After months of planning, it's finally arrived.
On Jan. 1, the 150th year of MSU - also known as its sesquicentennial - officially began, bringing new meaning to upcoming events and the future of MSU, university leaders say.
"As a child might anticipate a birthday, when the day finally arrives, it's very significant," said Sue Carter, chairwoman for the sesquicentennial. "It's very real."
Carter now serves as the sole chairwoman, following the departure of her co-chairwoman, former MSU first lady Joanne McPherson.
McPherson moved to the Washington area with her husband, former MSU President M. Peter McPherson, earlier this month.
One of the main issues raised by the sesquicentennial is how to take the mission and the ideals of MSU as a land-grant institution and apply them to 2005, Carter said.
"We continue to be leaders in this new era," she said. "It's not only what we do as a land-grant university - it's who we are."
The sesquicentennial allows MSU to not only look at where it currently stands, but also to reflect on the past and anticipate the future, said MSU spokesman Terry Denbow.
Denbow said the question of how the mission of a land-grant university can be applied to the 21st century remains unanswered - it's a conversation that needs to be started.
"If we were starting this kind of university this year, what would our mission be?" he said. "It's a new year, it's a new president, and it's the 150th year, not only of Michigan State University, but of a brand of higher education never before seen in the world, let alone just this country."
The first major event of the sesquicentennial is the Founders' Day celebration, which will be held Feb. 11. Originally the day of the faculty and student honors convocation, the event was expanded to include MSU President Lou Anna Simon's inauguration ceremony.
Simon said even without the inauguration, the sesquicentennial Founders' Day celebration would still have been considerable.
"As with any important milestone in a person's life, this is an important milestone in Michigan State's (history)," she said.
Beginning Feb. 12, an official pictorial cancellation - similar to a post office postmark - will be offered to the public as part of the sesquicentennial celebration, said Tonia McFadden, a marketing and sales associate for University Stores and Mail Processing.
The cancellation, shown at right, will feature the official Spartan "S" and sesquicentennial logos, and will be free with the purchase of a regular postage stamp.
An item for collectors, the cancellation can be stamped in person on Feb. 14, McFadden said. Pre-sales will begin late this month, and collector's envelopes also will be sold.
"Memories of MSU," an exhibit opening Feb. 20 at the MSU Museum, features a look at MSU's history through the eyes of the students - everything from what the early dorms and transportation methods were like to the evolution of fashion and traditions, said Val Berryman, curator of history for the MSU Museum and coordinator of the exhibit.
The exhibit will run through Dec. 30 and feature items collected from donors.
"(Students) can compare how things work for them today and how different it was in the past," Berryman said. "Some things don't change, but the freedom and the options that the present-day student has are just so much more than they ever were in the past."
