INAUGURATION UPDATE: Rodin's inauguration festivities begin today

While presidential inaugurations in Washington, D.C. are national traditions, the University has only seen one presidential inauguration before, that of former University President Sheldon Hackney. But beginning today, University President Judith Rodin will be inaugurated in a two-day celebration. The inauguration will cost the University $180,000. Rodin will officially be inaugurated tomorrow in a ceremony at Irvine Auditorium. But the celebration begins today with an inaugural symposium dealing with responsibility in education featuring several prominent University faculty members. The symposium, entitled "Constructing Responsibility: Knowledge, Ethics, and Individual Choice," will take place today from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Harrison Auditorium of the University Museum. Panelists will include Legal Studies Professor Thomas Dunfee, Psychology Professor Martin Seligman, Annenberg Professor of Social Science Renee Fox and Professor of Sociology Elijah Anderson. The symposium will center around responsibility as a major part of American public discourse. Topics will include the paradox of American society -- in which people are urged to be accountable in some aspects of life, but in others, personal responsibility is shirked completely. The symposium is open to the public. A University Board of Trustees - sponsored reception for the faculty will follow the Inaugural Symposium from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Upper Egyptian Gal-lery and Chinese Rotunda of the University Museum. An inaugural reception and dinner for Rodin will also be held in the Ben Franklin Hall of the Franklin Institute at 7 p.m. tonight. Inaugural festivities continue tomorrow, with an academic procession starting on Locust Walk at 9:45 a.m. The procession will proceed to Irvine Auditorium, where the official Inauguration Ceremony will be held. The ceremony will be simultaneously broadcast on ResNet and the Academic Video Network throughout the campus. The ceremony will include a presentation of keys to the University to Rodin. The symbolic keys were last used at the inauguration of Charles Custis Harrison as provost in 1895. A silver President's Badge will also be presented to Rodin, reflecting the chief executive's authority. Outgoing Board of Trustees Chairperson Alvin Shoemaker will make both presentations. Speakers at the ceremony will include Shoemaker, Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell and Yale President Richard Levin. Also participating will be representatives from the Undergraduate Assembly, the Graduate And Professional Students Assembly, the Faculty Senate, the Penn Professional Staff Association and the A-3 Assembly. After these greetings, Rodin will give her inaugural address, which is expected to last about 20 minutes. At 12:15 p.m. on Friday, a celebration will begin on College Green for the entire University community and guests. It will include lunch and entertainment by 12 different performing arts groups. Rodin said yesterday that 6,000 people are expected to attend the celebration. Rodin said she considers the two-day inauguration a time when delegates and other outsiders can "see for themselves first hand what a great place Penn is."