Sesquicentennial celebration includes Subbaswamy inaugural, Founders Day cookout

 

Planning is continuing for events scheduled for Founders Week, April 22-29, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Massachusetts Agricultural College, according to Nancy Buffone, executive director of External Relations and University Events.

 

As the campus marks its sesquicentennial, two of the major public events will be the formal inauguration of Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy on April 27 and the annual Founders Day cookout on the Goodell Lawn on April 29. 

 

“Invitations and announcements about these events will be sent to all faculty and staff, so keep an eye out for them,” said Buffone.

 

A key historical element during Founders Week is the Stockbridge Day/Celebration of Agriculture Day on April 25. It features a tour of the campus’ agricultural-related facilities, including the Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown, the South Deerfield and Hadley farms, and a reception at the new Agricultural Learning Center on North Pleasant Street north of the campus.

 

The yearlong observance will also include a UMass Amherst Day in Boston next fall, a traveling exhibit to be displayed across the state, a performance by the Minuteman Marching Band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade next November in New York City. a television documentary that explores the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 through the lens of UMass Amherst’s past, present and future, produced by PBS station WGBY-TV in Springfield and a New England Public Radio documentary on the history of the campus, dating back to the inaugural class of 56 students taught by four faculty.