Heinigs to lead centennial celebration
June 1, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- Retired faculty members Edward J. and Ruth Beall Heinig will serve as co-chairpersons of the WMU Centennial Celebration Committee, spearheading the University's preparations for marking, in 2003, the 100th anniversary of its founding.
The Heinigs recently accepted President Elson S. Floyd's invitation to lead the effort and will immediately begin forming a campuswide committee to oversee plans for the celebration. The committee will include members of an ad hoc centennial committee that has been involved in preliminary planning for the past three years as well as representatives from the entire University community.
"We hope the celebration will look both ways like the Roman god Janus, to honor Western's illustrious century of service to the state and to anticipate our progress into the next era under President Floyd's dynamic leadership," the Heinigs say.
Edward J. Heinig, emeritus in education and professional development, joined the faculty of the College of Education in 1963. He retired in 1992. Ruth Beall Heinig, emerita in communication, also retired from the University in 1992 after 28 years of distinguished service. Both have remained active in the community and have served the University in a number of capacities over the years.
The Heinigs will assume the reins of an effort that has just begun taking shape. With the centennial celebration only two years away, a number of initiatives and events have been planned to coincide with the milestone and are in the advanced planning stage. They include an upcoming capital campaign, publication of a new WMU history and development of a WMU centennial Web site.
This summer, the centennial celebration logo will begin appearing on University stationery and other promotional materials-all as part of an overall awareness campaign designed to start members of the University and Kalamazoo communities thinking about the upcoming celebration.
The logo was developed last fall by the graphics and design staff in the Office of University Relations in conjunction with design work being done for the University's next capital campaign, which will coincide with the centennial celebration. The design plays on the familiar look of the University seal but replaces the lower portion of the seal with an outline that represents historic Prospect Hill and the University's historic East Campus. The words "Centennial Celebration 1903-2003" complete the logo design.
The Heinigs will maintain a work space in the Office of University
Relations. Anyone interested in volunteering to help plan the
celebration may contact them at 7-8449.
Media contact: Jessica English, 616 387-8400, jessica.english@wmich.edu