Unlocking the future of the liberal arts

By Cornell Report Staff | June 15, 2012

The inauguration of a college president offers plenty of opportunity for pomp and circumstance, but it offers much more than that, as well. At Cornell, on the weekend of April 20–22, 2012, the inauguration of Jonathan Brand served as a chance to show off the best things the college has to offer to alumni, friends, community members and visiting dignitaries.

The weekend kicked off with a performance of "Defying Gravity" — The weekend kicked off with a performance of “Defying Gravity”

Starting Friday night with a concert by the college’s orchestra—featuring Dean of the College Joe Dieker on clarinet—and a performance of the play “Defying Gravity,” the weekend was packed with events that put the campus and students on display.

Dean of the College Joe Kieker was the featured clarinet soloist during the Cornell Orchestra Concert. The Cornell choirs also performed during the weekend. — Dean of the College Joe Dieker was the featured clarinet soloist during the Cornell Orchestra Concert. The Cornell choirs also performed during the weekend.

On Saturday dozens of student scholars presented their research at the Student Symposium and 18 were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the country’s oldest and most respected academic honor society. The softball team faced Loras College and student organizations took part in a street fair on the Pedestrian Mall. President Brand and Mount Vernon Mayor Scott Peterson gathered on Sunday to dedicate a ginkgo tree in Mount Vernon’s Memorial Park and the college choir debuted a piece written for it by a Cornell parent.

And that’s to say nothing of the ceremony itself, where hundreds gathered in King Chapel to see Brand presented with the symbols of his office and hear his inaugural address.

It was, in short, an encapsulation of the things that make Cornell so special. It mixed the serious and the playful, the academic and the co-curricular, the past, present, and future of the college. It showed the vitality and vibrancy on offer at a residential liberal arts college in the 21st century and reminded the visitors, be they faculty, students, alumni, staff, or friends, exactly how much there is to love about Cornell.

Inauguration was timed to coincide with Student Symposium, the academic highlight of the year

A student happily sports the inaugural sunglasses given out during the Student Street Fair

John McGrane ’73, chair of the Board of Trustees, places the presidential medallion on President Jonathan Brand. McGrane and his wife, Martha Benson McGrane ’73, offered to update the medallion, originaly designed for President Stumpf in the 1960s.

Life Trustee bob Engel '55 receives help with his regalia from a former student, Bob Duffett, president of Dakota Wesleyan College. — Life Trustee Bob Engel ’55 receives help with his regalia from a former student, Bob Duffett, president of Dakota Wesleyan College.

Three Cornell presidents gather with six current or past chairs of the Board of Trustees. From left: Richard Small ’50, John McGrane ’73, Jerry Ringer ’59, Gib Drendel ’58, President David Marker, Tom Jarom ’66, President Jonathan Brand, Dick Brubaker ’55, and President Les Garner. Not pictured, John Smith ’71.

Mathematics Professor Jim Freeman served as the Faculty Marshal, leading faculty in order beginning with emeriti and those with the longest service to the college.

With the faculty seated on stage behind them, John Smith ’71 introduces President Brand.

Rachelle LaBarge, wife of Jonathan Brand, enjoys the ceremony with family.

Politics Professor Craig Allin, serving as College Marshal, places the new college mace in its stand as the ceremony begins. The mace was commissioned in honor of the Brand inauguration by honorary alumna Dyan Smith, wife of John Smith ’71, Trustee and chair of the Presidential Search Committee. It was handcrafted by Don Stumbo, spouse of Janene Panfil ’89. Once a weapon in medieval England, maces are used today as a symbol of office.