Whether it’s a ticket stub from a campus theater performance or a letter to a future student, members of the University community are leaving future generations with something to remember them by in the soon-to-be-sealed Sesquicentennial Time Capsule.
To help kick off the beginning of Homecoming week, the Sesquicentennial Student Committee dedicated the time capsule Monday on the Parade Ground.
The time capsule will serve as a snapshot of the University’s 150-year history, according to Iftekhar Rouf, chair of the committee.
Chancellor Michael Martin was also in attendance at the dedication ceremony of the campus’ fourth time capsule.
“The time capsule will give us the chance to celebrate where we’ve been and let future generations know what was going on in 2010,” Martin said. “We remember where we’ve been so we can remember where we’re going.”
Rouf said the capsule will contain items received from various students and departments. Some of the items include an LSU football ticket, a scrapbook of performances from the College of Music and Dramatic Arts, documents from Greek Life and editions of the Gumbo, Legacy and The Daily Reveille.
“We even have a personal letter written by a student to her future family members who may be attending the University,” Rouf said.
The capsule will also include predictions for the future in addition to letters from the chancellor and various athletic coaches, Rouf said.
The capsule will be located alongside the footpath leading from Tower Drive to the flagpole but will not be buried until the granite cap is complete.
According to Dennis Mitchell, campus landscape architect, the circular cap will be inscribed with all the years between 1860 and 2010 to represent all the students who graduated from the University over the past 150 years.
“It’s an incredible and intricate design,” he said. “It’s very appropriate for this purpose.”
The cost of the time capsule, including the concrete work, landscaping and inscription on the decorative cap, is around $17,000, Mitchell said.
Jamie Segar, director of development for Student Life, said the funding for the capsule came from money obtained from the bricks sold during the 2009 class gift project, and no student fees were used.
The capsule is not set to be opened again until the University’s 300th anniversary in 2160.
Martin said the capsule also represents the hardships the University has faced in the past 150 years, including three campus relocations, two world wars, three official depressions and a civil rights movement.
“And we’re a better university for it,” he said. “The capsule will tell people in the future where they came from.”
 
—-
Contact Sarah Eddington at [email protected]