Worldwide Spirit Day marks Ford School centennial

Ford School students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends around the world celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the school's founding on July 10, 2014. Major celebrations took place in Ann Arbor, Washington D.C. and Chicago, and smaller Spirit Days went on in places as diverse as Tokyo and Malawi. Ford School professor John Chamberlin sent a spirit day toast from a London pub that has been in business since 1542. He wrote, "Let's hope the Ford School will still be hanging in there in 2386, when it's as old as the George Inn is now."

Paul Weech (MPP '81), the organizer of the DC event, says that Spirit Day was a huge success. "The restaurant, appropriately named 'Policy,' had to turn on the lights at night's end to get us to go home so they could clean up," says Paul. "This was the best sign that people were having a really good time."

"It was exciting to see such a marked increase in attendees since last year," writes Joe Person (MPP '11) about the Chicago event. "I've always hoped Chicago could earn a silver medal in Fordie representation behind DC and that's looking like a real possibility."

Ford School Alumni Relations Manager Elisabeth A. Johnston, who helped organize the Ann Arbor event, says that it was "a great way to show our breadth."

See our Flickr album of photos from the event.