Soon after students returned to Stanford Residential College from spring break, their lobby was adorned with decorations to commemorate the 20th birthday celebration.
The planned events involved food and activities for students throughout the day.
“It will be almost like a carnival theme,” Jon Bono, SRC’s resident coordinator, said prior to the anniversary in an interview with The Hurricane. “The focus [of the celebration] is really on the students of the building. The lobby will be decorated to the hilt.”
The all-day celebration began with SRC’s staff distributing free food, such as popcorn, snow cones and candy, in the residential college’s lobby as music played in the background. The SRC mascot, King Henry, was present for the festivities.
The activities continued later as administrative figures from UM’s past and present filed into the residence of Drs. Alex and Hilit Mechaber, SRC’s resident masters, for the official celebration.
Such UM leaders as current President Donna E. Shalala, former President Edward T. “Tad” Foote, and former UM Provost Luis Glaser attended the celebration, but there was one notable absence. Former UM President Henry King Stanford was unable to attend the event due to health concerns. Stanford, the residential college’s namesake, will turn 90 next month.
“I cannot exaggerate how disappointed I am [not to be able to attend],” Stanford said in a letter.
In the evening, the Mechabers hosted a reception honoring SRC’s student leaders.
“We all agree that students are the cornerstone of this institution,” Alex Mechaber, the first speaker of the evening, said.
Last year, Hecht Residential College celebrated its own 20th anniversary, and set a precedent for lobby renovations that each residential college would follow. However, Bono said that renovations for SRC are not yet expected to take place. He said that while SRC will likely undergo some renovation in the next five to 10 years, UM’s focus is currently on the ongoing University Village project.
Hunter Umphrey can be contacted at humphrey@miami.edu.