An annual celebration of the founding of Illinois State University began with the first Founders Day in 1909. The tradition grew in 1913 with a full slate of events to honor the University’s first president, Charles Hovey. The annual event was merged with convocation during the Great Depression and World War II, but it’s been a full-fledged celebration of the University’s founding since the 1950s, including when President Robert G. Bone rang the historic Old Main Bell at the centennial celebration in 1957. Traditions today include a faculty and staff appreciation luncheon and awards ceremony, and ringing of both the historic Old Main Bell and a replica that accommodates indoor bell ringing, as President Aondover Tarhule did in 2024.
