By Scotty Schenck , news correspondent 

Banners reading “50 Years Curry Student Center Northeastern University” hung in the Center on Oct. 7. The night celebrated Curry’s golden anniversary, commemorating the occasion with the opening of time capsules from 1964 and 1994. As people took their seats, host James Huessy introduced the Vice President of Student Affairs Laura Wenkel, Ph.D., to say a few words about the center.

Wenkel said the student center was “a place to call home.” Student Government Association (SGA) President Noah Carville and Graduate Student Government President Ranjini Ghosh both spoke about how the center has benefited students throughout the years. Then, alumnus of the class of ’97, Hoda Abou-Jamra took the stand.

“I feel like I’m back home,” Abou-Jamra, who flew from Dubai to speak at the event, said. “I learned in this place to be socially responsible and active.”

After the speakers finished, the capsules were removed and placed on the stage. The first to be opened was packed away in 1964. Alumnus of the class of ‘64 David Smith aided in the examining of the items from the capsule.

Inside was a silver dollar from 1898, a coin set from 1964, a dollar bill from 1983, copies of the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald and blueprints for the addition to the Ell Student Center (the original name for the Curry Student Center before it was renamed in 1996).

“It’s amazing that 50 years has gone by. … It blows my mind,” Smith said. He was also in attendance at the renaming celebration of the Ell Student Center to the Curry Student Center. Smith was active in his class through student government and said that he was on the committee that was instrumental to building the addition to the Ell Student Center in the 1960s.

Abou-Jamra then helped in the opening of the 1994 time capsule. Inside was a copy of the Boston Globe, a pharmacy major t-shirt that Abou-Jamra designed that says “Top 10 Reasons I Became a Pharmacist,” the Student Government Constitution from 1994, a map of the tunnel system of Northeastern and a copy of “Northeastern Magazine.”

Abou-Jamra said that her favorite item in the capsule was the brochure of the International Student Center. As president of the International Student Forum, she was part of the group that successfully lobbied for the center to be built in a time of budget cuts.

“[Curry Student Center] taught me so many lessons that no class would teach you,” Abou-Jamra said. “If I remember anything at Northeastern, I’ll remember this the most.”

The time capsules’ contents are now in glass cases and on display across from where the ceremony was held in the indoor quad. The gallery is full of pictures of Northeastern and Curry Student Center history, including pictures of when President Bill Clinton and Barack Obama visited campus in 2011 and 2010, respectively.

This gallery was designed by Scout, a student-led design studio at Northeastern University. Senior graphic design major Kerry Rubenstein designed the gallery after meeting with Gail Olyha and Jason Campbell-Foster, co-chairs of the Curry Student Center 50th Anniversary Committee. Rubenstein said she, other members of Scout and their faculty adviser spent about six hours installing the exhibit after the design was finished.

“The school’s archives pulled out all these amazing photos from the ‘60s and ’70s,” Rubenstein said. Olyha said that Scout was professional and surpassed her expectations.

Currently, the school is planning to gather items to make a 2014 capsule. Campbell-Foster said the committee is finalizing details associated with the contents and 2014 capsule, and will release their marketing plan through the Center for Student Involvement’s Twitter handle.
“Different groups that were represented in ’94, I’d like to see them represented in [the 2014] capsule,” Campbell-Foster said, noting that he would like to see the diversity of student organizations participating in the 1994 capsule repeated.

On Nov. 15, during homecoming week, the 2014 time capsule will be buried, along with the other two capsules to continue on the tradition and history until they are dug up once again.

Fourth-year behavioral neuroscience major and president of the Resident Student Association (RSA) Carrie Hinchman was sitting in the crowd, who came because she heard RSA had items inside the capsules. She also said RSA plans on having items in the new capsule.

“I think it would be nice to leave behind a photo of our group,” Hinchman said. “I think having had a pretty involved experience at Northeastern, it would be really interesting to come back and see what’s changed in 50 years.”

Photo by Scotty Schenck