The Carleton community soaked up the sunshine while celebrating Carleton’s 75th Big Birthday Bash on Sept. 16.
As a special edition of the annual Throwback Homecoming celebrations, the event featured entertainment ranging from a 50-foot Ferris wheel to inflatable bouncy castles, a chemistry magic show, and a Ravens Rhythm Cheer Team demonstration.
The event took place at the university in Parking Lot 5 and coincided with the Homecoming football game in MNP Park. Tables giving away free popcorn and cotton candy proved popular, while an announcement that 25 pieces of birthday cake remained was followed up only seconds later with news that all slices had been taken.
Yasir Naqvi, the MPP for Ottawa Centre, helped Carleton president Alastair Summerlee cut the first slice of birthday cake. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, a Carleton alumnus, also made an appearance at the event.
Rides and activities were free of charge, but signs at an information table encouraged donations to the Fund for Good. According to the Fund for Good’s page on Carleton’s FutureFunder website, the initiative is “an endowed challenge fund for alumni to support academic experiential learning” by giving current students “the opportunity to get engaged in their field of study beyond the classroom.” The webpage states that Carleton will match every dollar donated.
While not offering a breakdown of exact event costs, Mark Savenkoff, the alumni and donor relations director at Carleton, said in an email that the funds for the birthday bash came from existing operating budgets.
“We were also able to offset some expenses thanks to financial support from external partners, including TD Insurance, Meloche Monnex Inc., and Manulife Financial,” Savenkoff said.
He added that the event was planned in partnership with “numerous campus organizations,” including the Carleton University Students’ Association, the Rideau River Residence Association, Athletics, and the Department of University Advancement.
In a statement on the Throwback website, Louise Hayes, the Carleton University Alumni Association President, said approximately 10,000 Carleton alumni attend Throwback events each year.
“It is a chance to reconnect with fellow alumni, faculty and current students. Watching this renewed tradition grow over the past four years has been a source of great Carleton pride,” Hayes said in the post.
Aside from the celebration and football game, this year’s fifth annual Throwback celebrations lasted from Sept. 13 to Sept. 17 and included guest lectures by renowned alumni Waneek Horn-Miller, an Olympian, media personality, and human rights activist, and Gregory Ip, an author and economics journalist for the Wall Street Journal. Ryan North, another alumnus and author, also showcased one of his novels at an event in the MacOdrum Library.
For Carleton students Sarah Ivanco and Monika Sadler, a combination of the chemistry magic show and the promise of free food were what drew them to the event.
“The chemistry show was really good,” said Ivanco, a second-year neuroscience student. “Now I’m just really excited to see the cheerleaders.”
Sadler, a second-year geography student, said she hopes Carleton can host more events like the Big Birthday Bash in the future.
“I would totally come to something like this again,” Sadler said. “We’ve had so much fun.”
According to Savenkoff, the celebration was a big success.
“It was a great opportunity to open our doors and say thank you to the community who continue to support Carleton and its students as parents, donors, and alumni ambassadors,” he said.
