Founders Day Home
“Founders' & Pioneers' Day is an annual college-wide event which recognizes and honors the numerous contributions of the College's founding faculty, staff and administrators and emphasizes the unique mission of Ramapo College. The faculty, staff and administrators and trustees of Ramapo College in its first several years were critical to the ongoing pursuit of excellence in teaching and learning. These founders and pioneers took a chance when joining this new collegiate effort and each November the College celebrates their commitment and the College's ongoing success in providing our students with a strong foundation for a lifetime of achievement.”
Founders' Day 2011 Wednesday, November 16
Schedule of Events
11 a.m.- 3:30 p.m., B & C Wing
Student Government Celebrates Founders’ Day
Students, Faculty, Staff and Retirees: Swing by the second floor of the Student Center for the Student Government Association's Founders’ Day Celebration. Festivities include free t-shirts, raffles, a balloon artist, a photo booth, cotton candy and a caricaturist.
12 p.m., Havemeyer House
Faculty and Staff Honors
Select Faculty and Staff: President Peter Mercer and Dr. Jacqueline Ehlert-Mercer will honor newly retired faculty and staff and will induct new Quarter Century Club members at the 2011 Founders’ Day Luncheon at the Havemeyer House. Click here to see the list of honorees.
3:00 p.m., C Wing
Annual Cake Cutting
Students, Faculty, Staff and Retirees: Come one, come all! Join President Mercer and the Student Government Association for a Founders’ Day tradition: The Ramapo College Cake Cutting. Cake and refreshments will be served on the second floor of the Student Center.
3:30-4:30 p.m., Trustees Pavilion
Communicating Our Promise: Pushing Boundaries Integrated Marketing Communication Plan Launch
Students, Faculty, Staff and Retirees: Please join President Mercer at the Trustees Pavilion for an informative presentation and reception to kick-off Ramapo's Pushing Boundaries Integrated Marketing Communication Plan. The presentation will focus on the attributes that the plan have been built on, student Brendan Flanagan’s perspective on our promise, and a preview of the next steps of the integrated plan.
9:00 p.m., Birch Tree Inn
Found Your Appetite?
Students, Faculty, Staff, and Retirees: Wrap up Founders’ Day with special fare, a D.J., and giveaways at Late Night dining with Sodexo sponsored by the Student Government Association.
Doreen Janes: "Swimming in the outdoor pool, having a drink in the tavern, and everyone helping one another; we were a family."
Isadora Seibert: "In the spring of my freshman year, I decided that I wanted to take a bigger leadership role on campus. I took a petition from the Student Government Association office to run for Sophomore Class Council Representative. I honestly did not think I had a shot at winning, because we were all new to the position. In the end, I won! It was an amazing feeling; I now run class council meetings every week, and call myself an important part of SGA."
David Walensky: "I remember how intimate the campus was before the new buildings. I miss the ball-wall by Linden Hall and the basketball court where Oak now stands."
John Robert Cassidy: "What I remember most of all at Ramapo was the sheer joy of structuring a subtantial curriculum taught by talented, caring and well trained teachers for serious students: a curriculum which presented the world to them in all its complexity, depth and beauty, and opened up their minds to the life of the intellect."
Nancy Mackin: "As the opening of the College approached, we expected a freshman class of about 800 students, but we actually had no idea how many students would really show up at the new college in Mahwah. In fact, more than 1200 students registered and we had to really scurry to find enough seats for everyone. When the College opened, only wings A, B and part of C were ready. All classes ended at 1:40 p.m., so construction could continue in the spaces we were using for the Library, cafe, and classrooms. There was a tremendous sense of camaraderie as everyone was new to the campus. Having said that, most of us who were on the faculty and staff were in our 20s (you were one of the "old" people, if you were in your 30s or 40s)and had never opened a new college. We had a chance to figure out everything together. It is amazing to look around in 2009 and see what we have built."
For more memories or to share your own favorite memory, click here.
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