Skip to main content

SLU Announces 200-Years-in-One Challenge

Following Saturday’s Bicentennial Mass at the Gateway Arch, Saint Louis University revealed plans to mark its 200 years of educating students and transforming lives with a service challenge that begins Nov. 14.

bicentennial clock rendering

The illuminated clock will  be installed at the southeast corner of Grand and Lindell Boulevards.

The 200-Years-In-One Challenge is an effort to give back to the community and society by inviting everyone in St. Louis, the nation and around the world — whether they are SLU affiliated or not — to download a special app that will help them track their volunteer and service hours.

Once submitted, these service/volunteer hours will be added to the running total on a large illuminated clock that will soon be installed at the southeast corner of Grand and Lindell Boulevards, across from St. Francis Xavier College Church.

“In addition to reflecting upon our past, we are going to celebrate our bicentennial by giving back in a mission-centered way,” said SLU President Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D. “This is an effort that speaks to who we are as an institution and what this community means to us.”

The clock will update in real time as hours are submitted. SLU’s Center for Service and Community Engagement is involved in the challenge and will also submit hours they collect independent of the app.

To reach 200 years of service, students, faculty, staff, alumni and others will need to submit 1,753,176 hours (the number of hours in 200 years) between Nov. 14, 2017, and Nov. 14, 2018. Bobby Wassel, assistant director of the Center for Service and Community Engagement, is confident the SLU community will achieve this goal.

“Saint Louis University has a long history of volunteerism and service,” Wassel said. “If in addition to our campus community we get alumni, parents and others from the area serving to help us celebrate, I have no doubt we will succeed.”

 

The app will be available through the Apple App Store and Google Play. In addition, those who wish to participate can also submit volunteer hours online at slu.edu/200years. The webpage features a video about the project as well as FAQs.

SLU’s bicentennial service clock will be unveiled officially during a special event open to the entire SLU community at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14. The app will be available for download that day, too.

Founded in 1818, Saint Louis University is marking 200 years of seeking truth and transforming lives with 15-month-long celebration. In addition to the 200-Years-In-One Challenge, special events, lectures, conferences, scholarly initiatives and a wide variety of other activities will mark SLU’s bicentennial year.

Saint Louis University is a world-class Catholic, Jesuit institution educating nearly 13,000 students on two dynamic, urban campuses — in St. Louis, Missouri, and Madrid, Spain. With a legacy of innovative academics and research, compassionate health care and faithful service, Saint Louis University attracts a diverse community of scholars who push intellectual boundaries in pursuit of creative, meaningful ways to impact the world, striving to serve a higher purpose and seek a greater good.