The College of Science and Engineering will be celebrating its 75-year anniversary Tuesday with a kick-off celebration outside of Northrop Mall.
“It’s an occasion for us to get together with faculty, students and staff and celebrate the past and look to the future,” Steven Crouch, CSE dean, said.
Science and engineering student groups will be setting up booths and other activities during the celebration Tuesday.
To commemorate the anniversary, close to 20 student groups have pledged 75 hours of community service.
The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers is one of the student groups that has pledged to serve.
Ben Fameree, the groupâÄôs president, and members of his organization have traveled to local high schools this past month to speak about higher education and engage students in various engineering activities.
“A lot of schools have many unrepresented minority students,âÄù Fameree said. âÄúSo for a lot of students, higher education isnâÄôt even in the big picture for them.âÄù
The group has already surpassed 50 hours of service, Fameree said. It will have until the end of the month to reach its goal.
Corporate sponsors have also contributed to the celebration. 3M donated several banners âÄì including one that can be found in front of the Mechanical Engineering building âÄì congratulating CSE on its 75 years. The banners will be kept up for the rest of the school year, CSE spokeswoman Rhonda Zurn said.
“We’re going to celebrate all the people that have made us who we are in the last 75 years and who will continue to bring us into the next 75 years,âÄù Zurn said.
There is a lot to celebrate, said Zurn, who proudly points out that some CSE engineering departments were the first in the country and precede even the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.
A limited number of free lunches as well as live music will also be part of the celebration.
On July 1, the college officially changed its name from the Institute of Technology to the College of Science and Engineering.
“It just so happened that all this came together at the same time,âÄù Crouch said, referring to the name change and the anniversary. âÄúI think this is a fortunate confluence of events that will add up with the beautiful weather to make this a memorable event.âÄù