Founder’s Day promises fun, though no elephant

Sarah Goetz Staff Writer

This Saturday, May 3, students will march in droves to Ballantine Field in eager anticipation of the food, beer, rides, games and jovial atmosphere that characterize Founder’s Day. But the celebration that Vassar students love today has drastically evolved from its 19th-century roots.

Founder’s Day began in 1866 as a campus-wide surprise party for the 74th birthday of College Founder Matthew Vassar. The celebration featured poetry readings, lectures and piano solos in Main Building. After Vassar’s death in 1868, Founder’s Day became a day to memorialize the founder and visit his grave.

But by the early 20th century, Founder’s Day had evolved into a convivial celebration and a reprieve from academics. The 1942 circus-themed Founder’s Day, for example, featured a marching band—and an elephant.

While this year’s Founder’s Day guests will not include an elephant, the celebration will include giant candy bar decorations, a colorful felt walkway leading up to the field and copious amounts of sweet treats. This year’s theme, Candyland, was selected from a wide range of student suggestions.

“This year, I wanted to do as democratic a process as possible,” explained Founder’s Day Committee co-Chair Brian Bacchi ’08. After students wrote in with their suggestions, the Committee narrowed down the results and allowed the student body to vote on the top five themes. Nearly 1,800 votes were cast , and the Candyland theme won by about 300 votes.

Bacchi said that most students seem happy with the theme. “There is just so much you can do with it,” he said.

Megan Habermann, Assistant Director of Campus Activities and Advisor to the Founder’s Day Committee, said that the process that the Committee used to select the theme “worked really well, because even students who…weren’t thrilled about…the theme, felt that they at least got their voice heard.”

“Looking at all the decorations and merchandise, everything looks super cool,” said Kid’s Tent Committee Chair Nathalie Galvez ’08 in an e-mailed statement. “

Overall, people around campus seem to be excited and looking forward to see what Founder’s Day will look like under the Candyland umbrella,” she added.

Two of the most popular aspects of Founder’s Day are the free food and beer. Zorona and Molé Molé have been confirmed as food vendors, and Soul Dog and Amici’s are also being pursued.

A Candyland-themed bouncy castle has been secured, as well as an obstacle course. Bacchi said that the Committee is still working to bring “swings and other carnival-type rides” to the event. Further entertainment will be provided by several bands that will perform throughout the day, including the Born Ruffians, a ’90s cover band called Reality Check, and the Pimps of Joytime. Vassar’s own Enter the Scorpion Pit, winner of the recent battle of the bands contest, will perform in the last slot of the day.

The Committee is also seeking to make Founder’s Day more eco-friendly this year. “We’re really going to be working with the Sustainability Committee,” Habermann said. There will also be water spigots so that students can fill their own water bottles. “We’re really going to promote those throughout the day, and really encourage people to use the recycling bins and things like that,” she said.

Galvez and her committee have worked to revamp the kid’s tent, which will be set up from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. “In my opinion, it’s the most undervalued part of Founder’s Day because it isn’t specific to Vassar students, but is more for the Vassar community and their families,” she said. The kid’s tent will include gingerbread house decorating, face painting, balloon animals and a wall where the kids can write or finger paint.

Founder’s Day will conclude with fireworks over Sunset Lake and a double feature on the Chapel Lawn; the Candyland movie, entitled The Great Lollipop Adventure, will be shown, as well as the 1971 version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Bacchi said that this Founder’s Day will be as successful as it has been in the past, and that the celebration will be in keeping with the traditions that have made it so enjoyable. “It’s going to be fairly consistent,” he said, but he added that “We might have random amounts of candy to give out to people, just because.”

While Founder’s Day has certainly evolved from its formal, solemn beginnings into a day of fun and carefree festivities, Matthew Vassar’s words upon seeing the surprise celebration held in his honor still ring true: “This one event has paid me for every cent I have spent for the College.”