Celebrate Colorado State University’s 146th anniversary on Founders Day, Feb. 11

Note to Reporters: The Founders Day event in Denver is not open to the public. Media are welcome to attend.

WHAT:  Founders Day honors the establishment of Colorado State University as a land-grant institution with a mission of service through teaching, research and engagement. This is the 146th anniversary of the founding of CSU and the countdown to its sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) in 2020.

WHERE/WHEN:  Founders Day events will take place in Fort Collins and Denver:

Denver

CSU System Chancellor and CSU President Tony Frank, Executive Vice Chancellor Amy Parsons, CSU Global President Becky Takeda-Tinker and CSU-Pueblo President Lesley Di Mare will host a breakfast reception starting at 7:30 a.m. for legislators outside the Old Supreme Court Chambers on the second floor of the State Capitol.

CSU legislative interns will join the reception and the CSU Chamber Choir will perform on the third-floor rotunda of the Capitol between 8:20 and 8:50 a.m. The legislative session begins at 9 a.m.

Fort Collins

Students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of CSU will join CAM the Ram, the CSU Pep Band and CSU cheerleaders on the plaza of the main campus for the Founders Day celebration, starting at 1:46 p.m. Commemorative cookies and bookmarks will be distributed.

A Founders Day Medal ceremony and reception honoring Dr. Stephen Withrow — founding director of the Flint Animal Cancer Center — will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Lory Student Center, Ballrooms C and D. CSU President Tony Frank will present Withrow with the 2016 Founders Day medal.

The cancer center is one of the largest facilities of its kind and, perhaps more importantly, one that has played a major role in relaying the idea that dogs and cats offer unique insight into cancer care for humans.

Withrow, a veterinary surgical oncologist, pioneered the surgical treatment of pets with cancer and is known for working with cancer physicians around the world to advance the medical field. He has collaborated with a Denver cancer physician to develop limb-sparing surgical techniques that have become standards of care for both animals and people with bone cancer.

Registration for the ceremony and reception is encouraged.