Jeff Daniels to perform at annual alumni event

October 23, 2006 —

The SVSU Annual Alumni Celebration is being held this Saturday in the Malcolm Field Theatre for the Performing Arts. The purpose of the event is to honor distinguished and outstanding Alumni of the past year. Every year, entertainment is brought in for the event, and this year that entertainment is Jeff Daniels.

Daniels is a well-known actor who has starred in many high profile movies. His most critically acclaimed role was as Col. Joshua Chamberlain in the film Gettysburg, but he has had commercial success in movies such as Dumb and Dumber and Speed. He also wrote the film Escanaba in da Moonlight, based on a popular play about hunting in the Upper Peninsula.

The Alumni Association decided to bring in Daniels this year because of his comic song "Tiger Fan Blues Revisited," which has seen an increase in popularity due to the recent success of the Detroit Tigers. The song is an updated version of "The Lifelong Tiger Fan Blues," a song which appears on Daniels' debut CD.

Daniels recorded the CD Live and Unplugged at the non-profit Purple Rose Theater, which he founded in his hometown of Chelsea, Michigan in 1991. The CD, which features songs written by Daniels, including "If I Weren't So Stupid" and "You Can Drink A Ugly Girl Pretty," is the basis for his live performances.

The distinguished alum being honored this year at the Alumni Celebration is Anthony Ceccacci, who came to SVSU to play football and ended up with a Bachelor's Degree of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology.

Ceccacci worked as a certification engineer at the Ford Motor Company for a year and then joined NASA as a propulsion systems engineer. In 2000, he became the NASA Flight Director, Mission Operations Directorate. He was Lead Flight Director of the July shuttle mission and will lead the December mission along with the fourth Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

Starting today, tickets for the event will be available to students for a discounted price of $25. These tickets will include only the Awards Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. and the Daniels performance at 8:00 p.m. These tickets are for balcony seats only. Tickets for $50 have been on sale for the past couple of months and include the dinner and reception prior to the awards ceremony.

Pamela Clifford, the assistant director of Alumni Relations, notes that they have already sold more tickets for this event than they did for last year's celebration, in which Second City was brought in as entertainment. She expects the event to sell out with the student tickets being made available.

Students will have the opportunity to network with alumni before and after the ceremony and performance.

"This is an opportunity for students to see what it is to be a part of the Alumni Association," Clifford says. "We want students to be able to connect with alumni and see how they can continue friendships after graduation."

Tickets for the event will not be available at the door. For tickets or further information, contact the SVSU Alumni Relations Office at (989) 964-4196.