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Homecoming 2009 Celebrates 200 Years
with 900 Performers

Miami University continues its Bicentennial celebration with Homecoming 2009: "Live the Legacy" Oct. 23-24. This year's Homecoming honors Miami's 200th anniversary with a parade, a picnic, football vs. Northern Illinois, and a performance extravaganza that features jazz legend Benny Golson and newly written musical scores. Events begin at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, with a parade from Oxford Uptown Parks to Millett Hall. A "BBQ Birthday Picnic" will be held 6-8 p.m. in front of Millett Hall; a pep rally in front of Millett begins at 7 p.m. after the parade.

 

The LegacyFest performance begins at 8 p.m., also at Millett Hall. The concert extravaganza features Benny Golson, tenor sax, and 900 performers including members of the Miami University Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Combined Choirs and Talawanda Schools bands and choirs. The showcase performance includes music commissioned for Miami's Bicentennial as well as familiar favorites. Commissioned pieces include those by: Benny Golson; James Lentini, dean of the School of Fine Arts; David Shaffer, marching band director emeritus; James Sheppard, professor of music; Roger Davis, associate professor of music; and Andrew Goldie, 2009 Miami graduate. For ticket information, call the Box Office at 513-529-3200 or order online.

 

For a complete list of Homecoming 2009 events, see Live the Legacy.

 

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Convocation 2009:
Taylor Mali reflects on learning

What Learning Leaves, a collection of poems by Taylor Mali, was Miami University's Summer Reading Program book for the Bicentennial Celebration year. Mali is a poet and teacher who is considered to be among the most successful poetry slam strategists of all time.

 

He won the National Poetry Slam competition a record four times and has traveled the globe giving lectures and performing his poetry. Mali has been called a performance poet, but critics say his show is filled with charm and wit. Mali received a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant in 2001. Education was chosen as the topic for the summer reading program in celebration of Miami's Bicentennial.

 

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Miami Mergers look to break world record

Are you a Miami merger? Celebrate the Bicentennial year with other Miami couples for a Miami Merger Moment at Alumni Weekend 2009. Organizers of Alumni Weekend are looking to break a Guinness World Record—the number of wedding vows renewed at the same time.

 

On Saturday, June 20, at 4:15 p.m., hundreds of Mergers will gather at the Upham Arch for the "Countdown to a Kiss" and a group photo. "Acquisitions" (a Miamian married to a non- Miamian) are also welcome to join the effort. (The current record is 624 couples, set in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 2008.)     Full story

 

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Basket sales to support Bicentennial Student Center

A commemorative Bicentennial Basket is now available for sale, thanks to the partnership of the Parents Council and the Longaberger® Company. Twenty-five percent of proceeds will benefit the Bicentennial Student Center.

 

This handcrafted basket is embossed with the official Bicentennial logo and measures 8 inches long x 6-3/4 inches wide x 5-1/4 inches high in the front and 7 inches high in the back. It will surely be a treasured keepsake for years to come. For more information and ordering instructions, choose from the purchase methods below.

 

Order online  | Download form for mail or fax (PDF 101KB)

 

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Trivia contest winners announced

The following winners of the Bicentennial trivia contest will receive a bicentennial travel mug from the Miami University Bookstore:

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Happy Birthday: official greetings

From the congressional halls of Washington, D.C., to the state capitol and the city of Oxford, formal resolutions and proclamations were presented to congratulate Miami on its 200th anniversary as well as its impact on the nation's history and its contributions to higher education.

U.S. Senate Resolution  |  U.S. House Resolution  |  Ohio Senate Resolution  | 
Ohio House Resolution  |  Governor's Proclamation  |  Oxford Proclamation  | 
Cincinnati Proclamation  | 

 

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Happy Birthday: Charter Day Ball

Miami University commemorated its Bicentennial with a Charter Day Ball held Feb. 21 at Millett Hall. The sold-out crowd of nearly 5,000 students, faculty, staff, and community guests danced through the night. A live Web stream connected the Oxford ball to numerous alumni events held around the country. Organized by the Campus Activities Council, the ball signaled the first official event of a yearlong celebration.

Feature photos  |  All photos

 

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Happy Birthday: Charter Day ceremony

Feb. 17 Miami University officially kicked off the celebration of its founding 200 years ago with a special 4 p.m. ceremony in Millett Hall. Open to the public, the event was also available as a Web stream.

The 90-minute program featured videos, music, and special presentations that reflected on the past, celebrated the present, and looked to the future of Miami University—the 10th oldest public university in the nation. The program included the following events:

• A welcome from Thomas E. Gamble, Chief, Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
• The official unveiling by representatives of the U. S. Postal Service of a commemorative postal card honoring Miami University
• Students reading dramatic interpretations of letters retrieved from Miami's archives that reflect on-campus life through the years
• Musical performances by students
• Video montages that tell the story of Miami's 200 years
• Commemorative remarks by Miami President David Hodge

Photos  |  Video  |  Hodge remarks (PDF 61KB)

 

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Spreading the news

Miami continues the Bicentennial celebration with the publication of a special tabloid section featured in the Cox Ohio southwest area newspapers Feb. 12 through Feb. 15. The section previews Bicentennial events and activities to be held throughout 2009. President David Hodge reflects on Miami's historical beginnings and looks to the future in a column he wrote for the publication.     Full screen

 

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Bicentennial exhibition features Miami faculty and alumni artists

From "Prague Star Series: Vessel for Libuse," 2004, copper, brass, patina and paint by Distinguished Professor of Art Susan Ewing, is included in a bicentennial exhibition at the Miami University Art Museum.     Full story

 

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Myaamia Tribe art exhibit

The Miami University Art Museum celebrates the Miami tribe and the history of Miami University with the exhibition, "Myaamiaki iisi meehtohseeniwiciki, How the Miami People Live". The exhibition features artifacts and objects from the Miami, whose original homeland encompassed the Midwestern lands and rivers now named after them.     Photos

 

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