Lee University will welcome hundreds of guests, alumni, and community leaders on Friday, Sept. 30, for Celebration 2016. This event is planned as a “festive and colorful day” recognizing the success of the five-year “Find Us Faithful” Campaign, including the opening of Lee’s new School of Nursing building and further development of the southern end of the Cleveland campus.
“When the time is right, we enjoy taking a day to gather Lee family and friends and acknowledge God’s faithfulness,” said Lee President Paul Conn. “We have a lot to celebrate this year.”
The campus community will also use the week of Celebration to reflect on Dr. Conn’s 30 years of transformational leadership as Lee president. The Lee faculty and staff will mark the anniversary at a dinner and concert on Monday night, Sept. 26. In addition to other smaller events, Tuesday, Sept. 27 will feature a special guest speaker in chapel, Rebekah Lyons, author of “Freefall to Fly: A Breathtaking Journey Toward a Life of Meaning.” On Thursday morning, students will recognize Conn’s 30th in a special student-led chapel, followed by a noon outdoor party on the Sharp Pedestrian Mall.
VIP alumni representatives from the past 60 years of Lee’s history on the Cleveland campus, as well as other out-of-town guests, will gather Thursday evening for a Celebration banquet.
Morning classes are cancelled on the day of Celebration, so students may join other guests for one of 40 special Celebration Seminars from 9-10 a.m. conducted simultaneously across campus. Seminars will feature lectures from alumni, faculty, and other guest speakers on a variety of topics from advertising to sculpture to nursing.
A Service of Celebration will then begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Conn Center which will include the dedication of the new nursing building, a 41,000 square foot structure completed in August.
A 300-voice choir will highlight the morning’s festivities, along with an orchestra composed of Lee students. The event will begin with a processional of Lee faculty in academic regalia, and the 60 VIP alumni representatives will wear caps and gowns to march alongside the faculty and Board of Directors.
The School of Nursing building includes the 140-seat Patricia Carroll Lecture Hall, two interactive classrooms, five standard classrooms, a learning resource center, a quiet room and 17 faculty offices. The facility features six hospital-like simulation labs - along with control rooms, a competency lab, assessment lab, and two debriefing conference style rooms. There will be a public "open house" on the day of Celebration from 12-2 p.m., and the community is invited to attend.
For more information on Celebration, please call the Office of Community Relations at 423-614-8598.