, documenting the institutional memory of the paper to benefit students in years to come and fostering a sense of community and growth both inside the newsroom and through The Collegian’s published work. Bettis would like to encourage anyone with story ideas, suggestions, questions, concerns or comments to reach out to her at editor@collegian.com.

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