250th celebrations continue into the fall

Replacing Dolly Parton with the Dalai Lama, 250th anniversary festivities planners are hoping to keep the spirit of May's Peak Week alive well into the fall. The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, will speak at Irvine Auditorium September 22, joining the impressive list of luminaries who have descended on the University during its year-long celebration. And kicking off the list of activities slated for the fall is a September 15 party planned by the 250th Student Committee entitled the Quarter Millenium Celebratory Jam. According to coordinator Dan Singer, the party will feature live music from a local band, deejayed music and free food. However neither the 250th champagne in the collector's bottles nor Benjamin Franklin impersonator Ralph Archbold will be in attendance, Singer said. Singer said he expects about 5000 students, administrators and "funkier faculty" members to attend the fete. The party will be on College Green from 9:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. Singer said the party is the largest venture by the 250th Student Committee, who also sponsored student life exchanges during Peak Week last May. The committee was formed to increase student participation in planning 250th festivities. The administration funded the student committee with a grant in January, but coordinators and committee members declined to comment on the cost of the party. 250th Student Committee Chairperson Steve Mendes said yesterday that the cost of some other Peak Week events far outweighed the party's estimated price. "It's entirely worth it," Mendes said. "The students deserve it . . . It's time for the students to enjoy something like this." 250th Anniversary Director Clare Wofford said the fall celebration has the advantage of basking in the "warm glow" left by Peak Week activities, but is free from the "intense pressure" of the week. Wofford said many other activities are planned for the fall semester, including symposiums and a poetry reading by Oregon Symphony Orchestra conductor and 1958 Wharton graduate James DePreist, prior to guest conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. Festivities will conclude with a Gala Holiday Party in early December before final examinations.

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