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NewsvineTo celebrate Founder’s Day, Amy Chen JD/MBA ‘07 told a crowd of visitiors that the Stanford family’s legacy is a reminder “to have the boldness to imagine big things and the conviction to pursue them.”
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“I can think of no better way to celebrate our Founders — on this day and every day — than to live our lives in a way that honors this calling,” she said on Sunday, delivering a prize-winning speech to commemorate the week.
Yesterday’s Community Day, which included the Founders’ Celebration and An Art Affair, brought thousands of visitors to campus for more than 50 free activities, including strawberry DNA extractions at the science fair and a commemorative screening of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s speech “The Other America,” delivered 40 years ago in Memorial Auditorium.
For the first time this year, community members attended lectures on such diverse topics as the burgeoning high tech sector and the groundbreaking research being done on the human genome, which were held to increase awareness about the innovative work being done at the University.
“We wanted to highlight more of Stanford’s academic programs this year to help inform and excite our neighbors of all ages about Stanford’s rich and varied research enterprise,” said Pat Devaney, director of the Office of Science Research, which helped organize science and engineering lectures, demonstrations and hands-on activities for the day.
Other first-time Community Day events included tours of Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve and the Stanford Red Barn.
“[The tours were done] in an effort to bring community members ‘into the lab’ so to speak and get a better sense of the kind of science and educational opportunities the Preserve provides,” said Philippe Cohen, administrative director of Jasper Ridge.
The Student Organizing Committee for the Arts (SOCA) also held portions of their annual art festival — An Art Affair — at Community Day.
“We were excited to be able to incorporate brand new workshops by student groups, interactive art and a literary tent into ‘An Art Affair’ this year,” said SOCA co-Director Bria Long ‘09.
Ally DeArman ‘08, SOCA co-director, said that the group hosted “An Art Affair” in conjunction with Community Day “to increase visibility for student visual and performing artists and to show off their incredible talent.”
The Founders’ Celebration processional — replete with Jane and Leland Stanford actors and big-wheel bicyclists — led a crowd from the Oval to the Mausoleum, which was opened to the public after the student speaker contest winners — Chen and Andrea Fuller ‘09 — reflected on the legacy of Stanford’s Founders.
“It was an honor to give the Founders’ Celebration speech,” said Fuller, also an editor at The Daily. “This is the first time I have attended Community Day, and I am incredibly excited by how many people turned out.”
Chen said that the Founders’ Celebration gave the University a “chance to celebrate and share its venerable past, vibrant present and promising future” with local communities.
“Stanford has been a wonderful and transformative place for me these past four years,” she said, “so particularly as I graduate this year, it’s an honor to be able to reflect on and share the impact that Stanford has had on my life and on my future.”