Walking past Kendall Hall, you will see dated stones on the ground dating from 1931 to 1969, and then jumping to 2000. These are the Chico State time capsules. 

The Chico State time capsules are a time-honored tradition for graduating students, dating back to 1931. Each year, seniors have the opportunity to add their favorite mementos to the capsule and then bury it in their designated space. 

The items most commonly buried in the capsules include concert tickets, jewelry,  photos of friends, newspaper headlines, Chico State swag and more. 

The first time capsule was buried in 1931 to commemorate the graduating class, and the tradition was upheld two years later. 

The time capsules ran annually until 1969, when Associated Students paused the tradition. The pause came after senior class officials were dismissed due to hardships from the Vietnam War. The capsules resumed in 2000, with the senior class having their items buried for the first time in over 30 years. 

Each time capsule has a 50-year waiting period, with each capsule unveiled half a century after it was buried. The last time capsule to be opened was the class of 1969 in 2019. 

Each year’s time capsule is opened during the Chico Experience Week, a 10-day event. The goal of Chico Experience Week is to help students, alumni, parents and friends experience the city of Chico and the campus.

The next time capsule will be opened in 2050, due to the hiatus in capsule burials. 

There are a total of 58 time capsules, with the 59th scheduled to be buried this year in April.

The capsules were originally placed to form the letters CSC for Chico State College, but after the name change to Chico State in 1972, the layout was changed to spell CSU, Chico. The design will be complete with the time capsule for the class of 2059. 

Time capsules from 1931 to 1958 are located in a circle halfway down the Kendall Hall front walkway, and those from 1959 to 1969 and 2001 to 2025 are located near the front steps of Kendall Hall. The class of 2000’s time capsule, the first one after 30 years, is placed in the middle of the circle, with the others surrounding it. 

The deadline to drop off items for this year’s time capsule is April 4 by 4 p.m. in Bell Memorial Union 220.  It will be buried on April 21, at 1 p.m., outside Kendall Hall. The items that are buried this year will be unveiled in 2076.

Elizabeth Perez can be reached at [email protected]