More than a year of intensive planning came to fruition in 2010 as the University began celebrating its sesquicentennial, and the festivities will continue through the fall semester.The commemoration of the University’s 150th anniversary began with a kick-off event Jan. 19. Celebrations didn’t stop for the remainder of the semester, with events like museum exhibits and the premiere of a new documentary to keep the merriment going.”I think the events have gone pretty well,” said Aaron Looney, editor of University Relations. “They each individually held their own merit but also together were good at showing how LS’s goals of being a part of the community and a leader in education, research and community involvement.”One of the largest sesquicentennial events, LSU Day, was postponed from its original April 24 date because of threats of severe weather.The present plan is to reschedule the festival for fall, but no date has yet been decided, Looney said.The official decision will depend on several factors, including how to work around the fall football schedule. Looney said the Sesquicentennial Committee is debating whether to tie LSU Day into a home football game or host the festival during an away game or bye week.Aside from LSU Day’s postponement, most of the sesquicentennial events went ahead as planned.The University’s history has been on display throughout the semester in Hill Memorial Library in the “Campus Chronicle: 150 Years of LSU” exhibit, which is made almost exclusively of items from the University archives and details the high points of the last 150 years.Librarians set out to choose records from the archives highlighting various parts of the University’s history rather than focusing on only one thread, said Exhibitions Coordinator Leah Wood Jewett.”Sometimes when people think of University history, you might think of a one-dimensional idea of a history of a school,” Jewett said. “But we wanted to get into all the different topics.” The University’s history was also the topic of “Forever LSU,” a documentary that premiered March 10 on LPB.The 53-minute film chronicled various parts of the University since its opening in 1860 and included information on student life, athletics and the University’s military beginnings.”I’ve been here for 28 years, and I thought I knew a good bit, but I learned a whole lot,” said Ed Dodd, co-producer of the film and University Relations director of radio, television and photography. In addition to projects created especially for the sesquicentennial, annual events familiar to the campus community were given an anniversary flavor.The Chancellor’s Day Parade, a yearly review by the chancellor of the University’s Corps of Cadets, was noted as a sesquicentennial event.At the event, Chancellor Michael Martin honored the cadets and applauded their continuation of a military tradition dating back to the University’s founding.”It gives the chancellor an opportunity to support these guys and help connect them across time to the founding of the University in 1860,” said Col. Frederick Guendel, commandant of the Corps of Cadets.The University community can look forward to another semester’s worth of celebrations in the fall, Looney said.Homecoming and Fall Fest will be given a sesquicentennial flare as will LSU Salutes, an annual ceremony dedicated to the armed forces that takes place in November.A book will also be published in conjunction with the sesquicentennial in the fall called “Treasures of LSU.” The book will include essays and photos of items with a deep connection to the University.”Just because the semester is ending doesn’t mean the celebration is ending,” Looney said. “The celebration is going on all year.”—-Contact Ryan Buxton at [email protected]