Orange Day honors university’s history
On this date 134 years ago, the Hall of Languages opened its doors.
The first Syracuse University students – all male – attended classes, ate and slept in what was then the only building on campus.
The university has come a long way since its inception, and this progression seems more than an adequate cause for celebration.
For SU students, faculty, staff and alumni, March 24th marks National Orange Day, a celebration of the university’s birthday. Aside from asking students to wear orange, the Department of Alumni Relations has organized a number of events on campus and around the Syracuse area.
‘We’re hoping to increase the visibility of the university,’ said Denise Hendee, administrative assistant of Alumni Relations, ‘while simultaneously giving the faculty and students a chance to show their orange pride.’
The on-campus events will begin with the playing of the SU alma mater and fight song over the Crouse chimes and continue with a cutting of the cake with Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw at 12:30 p.m. in the Schine Student Center. The Alumni Relations Department hopes that free cake and the chancellor’s zany apparel will draw students to these events.
‘A chance of seeing Shaw in a wig?’ asked freshman finance major Chris Reynolds, ‘That would be priceless.’
Some of the more enticing advantages of National Orange Day will be the discounts offered throughout campus. The University Bookstore will offer discounted apparel, while Rachel’s Restaurant in the Sheraton University Hotel and the Goldstein Alumni & Faculty Dining Center will feature SU-themed lunch specials. On South Campus, the Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion will offer free skate rentals to all patrons donning orange.
SU’s continuing commitment to community service will also play a large role in Wednesday’s events. The Maxwell and Newhouse alumni clubs will work on a Habitat for Humanity project in the Bronx, while members of the Nursing Alumni Association will volunteer their time at The Jewish Home of Central New York and the Central New York Rehab Center.
Alumni clubs across New York and the nation will be participating in similar service projects and celebrations. The Central New York Alumni Club will host a luncheon and root on the women’s lacrosse team as they take on Princeton.
The Buffalo Alumni Club of Western New York will help restore the landscape in one of the city’s parks, while the Albany Alumni Club of the Capital District will be volunteering at Joseph House, where they will cook and serve meals to the less fortunate. The Albany alumni will also participate in the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days.
Throughout the country, the Fort Meyers Alumni Club will assist in the building of a Habitat for Humanity project, as the Arizona Club will work at a homeless shelter in Phoenix, where they will feed more than 750 people.
The celebration of SU’s 134th birthday will culminate with a celebration by the city of Syracuse. After sunset, the Carrier Dome and Niagara Mohawk Building will be lit in orange lights, and the MONY tower will show ‘GO SU’ on its time and temperature display.
‘We’re hoping to make orange spirit contagious,’ said Hendee, ‘and spread the good feeling that students have about SU.’
