The Spirit of Detroit statue downtown gets outfitted with a University of Michigan Bicentennial T-shirt to commemorate the University’s founding in the city 200 years ago. Watch the video as our crew dresses the big guy. (Image: Scott Soderberg, Michigan Photography.)

At the first President’s Bicentennial Colloquium in January, U.S. Justice Sonia Sotomayor (pictured here with President Mark Schlissel) and German Justice Susanne Baer discussed how respect and compromise can create and strengthen community, stressed the importance of developing diversity in higher education, and urged students to understand the law. Watch video of the presentation. (Image: Roger Hart, Michigan Photography.)

Michigan Wolverines head football coach Jim Harbaugh welcomes former player Desmond Howard back to campus during April’s “True Blue! A Tribute to Michigan.” The event featured U-M faculty, staff, and leaders joining celebrity alumni who returned to campus for a star-studded evening at Hill Auditorium. Watch video of the performance. (Image: Roger Hart, Michigan Photography.)

In case you missed it: Even Burton Tower got in on the bicentennial action. The iconic tower glowed in a range of colors, including maize and blue, in April to commemorate the Spring Festival. Image: Scott C. Soderberg, Michigan Photography.)

The second of three President’s Bicentennial Colloquia featured members of the Board of the Tanner Lectures of Human Values discussing the compact between society and institutions of higher education. Speakers included Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, University of Cambridge President David Ibbotson, University of Utah President David Pershing, and Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust. (Image: Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

In keeping with U-M’s identity as a leading “tree campus,” students on North Campus planted a new red oak sapling, amid much fanfare, lively artwork, and celebration. The tree now lives on the Eda U. Gerstacker Grove. (Image: Roger Hart, Michigan Photography.)

Using historic images, rare books and documents, vintage film, and 21st-century sports memorabilia, the Bicentennial Office and the Detroit Historical Society recently hosted “200 Years Young: Detroit and the University of Michigan.” This exhibit showcased some of Michigan’s most accomplished poets. (Image: Scott C. Soderberg, Michigan Photography.)

Emmy Award-winning journalist Carmen Harlan, BA ’75, and U-M’s Vice Provost for Equity and Inclusion/Chief Diversity Officer Robert Sellers joined alumni and friends in Grand Circus Park West for the Detroit Festival in September. The event celebrated the University’s historical roots in and commitment to the city where it was founded in 1817. (Photo by Daryl Marshke, Michigan Photography.)

The President’s Bicentennial Colloquium, titled “The Campus of the Future,” challenged students to think about what reinvention of higher education would require in terms of pedagogy and physical transformation. In this video, students share their vision for future generations. (Image: Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography.)

In October, the iconic Rackham Building came to life as the canvas for HAILstorm!, a nighttime display of 3-D projection mapping that celebrated the University’s bicentennial. The unique 10-minute show of light and sounds was projected onto the full facade of Rackham. Watch video. (Image: Daryl Marshke, Michigan Photography.)

They’re calling it the first space time capsule. A team of students is planning to send a thousand interviews generated from the U-M community into orbit for 100 years. The students also plan to send photos and a DNA experiment into the ether. The goal is for students 100 years hence to retrieve it — just in time for U-M’s tricentennial. In this video, faculty and students discuss the project. (Image: Scott C.Soderberg, Michigan Photography.)