Investiture

I really can't figure out why, exactly, but I like pomp and ceremony and am often moved to tears by an event that is conducted according to tradition and filled with symbolic meaning to those in attendance. I just as easily get irritated when others in attendance act inappropriately out of ignorance of the rules of conduct or lack of respect for tradition: not removing head gear and covering the heart when the U.S. flag passes during a parade or during the singing of the national anthem, for example; or wearing a T-shirt and jeans or other inappropriately casual clothing to a wedding, funeral, or weekly church service; or wearing the mortarboard vertically in order to display curled and hairsprayed bangs during a commencement ceremony; etc. I must have been taught by parents and teachers to be respectful of traditions and to follow ceremonial rules and procedures, I guess. And I definitely like the feeling of participating in a ceremony with others who also know the meanings behind what we're doing and why we're doing it as we are.

That's a preface to telling you that I participated today in the investiture of Dr. Richard McCallum as our university's president. It was my first such ceremony, and it was carried out formally and beautifully by the committee appointed to conduct it. All classes on campus were canceled after 2:00 P.M. and offices closed after 3:00 P.M. to enable faculty, staff, and students to participate and/or attend. We faculty gathered in the library before the 3:30 P.M. ceremony to get into our academic garb (gowns, hoods, and mortarboards) and line up to process into the auditorium through hallways lined with stands bearing the flags of all the nations from which our students come (which makes for quite an impressive array of flags). We were seated in the front rows and had an excellent view of the proceedings on the stage.

The university band played the processional, and the senior faculty member on campus declared the ceremony opened. There were addresses by Al Jaeger, the Secretary of State of North Dakota; Dennis Johnson, mayor of Dickinson; officers of the faculty, staff, and student senates on campus; representatives of the DSU Alumni Association and Foundation Board; and North Dakota University System chancellor Bill Goetz and North Dakota State Board of Higher Education member Pam Kostelecky, both of whom installed Dr. McCallum by presenting him with the mace, the alumni cane, and the presidential medallion to be worn at official university ceremonies. Dr. McCallum delivered an intelligent, extempore speech on the theme "Reflecting on the Past, Embracing the Present, Forging the Future." He's an excellent public speaker who makes a terrific impression and seems so far to be a visionary leader with integrity. The university chorale sang an arrangement of Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken," and the band played a recessional after the senior faculty member declared the ceremony closed.

The sun had gone down by that time, and the investiture committee had lined the sidewalks leading from the auditorium to the Student Center across campus with luminaries, hundreds of white paper bags filled with sand and tealight candles flickering gently and casting a soft white glow upon the walkways to mark the path to the reception. So simple yet beautiful! The galleria of the Student Center was hung with large prints of photographs representing hallmarks from the university's past: buildings, dignitaries, athletes, etc. Inside the ballroom were numerous tables featuring appetizers from the various cultures represented by our diverse student body. Not only was every food item delicious, but the Food Service staff presented them elegantly (e.g., one appetizer was set out upon various overlapping pieces of slate laid out randomly upon the table like a mis-shuffled deck of cards--clever!). The overhead lights were dimmed, and strings of blue lights wrapped in gauzy ribbon cast a glow upon each tabletop. People moved from table to table, sampling appetizers and mingling, all the while enjoying jazz music played by an ensemble of music professors and senior students. It was very classy.

And at the sidelines all evening were the president and his wife, shaking hands and accepting congratulations and visiting easily with students, faculty, dignitaries, and community members alike (and probably forgoing the food in order to keep their hands empty for shaking, poor dears). They have been here since April and have made a good impression so far on campus and in the community. Here's looking forward to great things from this presidency, started off formally and impressively with today's investiture ceremony.