March 18, 2008
SPA kicks off 75th anniversary celebration
(Photos by Jeff Watts)
On Mar. 3, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt stood before the new School of Public Affairs (SPA) and declared its future bright. “American University is yet young; but you have a great future—a great opportunity for initiative, for constructive thinking, for practical idealism, and for national service.”
Seventy-four years to the day later, AU President Neil Kerwin stood before a group of SPA faculty, staff, and students gathered at the Katzen Arts Center and praised the school’s “great service to the city that’s our home and a nation that desperately needs our work and expertise.”
During the 75th anniversary kick-off celebration, Kerwin—an SPA alumnus and former dean—also acknowledged the “accumulated impact of the men and women in the development of the fields of government, public administration, and justice, law and society.”
“It is extraordinary the debt we owe to them,” he said. “Their work is the finest of its kind, not only in the nation, but in the world.”
SPA dean William LeoGrande, right, noted that, much like 1934, “we’re at a moment of historic change and challenge.”
Between the upcoming national conventions and the presidential election—“which is as exciting as any I can remember,” said LeoGrande—SPA is poised to tackle the “burning issues our nation is facing.”
The Mar. 3 celebration at the Katzen also featured a performance by pianist and SPA alumnus Christopher Malagisi, who dedicated a new piece, “A Celebration,” to his alma mater. Much like the school, Malagisi said, the song is “a kaleidoscope of activity.”
SPA also kicked off the countdown to its 75th anniversary with the Feb. 29 installation of bold red, blue, and yellow banners on the school’s columns. According to LeoGrande, the banners “not only announce the anniversary, but announce that we’re here and continue to be committed to our core mission.”
Over the next year, SPA will host a series of special programs, including alumni events at both the Democratic and Republican national conventions, commemorating its diamond anniversary. LeoGrande also promised the crowd gathered at the Katzen “a great party” next year.
