Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The Centennial Steering Committee was established on July 16, 1979, to oversee the planning and execution of South Dakota State University’s Centennial Celebration in 1981. H.M. Briggs, President Emeritus of SDSU, served as Chairman, while former Vice President David Pearson was appointed Vice-Chairman. The committee was composed of representatives from various academic and administrative units across campus, as well as individuals from outside the university community. Its first meeting took place on July 21, 1980.
At the inaugural meeting, Briggs outlined the committee’s responsibilities and emphasized that each member would also serve as chair of a corresponding sub-committee aligned with their area of university involvement. The Steering Committee organized into multiple sub-committees to handle specialized components of the celebration, such as publications, events, and departmental participation. Each sub-committee was tasked with developing programming and executing their portion of the centennial.
Committee members received stipends from the university to support their planning work, with financial support increasing as needs evolved. While sub-committees carried out much of the programmatic work, the Centennial Office, staffed by Briggs and office assistant Yvonne Ehlebracht, handled the committee’s day-to-day operations. The office coordinated budgeting, recordkeeping, logistical arrangements, and meeting planning, and also managed a majority of the outgoing and incoming correspondence related to the Centennial.