After months of detailed planning, the 125th anniversary celebration Sept. 10-11 gave alumni, faculty, staff, students and others special opportunities to celebrate the college’s past and current successes. It was also a time to outline future plans to guide Rose-Hulman into the next millennium.

    Activities ranged from the announcement that the Vision to be the Best campaign had exceeded its $100 million goal ahead of schedule to a convocation where passionate remarks by alumni left no doubt that Rose-Hulman has had a positive influence on their lives.

    A speakers series featuring discussions about cloning, the role of women in engineering, and the future of technology kicked off the weeklong anniversary events schedule.

    A Young Master’s Program, conducted for the first time and coordinated with the help of student leaders, featured 35 recent grads who gave advice about how to successfully start a career. Each academic department sponsored panel discussions featuring the young alumni.

    In 1995, the largest fund-raising program in school history kicked off an ambitious goal to raise $100 million by the year 2004. On Sept. 10, 1999, the date of Rose-Hulman’s founding, President Samuel Hulbert announced an unprecedented accomplishment.

    “We have achieved our 10-year goal in five years,” he reported at a news conference in Hadley Hall.

    The campaign had received $116 million in cash or pledges.

    Hulbert also announced an extension of the campaign to achieve a goal of $200 million to fund future funding needs. (see related story page 9).

    Nearly 800 guests attended a banquet in Hulbert Arena Sept. 10 to celebrate the success of phase one of the campaign and to honor the many supporters who made the success possible.

    The banquet featured the first distribution of a new history book, To be the Best: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 1974-1999, authored by Rose-Hulman history professor William Pickett.

    A 50-year-old time capsule, buried during the construction of Shook Fieldhouse, was opened at the banquet. Among its contents were several copies of the Rose Technic, an American flag featuring only 48 stars, and a copy of the first history book about the institute. A new time capsule was buried the following day (see accompanying story).

    The anniversary events were highlighted Sept. 11 when nearly 1,500 members of the Rose-Hulman community processed in commencement-like order to Hulbert Arena for a Convocation of Celebration.

    As the procession entered the arena, it heard the sounds of the Terre Haute Symphony performing Handel’s Overture from Music for the Royal Fireworks.

    The Rose-Hulman Chorus accompanied the symphony as they performed America the Beautiful and Battle Hymn of the Republic. Their outstanding performance resulted in a standing ovation from the convocation audience.

    Special guests included seven alumni who would receive honorary degrees. A large, theatre-like screen that would show videos about the lives and careers of the honorees, and a new Rose-Hulman video hung over the stage on the south end of the arena.

    The honorary degree recipients spoke almost in a single voice as they told students that they would never really leave Rose-Hulman. They told of their pride in the institution and the tremendous impact the institution has had on their lives.

    Receiving honorary doctor of engineering degrees were Dennis Carter (’73,EE), vice president and director of strategic marketing for Intel Corp.; Jack Farr (’75, BioEng), orthopedic surgeon; Jack Foltz, (’57, Ch.E.), vice president and general counsel, Sun Co.; Indiana 8th District Congressman John Hostettler (’83,ME); Don Ings (’70,ME), vice president for Caterpillar; Warren Mickens (’77,ME), vice president of Ameritech; and Michael Mussallem (’74, ChemE), group vice president, Baxter Healthcare.

    Hulbert’s remarks to the audience focused on the institute’s future.

    “As we celebrate our 125th birthday and begin a new millennium, we also begin the final ascent to the summit of excellence.”

    He said Rose-Hulman has assembled many of the elements it needs to reach the summit. They include outstanding human resources, effective planning, the development of world-class curricula, outstanding academic equipment, and sufficient financial resources.

    Greater gender and racial diversity would improve our quality, Hulbert stated.

    “We are missing another important tool,” he pointed out. “In the 21st century, no educational institution can lay claim to being the world’s best at undergraduate engineering, mathematics and science education without an outstanding life sciences component.

    “Remember, we are taking this journey to reach the summit for one reason and one reason only...our students, “he told the convocation audience.

— by David Piker