How sweet it is: SF State celebrates 116th birthday
This year, San Francisco State University is launching its annual Founders Day celebration with a big scoop of fun: On Wednesday, March 18, the University will give away 1,899 root beer floats to mark the anniversary of its founding in 1899.
The floats will be distributed by Taqueria Girasol on the campus Quad from noon to 2 p.m. Musical performers and a variety of student groups will also be on hand to add to the festivity.
President Frederic Lister Burk surrounded by SF State Normal School faculty
Today, nearly 30,000 students are enrolled at SF State, and the University offers degrees and certificates in dozens of fields. More than 7,600 people earned degrees at SF State last year.
The Founders Day Challenge encourages the campus community to honor SF State's heritage by making a donation in support of its future. Students, faculty, alumni, family and friends are all invited to help the Alumni Association reach its goal: raising $30,000 the week of March 16-22. Donors can choose to support scholarships or the college, department or program of their choice.
Students are also pitching in, focusing their Founders Day fundraising efforts on the senior class gift and the Student Life Partnership Fund, which helps finance new campus initiatives, activities, programs and projects. Student groups are also raising seed money to erect a 10-foot bronze gator statue that will represent the unity and values of the SF State community.
"Celebrating SF State's founding is an important way to establish tradition and pride in our University," said Luis De Paz, vice president of finance for Associated Students, Inc. "Using the Founders Day celebration as the launch for the senior class gift is equally important. The senior class gift is an opportunity to support the next generation of SF State students and leave a lasting legacy that others can follow."
To make a pledge or follow the progress of the Founders Day Challenge, go to http://www.sfsu.edu/~alumdev