FINDERS KEEPERS
Founders' Day dinner builds on tradition, showcases community leadership

By Michael Green

ASU may be the New American University, but that doesn't mean that it forgets its roots. Each spring on or near March 7, the university celebrates Founders' Day in recognition of the date in 1885 when the 13th Territorial Legislature presented a charter to establish the Territorial Normal School of Arizona, ASU's predecessor. Several name changes later, the date still remains a special one in the history of the institution.

In celebration, the Alumni Association holds an annual awards dinner to recognize those individuals who, in the spirit of the founders, continue to exemplify the tradition of excellence that makes ASU among the brightest stars in America's constellation of universities.

Christine Southergill, director of Chapter and Club Relations and Signature Events for the Alumni Association, called the dinner a "premiere, signature event" and said that it is all' about the tradition of excellence that the founding of the university represents."

This year the awards dinner will be held on March 6 at Tempe’s Mission Palms hotel. This year around 400 guests are expected, including alumni, members of the university community, and members of the general public who come to cheer on the nominees.

Christine Wilkinson, Alumni Association president, said the dinner and awards ceremony cut to the heart of the association’s mission.
“Our organization exists to celebrate tradition, enhance the alumni experience, and advance the future of ASU, and this event touches on all three emphases,” she said. “There’s no tradition more basic to ASU than Founders’ Day.”

At the dinner, two awards are given to alumni in recognition of their contributions to ASU and the community: the Alumni Achievement Award, open to all ASU alumni, and the Young Alumni Award, given to a graduate of the past 15 years.

The association also presents a Staff Achievement Award and three Faculty Achievement awards to ASU employees. The Staff Achievement Award goes to an ASU staff member whose outstanding contributions have significantly enhanced the well being and reputation of the university within the community. Faculty members are recognized in three categories: teaching, research, and service.

The bulk of the ceremony will highlight the achievements of the honorees, including lively video presentation that will showcase the work of each of award recipient.

“The night is all about the awardees,” said Southergill.

The dinner and the awards carry on a decades-old tradition of commemorating Founders’ Day. ASU held the first Founder’s Day celebration in 1960; the event kicked off a year-long Diamond Anniversary celebration for the institution. The Alumni Association joined the festivities several years later, with the first set of Founders’ Day awards being given out in 1964.

University President Homer Durham approached Don Dotts, then the acting secretary (and later director) of the Alumni Association and told him, as Dotts recalled, “’The heart of the university is a good faculty and we don’t do anything to recognize our faculty. How about the Alumni Association doing something?’”

“We were starting an annual Founder’s Day dinner anyway,” Dotts explained. “And this seemed like a good showcase for recognizing outstanding people.”

At the first dinner, the association presented awards to honor faculty members and the Alumni Achievement Award. It handed out the first Young Alumni Achievement Award in 1989. Though the Awards Recognition Committee of the ASU Alumni Association Board selects the winners, the larger ASU community is involved in the process as well—students, faculty and alumni make the nominations.

“It’s great program and I’m glad they’re keeping it up,” says Dotts.

Tickets to the dinner cost $70 for Alumni Association members and $75 for non-members. Corporate sponsorships for tables of 10 are available.
Wilkinson said this year’s celebration would feature special touches reinforcing the event’s stature as the association’s signature event.

“We will honor high-profile individuals who have made significant contributions to ASU, and dinner guests will find the entire experience upgraded,” she said. “We think the university’s founders would have been pleased."