It has been 100 years in the making, but Bakersfield College will be celebrating its centennial starting fall of 2013 through the spring of 2014. Many events and fundraising activities have been planned and many more are in the works.
The events are being planned by the Centennial Celebration Steering Committee, which is comprised of faculty and staff, alumni, community members and members of the Archives Association. They have been working for over a year planning and orchestrating the centennial.
All of the events for the centennial will be made possible through fundraisers.
“We will not be using any state funds. No state funds for instruction will be used for a party. We will be raising every dime that we will use for the centennial,” said Bonnie Suderman, the dean of Learning Resources and Information Technology and a member of the Centennial Celebration Steering Committee.
Money will be raised through the holding of a gala and golf tournament. Also, the selling of items and the Archives Association will comprise a book to sell, cataloging the past 100 years at BC. The committee will also be looking for donations from companies and alumni.
Suderman has, “a full spectrum of events that appeal to people with different backgrounds.” The celebration will be kicked off by the gala or centennial ball, it will be a formal event, and if all goes right it will be held in an airport hanger at Meadows Field Airport. The funds raised will be used for latter events.
The events for the centennial will not just be aimed at the scholastic aspect of BC but will encompass the whole collegiate experience including athletics and the arts. There will be a joint choir comprised of alumni and the current BC choir, and alumni will be working with students to plan the homecoming game.
The Steering Committee will also be working with the Student Government Association. They have worked with the current SGA and will be working with it more closely next year as the centennial gets closer.
“We tried to work closely with SGA a year ago, but then we got a new set of officers so it’s difficult to start and stop,” said Suderman.
The committee is hoping to end the celebration with a big event as well, something like a festival. They are hoping to have a 5K run and a family fun run as well as booths offering food at the same cost that it was 100 years ago. “We are trying to make as many activities as we can that are low cost or no cost so that the community can attend,” said Suderman. They are also hoping to hold an event or two every month.
There will be a waterfall that will be known as Centennial Falls built and donated to BC, located in the garden area. According to Suderman, “we’re hoping to get events that students here will enjoy, but also bring alumni and retirees back on campus too.”
Suderman is disappointed that they haven’t heard a lot from current students and welcomes their input.
She says, “We would really like to hear from students and how they would like to celebrate. That would be very important. They can contact me, and we would love to have them on our committee or just give us ideas or let us know where they would like to work with us.
We certainty don’t want to have ideas that sound dull or boring to the current students.”