Fall at SMU is packed with events like Stampede, Boulevards, Homecoming and Celebration of Lights. In comparison, the spring is far emptier, lacking any campus-wide, highly anticipated events besides Peraunapalooza.
Student Body President Will Leathers thinks reviving Founders Day Weekend can be the solution.
Founders Day, as it is originally known, was first celebrated on March 24, 1926, in honor of donors who supported the creation of SMU. In subsequent years, different versions of a spring festival lived on as a part of Hilltop Corral, a weekend of alumni awards and reunions.
SMU President Emeritus and former university President R. Gerald Turner, along with the Board of Trustees, reestablished Founders Day Weekend from 2011-2015 as part of the Second Century Celebration that took place.
Though he was unaware of previous Founders Day celebrations, Leathers had a vision for a large spring event on campus. Former alumni board chair Philip Wise told Leathers about the traditions, sparking the earliest concepts of the 2026 Founders Day Weekend.
“We have a lot of stuff going on in the fall,” Leathers said. “The biggest event that happens in the spring semester, socially, sometimes for some groups, is a fraternity party. There’s so many things that we can do to attract more students.”
Leathers worked with Wise last summer to see what SMU used to do in the spring as well as what other universities did during spring semesters. The organizing committee considered other names for the event, but chose to tie the new tradition back to SMU’s old spring tradition.
“‘Do we want to call it Wrangle Weekend?’” Leathers said. “We definitely bounced back and forth, saying, ‘Hey, this is a new tradition we’re starting,’ then we ended up just landing with Founders Day Weekend for now.”
The last Founders Day Weekend in 2015 included PerunaPalooza, a TEDxSMU talk, a spring football game, a singing competition between student organizations and other receptions and ceremonies. Dawn Norris, PhD, SMU’s Student Affairs chief of staff, said this year’s edition of Founders Weekend will expand on the celebrations that happened under President Turner.
“Originally observed as a single day of commemorative events, this year’s celebration now spans a full weekend, bringing together students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents and friends for campus events and shared traditions that reflect the spirit of the University,” Norris said in an email.
The student committee Leathers chose to plan the event includes Markus Mortenson, Ashley Jones, Hayden Horn, Thayer Orr, Jazmin Darjean, Tatum Morris and Ryan Draheim. Each one was given a specific area of emphasis in the planning. Mortenson, who acted as the student liaison for Development & External Affairs and other offices on campus, said he spent a lot of time with DEA brainstorming how to get buy-in from all parts of the SMU community.
“We’re trying to build what we’re envisioning as a Homecoming for the spring,” Mortenson said. “We’re trying to address all parts of the SMU family–current students, alumni, parents, prospective students.”
The weekend kicks off Thursday, Apr. 9, with PerunaPalooza, an event planned by Student Foundation, and a Senior Toast. Friday’s long list of activities includes Lyle Admitted Students Day, Golden Mustangs Lunch, an alumni panel, Founders Weekend Happy Hour, a Women’s tennis match and a musical performance of “Clazzical” by musicians from the Meadows School of the Arts.
Saturday night’s Party on the Plaza, followed by the signature concert, is the trademark moment of Founders Day Weekend.
“Students can be excited to have a ‘Spring Boulevard’ type feel as the pre-party,” Morris said.
In 2025, SMU held three concerts on campus–A-Trak at President Jay Hartzell’s inauguration weekend, The Rare Occasions at Program Council’s Midnight Market and KYLE at Homecoming. For Founders Weekend, Program Council is in charge of planning and booking the concert with support from Morris and the Founders Day Weekend committee.
The concert is one of the most expensive events of the year, with $50,000 in Student Senate weekly funding contributing to the production alone. The Daily Campus reached out to SMU administrators but did not receive a response on the concert’s full price, although Morris confirmed the entire weekend’s budget was over $1 million.
In addition to the to-be-announced main artist, student DJs will perform an opening set. With only months to produce the major event, Morris said that the Office of the President was instrumental in expediting the planning process.
“The Office of the President has been really great in getting the contracting process of the concert to move faster,” Morris said. “We have a lot of faculty and staff in our corner helping us, and ultimately, this is put on by SMU, but organized by students, funded by lots of departments on campus.”
The weekend concludes on Sunday with men’s and women’s tennis matches and the Meadows Spring Dance Concert.
“When [SMU] budgeted for this year, Founders Weekend did not exist,” Mortenson said. “Everyone loves a great idea, but the execution is what matters.”
Leathers and the rest of the committees hope the tradition will continue for many years to come.
“One of the big things we talked about is that this has a lot of potential to grow,” Leathers said. “The bones are going to be kind of what happens this year.”
