By Katherine Gibson (The Cascade) – Email
Online April 13, 2014
With excitement, anticipation, and pride, UFV will turn 40 on April 4. Marking the day with a week of celebratory cake cuttings on campus, UFV’s birthday will act as a kickoff for a year of special events geared at engaging the community and celebrating the school’s history.
“[UFV] started as a community that wanted a college … so it really is about the connection back to the community,” explains UFV’s special events and ceremonies manager, Betsy Terpsma. “They asked to have this institution and they’ve supported us all the way through the growth from a college, to university-college, to a university — it’s so exciting,” she goes on. “We’re looking at this whole year as a way to tell that story again.”
For current UFV students, Terpsma hopes that there will a sense of accomplishment in knowing that their school has made it to 40 years, not only growing as an institution, but broadening its influence locally into the community and globally on the world stage.
“It’s pride in the institution. [Students] are a part of something bigger: it’s not just you’re here doing your course — being a [UFV] grad means so much more,” says Terpsma. “It is about giving back to the community [and] how you’re going to influence the world.”
Although the celebrations on campus will give students and faculty the chance to celebrate the university’s growth, Terpsma notes that the rest of the year-long events will be aimed at enhancing awareness of UFV outside the school’s walls. Reinstating community events, similar to “Party on the Green,” as well as facilitating open houses, Terpsma hopes to inform the community of UFV’s history and include them in celebrating the university’s 40th anniversary.
“It’s an awareness campaign for UFV. A lot of people know about UFV, but maybe they don’t now how much it impacts this community,” she says. “We don’t very often invite the community as a whole to come to our campus. They can come for a lecture … but this is a chance [for them] to really look around and see what we’re doing. ”
UFV’s official April 4 birthday will also coincide with the opening of the new school of agriculture building at the CEP campus, which Terpsma sees as a timely overlapping of events.
Noting the importance of including the agricultural building in the 40th year kickoff — the agricultural department was one of the “founding” programs at UFV — Terpsma hopes the celebration will end with another structure opening: the new Student Union Society building.
“The new agricultural facility will be the first event within the year, but we’re hoping that at the end [of the year] we’ll be able to bookend [the celebration] with the opening of the new student union building here in Abbotsford.
“We want to tell our stories again,” Terpsma concludes. “We started off in a church basement in Chilliwack; look were we are now.”
