10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
University of Miami celebrates 100th birthday. Take a look at the grand festivities
A sea of green and orange flooded the Foote Green at the University of Miami's Coral Gables campus on Tuesday as pop hits blared from the stage and shrieks of joy came from nearby carnival rides, all to celebrate the school's 100th birthday.
Hundreds of students, alumni, university faculty and staff came in waves to the grand centennial celebration. A Ferris wheel, giant slide and several spinning contraptions were just one part of a carnival packed with food stalls, face painting and photo-ops with Sebastian the Ibis and new mascot Gigi.
The University of Miami signed its charter in 1925 and welcomed its first class of students in 1926. The university began as two schools: the Conservatory of Music, which was later renamed the Frost School of Music, and the evening division. Now, it includes 12 schools and colleges with more than 19,000 undergraduate and graduate students in more than 180 majors and programs, and more than 200,000 alumni.
Chris Rhoades brought his brother, an alum, and his friend, a fellow student, to celebrate the university's birthday. After racing down the giant slide, the trio grinned.
'This is definitely one of the best events they've had, you know, outside of [UM] making the Final Four,' said Rhoades, a senior who hadn't realized the university was only 100 years old.
Elena Rovira, who graduated in 2011 and later from graduate school in 2017, describes her family as avid Canes fans. She met her husband, a fellow UM alumnus, at a university tailgate, and brought their 5-year-old daughter Maddie to the centennial. She hopes one day her daughter and 3-year-old son will become Canes.
'It's been really fun and I'm happy so many people came,' said Rovira, who works in UM's Human Resources department. 'I love being a Cane.'
The carnival was just the appetizer to the centennial celebration, whose main event was a concert with a star-studded bill of UM alumni culminating in a fireworks show over Lake Osceola in front of the Donna E. Shalala Student Center.
A crowd gathered to listen to the concert which included Bruce Hornsby performing 'The Way it Is;' Jon Secada performing 'Just Another Day;' Joshua Henry performing 'The Room Where it Happens' from 'Hamilton;' and Idarose performing 'Glimpse of Us.' All are UM graduates.
Take a look at the centennial celebration:
