FOUNDERS' DAY

Founders' Day at Texas Woman's University is a celebration of the founding of the University and an opportunity to honor publicly corporations and/or businesses, foundation and/or organizations and non-graduate individuals/families that provide support during the formative years of the University and whose continued support ensures the future for each new generation of students. 

Founders' Day was originally known as Pancake Night. In 1924 the Ex-Students Association chose January 10 as College of Industrial Arts first "Pancake Night" to honor the laying of the Administration Building corner stone on January 10, 1903. A special feature at the occasion was a  pancake with 21 birthday candles to commemorate the date. The pancake tradition came from a Middle Ages legend of monks being served a cake baked in a pan upon returning from a long journey while they told stories of their travels around the warmth of the fire. Since most cakes were baked in the ashes, this was a real luxury.

In 1936, about the same time CIA became Texas State College for Women (TSCW), the name was changed from Pancake Night to Founders' Day. Students provided the programs and sponsored fund-raising projects in honor of the event.

The observance of Founders' Day was discontinued in 1955, but was revived on February 24, 1978 by former President Mary Evelyn Huey when she asked the National Alumni Association, now the Former Students Association, to assume responsibility for planning the event.

Today, the event provides an opportunity to reflect on the history of TWU and on the contributions of those visionaries who set TWU on a solid foundation for success.

Founders' Day 2009 will be celebrated on
April 2, 2009 on the TWU Campus

For more information, please contact Patrice Frisby at 940/898-3867

"We remember the founders, men and women of vision who saw the need for a great women's college and worked to make it a reality ... members of the faculty and administration whose constant guidance through the years kept alive the dream ... and the students for whom the dream was built."