Founders Day

Founders Day 2023

Happy Founders Day, Bears! Join us on February 6 as we celebrate our UC community!

Founders Day On Campus Celebration

Celebrating Ursinus History from the 1880s to the 2010s

Bertha Hendricks & Minerva Weinberger

The college’s first female graduates in 1884.

Dr. William Wilson Baden

Professor of Modern Languages from 1914 to 1924.

Dr. Elizabeth B. White

Dean of Women from 1924-1938.

Eleanor Frost Snell

Field hockey, softball, basketball and tennis coach and educator from 1931 to 1970.

Dr. W. Robert Crigler ’56

1956 graduate and namesake of the W.R. Crigler Program.

Dr. John Strassburger

Served as president of Ursinus College from 1995 to 2010.

Ambassador Joseph Melrose ’66

1966 graduate, professor of politics and international relations and ambassador in-residence from 2002 to 2014.

Reverend Charles Rice

College chaplain and professor from 1997 to 2017.

Through this series we will highlight Ursinus figures who have shaped the college since its founding in 1869. Please note that these are some of the many people who have made an impact on the college over the course of its 150+ year history. Explore our history highlights series.

Founders Day Digital Escape Room

Journey through UC history by playing our Founders Day digital escape room! It’s always a good day to time travel. Play today!

Photo from The Complete History of Ursinus College (Abridged)

Enjoy UC History at Home

As part of our 150th anniversary year in 2019-20, Professor Domenick Scudera wrote and directed an original play titled, The Complete History of Ursinus College (Abridged). See history come to live on stage and continue the Founders Day celebration at home by watching the full play online!

Watch the full production

View the playbill