Kori Downs
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In 1890, Chicago minister Frank
Gunsaulus and meatpacking industrialist
Philip Danforth Armour teamed up to create
the Armour Institute, which would later merge
with Lewis Institute in 1940 to form Illinois
Institute of Technology. 'lhis year, the univer-
sity celebrates its 125th anniversary with many
special events, beginning with a reception held
in Galvin Library on the afternoon of Friday,
January 23.

The Anniversary kick-01f party oc-
cupied the upper level of Galvin Library with a

 

Student newspaper of Illinois Institute of Technology since 1928

IIT kicks off 125th anniversary
celebration in Galvin Library

variety of events to celebrate IIT’s past, present,
and future. Many areas of the library offered
different experiences to the wide variety of
guests in attendance, which included students,
staff, faculty, and alumni. As guests arrived,
they were encouraged to stop by a table that
offered free commemorative beverage cups to
the first 700 attendees. University Archivist
Catherine Buck and Assistant University Ar-
chivist Ralph Pugh offered tours of the histori-
cal artifacts kept in the archive collections of
the library. The Kemper Room, located in the
south half of the library, contained a variety of
comparisons between IIT’s past and present as
well as some interesting facts about the univer-
sity. The southwest corner of the upper level

was home to a photo booth with a variety of
props that printed photo strips for visitors free
of charge.

The celebration also featured con-
tests, including a game where participants
learned biographical facts about important
people in IIT’s history and had to guess who
they were, a multiple-choice IIT trivia game,
and a costume contest where participants
dressed as their favorite decade.

Food was available throughout the
event, provided by Sodexo catering. Food sta-
tions featured food especially relevant to UT.
A mashed potato bar, likely in the spirit of IIT
Potato, accompanied three stations that repre-
sented geographical areas near to IIT: China-

technewsiit.com

OPINION 2

CAMPUS 2-3

ABE 4-5
SLIPSTICK 7
SPORTS Y

 

town, U.S. Cellular Field, and Bronzeville.

A jazz combo from Vandercook
College of Music was also present at the event
to provide music and lead the crowd in singing
happy birthday to the university.

Other events on the schedule for
special recognition as a part of HTS 125th an-
niversary celebration include a revival of the
Amelia Earhart Kite Flying Contest, Alumni
Awards, Commencement, Convocation,
Homecoming, and an [IT Hall of Fame event,
all to be held in the upcoming year. A full cal-
endar of events is available online at web.iit.
edu/ 125.

Photos by Kari Bowns
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