It will be a busy week in Bluffton: the opening of the farmers' market, Bluffton Sportsmen's Club trout derby and...Bluffton University May Day and commencement.
Here's the schedule for Bluffton University events:
Bluffton University will mark its annual May Day weekend May 1-4 with traditional alumni reunions, student activities and graduation events, as well as a “faculty showcase” in Musselman Library.
Featured at the latter event, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, May 3, will be:
· Dr. Martina Cucchiara, an assistant professor of history, sharing excerpts from a Jewish German woman’s World War II-era diary that Cucchiara found in a German archive while conducting research last summer with the aid of a Bluffton University Research Center grant;
· Dr. Paul Neufeld Weaver, an associate professor of education and director of cross-cultural programs, discussing a new cross-cultural opportunity for students in Guatemala;
· Dr. George Lehman, the Howard Raid professor of business and director of graduate programs in business, addressing The Collaborative MBA, a new program in which Bluffton is working with Eastern Mennonite University and Goshen College.
Students and their families, Bluffton alumni and community members are also encouraged to participate in other May Day weekend events, which include:
Thursday, May 1-Saturday, May 3
· A production of the musical comedy “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” at 7:30 p.m. each evening in Founders Hall. Tickets, $13 for reserved seats and $5 for general-admission bleacher seats, are available online at http://tickets.bluffton.edu or in person from 2-4 p.m. weekdays at the Sommer Center box office.
· The 47th annual Juried Student Art Exhibition in the Sauder Visual Arts Center. Hours in the Grace Albrecht Gallery are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
Saturday, May 3
· May Day Run (four miles)/College Cabin Walk, 8:30 a.m. start, Sommer Center. Registration begins at 7:45 a.m. A half-mile Family Fun Run and a Toddler Trot will also be available. Visit www.bluffton.edu/blufftonalumni/mayday/run for registration information.
· Admissions presentation for high school students and their families, 9 a.m., Kreider Room, Marbeck Center.
· Alumni Choir sing, 9:15 a.m., Yoder Recital Hall.
· Ministry teams reunion, 9:15 a.m., Bob’s Place, Marbeck Center. The 2013-14 Shining Through music ministry team will lead worship at 9:30 a.m.
· May Day ceremony, 11 a.m., Centennial Hall lawn. The ceremony celebrates the end of the academic year, the beginning of a new chapter for graduates and remembrance of times past for alumni. It includes the colorful Maypole dance by first-year students, the crowning of the May Day king and queen, and recognition of graduating seniors.
· Class reunions and May Day buffet luncheon (The Commons, Marbeck Center, for alumni from the 1940s-‘80s) or picnic lunch (in a tent on the Centennial Hall lawn, for alumni from 1990-2013, plus 2014 graduates, their families and current students), noon. Tickets are required; order online at http://tickets.bluffton.edu or in person from 2-4 p.m. weekdays at the Sommer Center box office.
· Academic departments reception, 1 p.m., Burcky Gym and Shoker Science Center.
· Musselman Library open house and reception, 1-5 p.m.
· Music department honors recital, 1:30 p.m., Yoder Recital Hall.
· Faculty showcase, 2:30 p.m., Musselman Library Reading Room.
· Ultimate Frisbee, 4 p.m., Adams Bridge lawn.
Sunday, May 4
· Baccalaureate ceremony, 10:30 a.m., Sommer Center. Jeff Gundy, professor of religion, will give the baccalaureate address, titled “Enough Crucifixions?”
· Commencement, 2 p.m., Salzman Stadium. “Valuing Education” will be the topic of guest speaker David J. Berger, mayor of Lima, Ohio.
For a complete listing of May Day weekend events, and more information, visit www.bluffton.edu/blufftonalumni/mayday/schedule.html
