Fort Lewis College announces College’s birthday party, rolls out centennial logo

 

Fort Lewis College will celebrate its 100^th year as public educational institution throughout 2011, and it all begins with a kick-off “birthday” party for the College on Tuesday, January 25, 2011. The community is invited to the Fort Lewis College Centennial Opening Celebration, which begins at 4 p.m. in Whalen Gym. The free event will include a little history, a few surprises, a lot of fun and a giant birthday cake.

Also as part of the College’s centennial celebration this year, a new Fort Lewis College logo was created. The new design, which features the dates “1911-2011” over the number “100,” was chosen after a campus vote and will be used throughout 2011.

January 25 is an important date in the College’s history as it was on January 25, 1911, that Colorado Governor John Shafroth signed the bill creating an agricultural high school on the Old Fort Lewis property near Hesperus, CO. The first financial appropriation from the state of Colorado for the high school totaled $60,000.

From that agricultural high school with its handful of students, Fort Lewis would evolve into a junior college in 1927, move to Durango in 1956 (the school was then called Fort Lewis A&M College), before finally becoming the four-year liberal arts institution that it is today.

Over the past 100 years, Fort Lewis has become a stand-out institution. The College continues to honor the agreement the state of Colorado made in 1911 to offer Native American students a tuition-free education. Today, more than 800 Native American students are enrolled at Fort Lewis College and the College bestows more bachelor’s degrees on Native Americans than any other four-year institution in the country.

Another point of pride is the fact that five Fort Lewis professors have been named a Colorado Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education since 1990. In Colorado, only the U.S. Air Force Academy has had more Colorado Professors of the Year come out of its teaching ranks.

Other centennial events are planned throughout the year. More information will be made available in the future.