1983-2008:
csu 25th anniversary ~ 25 years as a university

On November 13, 2008, Southern marked the 25th anniversary of its university status. Previous incarnations were Southern Connecticut State College, New Haven State Teachers College and New Haven State Normal School, which was founded in 1893.

The celebration in the Adanti Student Center Ballroom included a look back at the last 25 years, with remarks from long-time employees Jim Barber (director of student supportive services) and Joyce Saltman (professor of special education), along with alumni Tom Kenefick '83, and Robin Kenefick '84, assistant to the bursar, who met and fell in love as students at Southern.

Accompanied by Music Department Chairman Jonathan Irving on piano, student soloist Kaitlin Randall performed the hit song "Memory" from the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats (Tony Award for Best Musical, 1983). The audience enjoyed a slideshow of images from life at the university, 1983-2008, and the opening of a time capsule that has sat moldering in the public affairs office for the last 25 years. To round out the event, students filled a new time capsule to be opened in another quarter century. 

A list of the 49 items that were found inside the time capsule can be found by clicking here (opens as a PDF document).

The 1983-2008 slideshow, created by University Photographer Isabel Chenoweth, looks back at Southern's first 25 years as a university. Click here to watch the slideshow.

A rendition of the Alma Mater, composed by Joan Haines, a professor of education in 1983, was found on a cassette tape that was among the contents of the time capsule described above. Click here to listen to the Alma Mater. 

Click on the Alma Mater below to download a printable version.