{"id":8242,"date":"2017-12-14T14:53:31","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T19:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=8242"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:43:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:43:18","slug":"goodbye-cu75","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/goodbye-cu75\/","title":{"rendered":"Goodbye CU75"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Goodbye CU75\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

From an electrifying performance<\/a> by the godfather of Canadian hip hop, a gala reception<\/a> at the grand Fairmont Ch\u00e2teau Laurier and a keepsake photo book<\/a> that distills the evolution of a dynamic community to a project that brought students together to build a birchbark canoe<\/a>, a special birthday edition of Throwback<\/a> and a unique citizenship ceremony<\/a>, Carleton University\u2019s 75th<\/sup> anniversary celebrations have provided an opportunity to reflect on the past and look toward a promising future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wes Williams, better known as Maestro Fresh Wes, officially kicked off the anniversary year with his hit single \u201cLet Your Backbone Slide\u201d and some inspiring words during a Jan. 18 show at the heart of campus in the University Centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Goodbye
Maestro Fresh Wes officially kicked off the anniversary year during a Jan. 18 show.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a major transition you make in life, from high school to university, and I made the most of it,\u201d said Williams, who studied law and political science at Carleton in the mid-1980s, then went on to release the first Canadian hip hop single to become a Top 40 hit and one of the best-selling singles in Canadian hip hop history.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cBeing at Carleton and in Ottawa really helped me find myself. Then I transcended. I went back home to Scarborough, worked hard, and a year and a half later I got my record deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Maestro\u2019s leap to fame is emblematic of the ambitions of a group of visionary citizens<\/a> who opened the doors to Carleton College in 1942 to help men and women build their careers and realize their dreams after the Great Depression and Second World War. Their dream laid the groundwork for the thriving dynamic institution that turned 75 years old in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anniversary events and projects over the past 12 months have showcased the local, national and international accomplishments of students, faculty, staff and alumni, who embody Carleton\u2019s community spirit and ethos of giving back to society through education, research and collaborations with partners large and small.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Building Carleton\u2019s Reputation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s reputation building,\u201d Carleton President Alastair Summerlee says about the importance of celebrating milestone birthdays. \u201cIt\u2019s reinforcing for the internal community, but it\u2019s also reputation building outside the institution, because most people at Carleton sort of get on with it and don\u2019t stop and say: \u2018We\u2019re doing incredible things.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cPeople outside the institution don\u2019t necessarily know that, so any kind of celebration is an opportunity to reinforce the internal messages and, at the same time, become more public about who we are and what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When he arrived on campus last summer to become the university\u2019s interim leader, Summerlee was immediately immersed in anniversary festivities, which gave him a crash course in Carleton culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Goodbye
Alastair Summerlee speaks during the Canada Awards for Excellence ceremony in November.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Among the events he attended were a series of Great Grads, Good Deeds<\/a> receptions in Ottawa and other cities where alumni told attendees about their experiences at Carleton.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cBy telling their stories, they shared a very compelling message about this place and the impact that it has had on their lives and the way they think,\u201d says Summerlee.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cTo me, that was one of the most moving of the experiences that I had at CU75 events.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Creating a Birchbark Canoe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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For Interim Provost and Vice-President (Academic), Jerry Tomberlin, who chairs the 75th<\/sup> Anniversary Steering Committee, the official unveiling in September of the birchbark canoe in MacOdrum Library and the March book launch of Carleton at 75<\/em>: Reflections + Photos, 1942 \u2013 2017<\/em><\/a> stand out among dozens of events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tomberlin inherited his role from former Provost Peter Ricketts, who left Carleton last summer to become the president of Nova Scotia\u2019s Acadia University. The steering committee was comprised of a dozen or so faculty and staff, who started planning for the anniversary well before 2017 at departmental, faculty and university-wide levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Goodbye
A student helps build a birchbark canoe in the Carleton University Art Gallery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe birchbark canoe project was a wonderful display of experiential learning,\u201d Tomberlin says about the collaboration between Carleton\u2019s Centre for Indigenous Initiatives<\/a> and the Carleton University Art Gallery<\/a> (CUAG<\/a>), which saw a dozen Indigenous and non-Indigenous students build an eight-foot wooden canoe under the guidance of Daniel \u201cPinock\u201d Smith<\/a>, an internationally-renowned Algonquin craftsman from Kitigan Zibi.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThe students learned how to work together and created a beautiful piece of art that changes the whole feeling of the entrance to the library. It\u2019s another reminder that we\u2019re on unceded Algonquin territory.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The photo book, continues Tomberlin, does an excellent job of showcasing Carleton\u2019s community origins and the role these roots have played in the university\u2019s evolution. \u201cWe\u2019re very much a community-based institution,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s in our DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout 2017, special events and projects, as well as 75th<\/sup> anniversary tweaks to annual or one-off occasions, provided an opportunity to display the university\u2019s values and its leadership in research, education and community collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples include the \u201cCelebrating Our Best<\/a>\u201d reputation campaign, which has highlighted the success of nearly 50 faculty, students, alumni and donors through striking public banners and online profiles, including another eight individuals added to the honour roll this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was also a second Carleton Day at Queen\u2019s Park<\/a>, which saw a group of Carleton researchers, students, senior leaders and staff gather at the Ontario legislature in October to meet with cabinet ministers and provincial officials for discussions about the importance of higher education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Visions for Canada 2042<\/a> conference in March hosted by the Faculty of Public Affairs explored ways innovative collaborations among researchers and the community may be the most effective response to Canada\u2019s future challenges. And a series of pop-up concerts<\/a> on campus by Music Prof. Jesse Stewart challenged people to rethink what music is by playing unusual instruments like a xylophone made out of books.<\/p>\n\n\n

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CU75: An Opportunity to
\nReconnect with Former Classmates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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For Mark Savenkoff, Carleton\u2019s director of Alumni and Donor Relations, events such as the Throwback homecoming celebrations and the Founding Day Reception at the Ch\u00e2teau Laurier on June 18 \u2014 the day 75 years ago that paperwork was signed at the hotel to create Carleton \u2014 were highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIt provides a forum for graduates to reconnect with former classmates, share stories and reminisce,\u201d Savenkoff says of the anniversary year.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cAnd it provides the university with an opportunity to showcase some of the amazing people who have called Carleton home, those who have been transformed by it and many who have worked hard to support it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Goodbye
Students at the annual Throwback football game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCU75 mobilized the alumni community,\u201d he continues. \u201cAlumni submitted reflections for the commemorative book, volunteered and attended events in record numbers, led projects to raise funds and support our students, and served as ambassadors to our local, national and global communities. Alumni are proud of their alma mater and they are excited champions of the next 75-plus years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, while focused on the past, milestone anniversaries are also an opportunity to look toward and plan for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIn looking back, you can also start asking, where will be in 10, 20 and 75 years?\u201d says Summerlee.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for an academic institution to do that all the time. People joke that we change at glacial speed, but actually, universities change all the time, and they change by reflecting on what they\u2019ve been doing and thinking about what they could been doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"Goodbye<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From an electrifying performance by the godfather of Canadian hip hop, a gala reception at the grand Fairmont Ch\u00e2teau Laurier and a keepsake photo book that distills the evolution of a dynamic community to a project that brought students together to build a birchbark canoe, a special birthday edition of Throwback and a unique citizenship […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-8242","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/8242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/8242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98068,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/8242\/revisions\/98068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=8242"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=8242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}