A time capsule will be dedicated Friday as part of the yearlong celebration of Norris University Center’s 40th birthday.

“We just really wanted to mark the occasion because this is such a big milestone,” Tracey Gibson-Jackson said, an organizer and Norris Center for Student Involvement’s coordinator of student theater and performing arts organizations.

The time capsule will be opened 40 years from now.

Gibson-Jackson and others will dedicate the time capsule during Norris’ Blues and Barbeque event 5 p.m. Friday on the East Lawn. Blues and Barbeque will feature music, games and food for kids, college students and adults. The highlight is a free concert featuring blues musician Shemekia Copeland, who is also the headliner of the 2013 Chicago Blues Fest.

“We’re really hoping for 800 to 1,000 people,” said Gibson-Jackson, adding that the concert and time capsule dedication are the biggest events Norris has planned all year. “This is really the icing on the cake. We wanted to do something that involves the entire community.”

Gibson-Jackson and her fellow organizers decided to forgo burying the time capsule, the traditional way to dedicate it. Instead, organizers are working with the University Archives to store the capsule in the archives.

James McHaley, assistant director of student affairs marketing for Norris, said burying the time capsule would be unwise given possible Norris renovation plans in the future. Any renovation would likely involve digging up land around Norris, he added.

“We don’t want to bury something just to dig it up in the near future,” McHaley said.

Gibson-Jackson said she has plans to submit some Northwestern buttons, lapel pins and laminated photos for the capsule.

“We’re looking for anything personal or unique from people,” McHaley said. “Obviously, the smaller the better.”

McHaley said no one has brought in items for the time capsule yet, and he encouraged students to consider contributing. Items should be non-hazardous and non-perishable.

But sometimes perishables hold the most meaning.

“I think we should just cut out a piece of sod from Norris East Lawn,” Weinberg junior Alex Matelski said.

He said the East Lawn is a special part of NU because it’s home to schoolwide events like Philfest and Dance Marathon.

“That grass is holy ground,” Matelski said.

Interested students, faculty and Evanston residents can drop off items for the time capsule at the Student Affairs Marketing office on the third floor of Norris any time before noon Friday, McHaley said. People can also bring memorabilia to Friday’s Blues and Barbeque event, where there will be a table accepting items for the collection.