August 31, 2007 :: No. 25

Marking its half-century anniversary, Cal State Fullerton kicks off a year of celebration Sept. 14-16 with a universitywide open house, concerts, elephant races, fairs, fireworks and other weekend festivities.

“It’s going to be a great year,” said President Milton A. Gordon, “one that will see completion of Mihaylo Hall — the new home for the College of Business and Economics — an award-winning student recreation building, an advanced nursing laboratory and countless new programs, including additional graduate degree programs in social work, nursing and education.

“Together, these accomplishments reflect our 50th anniversary theme: Discover, Innovate, Achieve.”

“There is something monumental about the half-century mark,” said CSUF graduate Vikki Vargas (B.A. communications ’81), Orange County bureau chief for NBC/4-TV and honorary chair of the anniversary planning committee. “This is our year to brag, boast and acknowledge the university’s accomplishments over the last 50 years, and the promise of the years ahead.”

Fellow alumnus State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell (B.A. history ’73) returns to his alma mater Friday, Sept. 14, to deliver the keynote address at convocation — the formal start of CSUF’s 50th anniversary celebration launch, featuring a weekend of entertainment.

Fireworks — Vocal and Otherwise
A stellar lineup of local, national and international Titan talent will be in the spotlight during a special edition of Concert Under the Stars — “From Hula Hoops to iPods: A Celebration of 50 Years of Popular Music” — Friday evening on the lawn north of Titan Gymnasium.

Currently in its 24th year, the annual back-to-school gathering of campus and community members will be headlined by international opera star and CSUF graduate Rod Gilfry (B.A. music ’81). He will be joined by the Preeminents, a musical theater troupe; the University Jazz Ensemble and vocalist Pamela Hillman, vice president for university advancement, in featured performances; as well as by theater and dance alumni from the stages of Hollywood, off-Broadway and abroad. They include Brooke Aston, Landon Beard, Rafael Duran, Jennifer Hubilla and Erin McNally.

Jim Taulli, associate professor of theatre and dance, is directing the show — a blast from the past to the present that will highlight five decades of popular music, including such tunes as “Jailhouse Rock,” “Good Golly Miss Molly,” “R-E-S-P-E-C-T,” “The Hustle,” “Thriller” and “From a Distance.”

Prior to the show’s 7:45 p.m. curtain, concertgoers will enjoy alfresco dining. Attendees bring their own picnic baskets or arrange for catered meals. Culminating the evening, a spectacular fireworks display will offer a preview of the year’s celebration to come.

Campuswide Celebration
The festivities continue Saturday, Sept. 15, when the university throws a campuswide open house for the community that will include alumni gatherings, games and activities for children, entertainment, exhibits displaying historical milestones, a gigantic birthday cake and the first intercollegiate elephant race of the 21st century.

On May 11, 1962, when “The First Intercollegiate Elephant Race in Human History” was held on campus, the zany “Day of the Titan” event put the little-known Fullerton campus of Orange County State College on the map.

Alumnus Jack Hale (B.A. business administration ’62), who was a mahout in the 1962 races and helped organize the event as president of Sigma Phi Omega, recalled how the novel idea started.

“Back in the 1960s, we wanted to set tradition and establish some roots, and it was important that tradition be set by both the student body and the Greek organizations,” said Hale. After a meeting among fraternites/sororities and other students, the elephant race was born.

The pachydermal pursuit drew entries from Harvard and other universities and colleges across the country, and news spread around the world. The Titan tradition continued with races held in subsequent years. The last race was in 1991, when Gordon, students and faculty members rode the giant mammals as part of homecoming festivities.

Sixteen years later, the university will revive the tradition on Saturday, Sept. 15, with a 21st-century version featuring robotic and human-powered pachyderms.

“Animal safety issues have put an end to using live elephants, but we still want to celebrate Titan pride and our mascot, Tuffy Titan,” said Kandy Mink Salas, dean of students. “We want to relive our early years and a fun part of our past.”

The festivities begin in the Quad at noon. The mock elephant races will be judged on speed and visual appeal by members of the university’s original Elephant Racing Club. Students from the College of Engineering and Computer Science are building robotic elephants for the first race. For the second contest, sorority and fraternity members are creating and decorating three-wheeled, human-powered vehicles that look like elephants. The third race is geared for children who can join the pachyderm fun by racing hobbyhorse-style elephants.

“A World of Puppets: Expressions of Culture,” a new exhibit in the university’s Anthropology Teaching Museum, will be on display, and puppeteers from the Orange County Puppetry Guild will be entertaining youngsters in the Quad.

Music lovers will be treated to a kaleidoscope of performances during the 2 p.m. Collage Concert in the Meng Concert Hall of the university’s Performing Arts Center. The free concert will feature the Music Department’s student ensembles, chambers groups and faculty performers.

Recognizing the University’s Benefactors
Debuting that Saturday evening will be the university’s first Legends & Legacies gala, honoring donors whose substantial investments toward the advancement of the university can be seen in the library expansion, a baseball ‘field of dreams,’ the Performing Arts Center and scholarships that promote excellence.

Hosted by Gordon and the Cal State Fullerton Philanthropic Foundation Board of Governors, the event will fete supporters whose respective contributions total $100,000 or more.

In addition to a special performance by Gilfry, the evening will include tributes to donors of $1 million or more, including alumni entrepreneurs Dan Black (B.A. physics ’67) and Steven G. Mihaylo (B.A. business administration ’69), and James D. Woods (B.A. business administration ’67), retired chairman, president and CEO of Baker Hughes; emeriti Giles T. Brown and P. June Pollak and her husband, George; Paul Folino, executive chairman of Emulex Corp.; Jerry and Merilyn Goodwin; Kathryn McCarty; the late Vaughncille Joseph Meng; Michael Reagan; and organizations Archstone Foundation, Boeing Co. and Kaiser Permanente.

Also spotlighted will be supporters whose financial contributions to the university total $500,000 to $999,999. They include: alumnus Steve Charton (B.A. business administration ’71), president of Don Miguel Mexican Foods Inc.; Rick Muth, president of ORCO Block Co.; Frank Robitaille, executive vice president of Armstrong/Robitaille/Riegle; and organizations Annie E. Casey Foundation, Friends of the Fullerton Arboretum, Irvine Co., Maria Hernandez Estate, Mercury General Corp., Open Society Institute, Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union and Orangewood Children’s Foundation.

Divas to Perform, Greetings From Titan and Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulid
The Mariachi Divas will wrap up the weekend with a Sunday, Sept. 16, concert in downtown Santa Ana. The all-female mariachi band has 20 core members of Cuban, Swiss, Argentinean, Colombian, Panamanian, Puerto Rican, Samoan, Anglo and Mexican descent. Cindy Shea, a Cal State Fullerton alumna, leads the popular group that has produced three albums — “Dulce Daño,” “Así Somos” and “My Grown-Up Christmas List.”

The free, noontime concert is part of the university’s “Querer es Poder” (If you have the desire, you can achieve) campaign highlighting CSUF’s contributions to the Latino community. It is being staged at Main and Fourth streets, in conjunction with Santa Ana’s Fiestas de las Americas celebration.

As a CSUF graduate and parent of three children, Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido Jr. (B.A engineering-mechanical ’80) will be there to talk about the importance of a college education and highlight his own experiences at Cal State Fullerton.

A schedule of the university’s 50th anniversary events is available online at http://www.fullerton.edu/50/events.

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