My initial instinct was to criticize this. I think that's some combination of feeling like hackathons are often a coarse method of exploitation and the feeling that this kind of boosterism may be overstated or unnecessary.

But the truth of the matter IMO is that this deserved to be recognized and celebrated. It's really exciting to see environments that expose people to the joy of making things and the realities of making things happen. This kind of culture was foreign at the major liberal arts universities I saw when I was an undergrad 5-10 years ago, and I think it's a positive change. Congrats!