In honor of Albany State University’s 108th anniversary, ASU will hold Founder’s Day Weekend from March 31 through April 3.

The celebration will begin on Thursday, March 31, with the Presidential Symposium at 7 p.m. in the Albany Municipal Auditorium. The featured speaker will be Dr. Benjamin F. Payton, president emeritus of Tuskegee University, who will speak on the theme “The Past, Present and Future: The Role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Higher Education.”

The official Founder’s Day observance will be Friday, April 1, beginning with the Founder’s Day Convocation at 10 a.m. in the HPER Gymnasium. In keeping with ASU’s yearlong Albany civil rights celebration, the speaker will be Dr. William Anderson, former president of the Albany Civil Rights Movement.

Immediately following the convocation, a ceremony honoring the late Dr. Joseph Winthrop Holley, ASU’s founder, will be held at his grave, which is located on the lower campus at the end of the Pedestrian Mall. The speaker at the graveside service will be Dr. Janie Rambeau, pastor of the House of Refuge Baptist Church. Dr. Rambeau was also one of the Albany State College students suspended in 1961 because of her involvement with civil rights demonstrations.

Friday, April 1, will also include several alumni activities. An alumni luncheon will be held at noon in the L. Orene Hall Building for $25 per person. The speaker will be Andrea Albritten Snorton, an ASU alumna from the class of 1996. To purchase tickets for the luncheon, contact the ASU Office of Alumni Affairs at (229) 430-4658 or the ASU National Alumni Association at (229) 435-2386. An alumni business meeting will follow at 2 p.m. in the Peace Hall Auditorium.

At 5 p.m. Friday, April 1, the ASU National Alumni Association will dedicate the Davey L. Gibson Memorial Room at the ASU National Alumni Complex, 3523 Sylvester Road, Albany. Gibson, a native of Dawson, Ga., graduated from Albany State in 1956. He served four terms as president of the ASU National Alumni Association. His career included government service in the city of Atlanta, at the state level and at the federal level. Gibson served on the board of directors of the National Community Development Association, on the board of trustees of the Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary, as an elder in the Church of the Master, as a life member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., and as chairman of the Fulton County Board of Zoning Appeals.

At 6 p.m. Friday, April 1, the ASU football fans will get a preview of the upcoming season when the Golden Rams play in the annual Blue and Gold Game at the ASU Coliseum. Tickets are $10 per person.

The Founder’s Day Weekend events will continue at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 2, with the Dr. T. Marshall Jones Gala at the Hilton Garden Inn in Albany. The event will honor Jones, a well-known educator and champion of the arts at the regional, state and national level. Jones, a former chair of the ASU Department of Fine Arts, is largely credited with growing ASU’s music program for more than three decades. Tickets for the gala are $60 per person or $450 per table of eight. Sponsorship levels are also available. For more information, contact the ASU Department of Fine Arts at (229) 430-4849.

The weekend of celebration will conclude at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 3, when internationally renowned violinist Gareth Johnson performs at the Albany Municipal Auditorium. Johnson’s performance is part of the ASU Department of Fine Arts and Lyceum Performance Series. His accomplishments include winning the Sphinx Competition Senior Division in 2010 and the Junior Division in 2002 as well as the Lynn University Conservatory Competition in 2008. Tickets for Johnson’s performance are $15, $10 and $5. (Tickets for ASU students only are $12, $7, and $3 with ASU student ID.) Tickets are available at the Albany James H. Gray Sr. Civic Center Box Office or at www.ticketmaster.com.