Hundreds of SMU family members returned to the Hilltop April 15 to participate in Founders’ Day festivities, from marking the milestone of $1.15 billion raised during The Second Century Campaign to dedicating the new Crain Family Centennial Promenade.
Individuals and families enjoyed finding the engraved brick pavers that are among the 10,000 that were bought to help create the Promenade. Students celebrated Peruna’s annual birthday at Perunapalooza held on the main quad. On Saturday, participants attended Inside SMU sessions presented by faculty on topics ranging from the overuse of antibiotics to global economic challenges. SMU Athletics held its spring football game and the Meadows Museum opened its doors for Community Day. Duncan MacFarlane, the Bobby B. Lyle Centennial Chair in Engineering Entrepreneurship, and sophomore Diana Cates ’18, a 2016 Tower Scholar, spoke at the campaign finale about how they have benefited from donor support. The photos on this page capture some of the high points of the fun-filled weekend.
1. President R. Gerald Turner (fourth from left) and his wife, Gail, celebrate with campaign leaders at the ribbon cutting for the dedication of the Crain Family Centennial Promenade and campaign major donor monument. 2.–5. Alumni and donors enjoyed finding their engraved bricks on the new Promenade. 6. Former first lady and librarian Laura Bush ’68, an SMU trustee, spoke at the celebration of donors to the renovations of Fondren Library. 7. Duncan MacFarlane, the Bobby B. Lyle Centennial Chair in Engineering Entrepreneurship, and sophomore Diana Cates ’18 told their stories about the impact of donor support at the campaign finale. 8. A student sits patiently while her face is painted with her favorite running Mustang. 9. Kids of all ages enjoyed the Mustang Fan Fair at Ford Stadium, which featured an enormous bounce slide and an appearance by SMU’s mascot, Peruna. 10. Students performed in Sing Song, an annual musical competition, which featured an updated take on traditional fairy tales.
11. SMU football played its spring red-blue game in Ford Stadium, where the offense defeated the defense 45-35, on Saturday during Founders’ Day weekend. 12. Robert G. White, Jr. ’74 and his wife, Brenda G. White ’74, look at the list of major donors to The Second Century Campaign on a new campus marker on the Crain Family Centennial Promenade. 13. Campaign co-chair Caren Prothro stands next to the table that was given in honor of Cullum Clark, her son-in-law, by the Vin and Caren Prothro Foundation for the new Centennial Reading Room
in Fondren Library. 14. Debra Tippett Gibbe ’76 honored Donald F. Jackson ’63, who taught finance at the Cox School of Business, with a chair in the Centennial Reading Room. 15. Perkins School of Theology Professor Robert Hunt spoke on “Achieving Solidarity: Religion and Society During Anxious Times” at Inside SMU during Founders’ Day weekend.
16. With a flourish the Mustang Band helped inaugurate the Crain Family Centennial Promenade.