In 1960, Grand Valley State University’s campus was home to just 282 students – a far cry from the over 25,000 Lakers that currently attend GVSU. On Oct. 22, Founders Day commemorated the first students and faculty to call themselves Lakers.

As part of the 2015 homecoming festivities, GVSU celebrated its third annual Founders Day. The day was created to honor the founding members of the university.

Kara Jacoboni, graduate assistant for the Laker Traditions Team, helped supervise and implement the events for Founders Day. She said it’s important for students to take the time to reflect on the people that came before them.

“Because GVSU is so young, I think it’s easy to relate to the people that founded it,” Jacoboni said. “It’s not hard to imagine the hard work and dedication that they put in to start such an amazing institution.”

Danielle O’Connor, Founders Day student coordinator, said the event focuses on celebrating the vision of the GVSU founders when they established the university.

While Founders Day has an emphasis on remembering the past, this year had a special event planned for the future.

O’Connor said students and faculty will have opportunities to participate in creating a time capsule throughout the school year. The idea arose to celebrate President Thomas Haas’ 10th year at the university.

“(Ten years) is a milestone that not many achieve, and we wanted to show future Lakers what is so great about our university right now,” O’Connor said.

She said that Haas has made an impact on every student at the university, as well as the organization as a whole. The time capsule will also show why Haas elected to stay at the university for 10 years.

This will be the first time GVSU is involved in a time capsule. O’Connor said the university archives keep a record of every year, but nothing like this has been done.

The time capsule will be sealed at the end of the academic year. It is planned to be reopened again for the 2060 school year, which will mark GVSU’s 100th anniversary.

Jacoboni said a time capsule is extremely valuable. She was able write an essay for a time capsule at her undergraduate institution last year, and she hopes to be able to reflect on her growth and origins when the university elects to open that capsule.

Many students will be handed that opportunity to reflect on their origins by participating in the time capsule, Jacoboni said. She encourages all students to participate if given the opportunity.

“I think time capsules are so important because they are a tangible way to record history,” Jacoboni said.