Olivet College will commemorate its 166th year by celebrating Founders Day Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 1:30 p.m. in the Olivet Congregational Church. The program, featuring Olivet College President Don Tuski, Ph.D., and Shawn Dowling, M.D., F.R.C.P.C., is free and open to the public.

Dowling, a 2000 graduate of Olivet, is known by many as the student voice behind The Olivet College Compact, a governing set of principles about what it means to be a responsible member of the Olivet College community. Instrumental in its development, Dowling will speak about the values of The Compact, including responsibility and service, and how he uses those principles in his life today.

After earning a bachelors degree in biochemistry from Olivet, Dowling earned a medical degree from Ottawa University, graduating cum laude. He is currently an emergency medicine physician in Calgary, Alberta and a research fellow with the Ottawa Health Research Institute.

Olivet was founded in 1844 by congregational missionaries led by Father John J. Shipherd and was one of the first colleges in the United States to admit women and minorities. In 1859, a state charter was granted, and in 1863, Olivet graduated its first class, which consisted of three women.

For more information, call (269) 749-7131.

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