Tuesday evening, the revelry will begin.
As the University of Miami community celebrates its 100th birthday, the institution will reach a peak in its history.
But for many student volunteers, the University’s Centennial Celebration marks the culmination of months or even a year of planning.
The Centennial Honorary Committee has four student members and includes 14 other administrators, alumni, faculty members, and members of the Board of Trustees. This group has guided the planning of the Centennial Celebration tomorrow night, along with Hurricane Productions, which is putting on the Canes Carnival. Both have been working since last spring to ensure that students, alumni, faculty and staff members, as well as the community, enjoy the first major on-campus event marking the day, 100 years ago, when the charter creating the University of Miami was signed.
Many students have been part of organizing the Centennial Celebration and their input has been invaluable, committee members said.
“We are deeply grateful for our students' leadership and creativity in planning the Centennial Celebration,” said Patricia A. Whitely, senior vice president of student affairs and alumni engagement as well as a member of the Centennial Honorary Committee and chair of the Centennial Working Group. “The student leaders of the Honorary Committee, as well as our Hurricane Productions student organization, helped shape the centennial experience, ensuring that student voices were heard as part of this historic moment for the University.”
Jayvaun Hill, a junior studying nursing in the School of Nursing and Health Studies, is the only undergraduate on the Centennial Honorary Committee. Hill, who hails from East Orange, New Jersey, was attracted to the University because of the warm weather and its strong nursing program.
Since then, he has been working to earn top grades and to take advantage of all the experiences the University has to offer. Hill is a Resident Assistant in Lakeside Village, part of the Multicultural Student Nursing Association, the Nursing Student Association, and the Jamaican Students Association. He also loves to attend football and basketball games as much as possible and relishes his Canes community.
Hill is looking forward to the Centennial Celebration, as well as all the other activities the committee is planning for this year.
“I’m glad I get to be a part of this, and I’m looking forward to seeing everything fall into place and the fruits of our labor,” said Hill, who is also incoming president of his fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma.
Judy Greengold is a doctoral candidate in nursing, a nurse practitioner, and president of the University’s Graduate Student Association (GSA). Since getting involved with the GSA, Greengold has worked to increase graduate student involvement in campus events and traditions and has spent the past few weeks urging her fellow graduate students to come celebrate the centennial on campus.
She has felt privileged to be one of the students planning the celebration, along with Allegra Garcia, a law student.
“It’s been an energizing process to collaborate with people from all walks of life that represent different facets of the U coming together with a shared vision,” Greengold said. “The centennial represents a moment of nostalgia, but also of stewardship, to honor everyone who built this foundation we stand on, and to think about the legacy we want to leave behind.”
Giselle De La Rua is a third-year student in the M.D./M.B.A. program at the Miller School of Medicine and the Miami Herbert Business School and is also a member of the Centennial Honorary Committee. When she graduates next year as a triple Cane, De La Rua will miss the comfort of her second home at the U, but she will know that she took advantage of every opportunity it gave her during her eight years here—including the chance to help plan its biggest celebration.
She is grateful for the community of friends and mentors she has gained.
“To be a Cane means you have this great network of people around you who are very supportive,” said De La Rua, who is from West Palm Beach, Florida. “Throughout my undergrad years and in medical school, I’ve continually found that there’s this deep-rooted community that lifts you up and pushes you along. It’s people doing their own work, who are incredibly talented, and are also making an impact locally and nationally. So, it’s an honor to be part of this community.”
Aris Montero, chair of Hurricane Productions (HP), has also been working to plan the largest Canes Carnival yet this year. Montero, who found the energy of HP infectious from her first week on campus, is looking forward to seeing students, faculty and staff members, and alumni and their families experience the fun of one of her favorite events each year. She hopes the Canes Carnival will attract even more alumni so she can reconnect with friends who have graduated.
“I’m excited to see the planning process come to life,” said Montero, a senior studying creative advertising and communication studies. “I’m also excited to see faculty and alumni bring their children so we can see these mini-Canes that will hopefully grow up to be future Canes—these moments are often very telling of how big the Canes community is and how we are all one big family.”
