U. inaugurates Rodin as president

Campus celebrates gala event The official inauguration of University President Judith Rodin took place Friday morning, as she presented her vision for the University's future in a 20-minute inaugural address. The festivities began with an academic procession down Locust Walk, which included trustees, faculty, students, administrators, deans and delegates. Former University Presidents Martin Meyerson and Sheldon Hackney were also in attendance. The procession ended at Irvine Auditorium, where the official ceremony began at 11 a.m. Former Chairperson of the Board of Trustees Alvin Shoemaker conducted the official investiture of the president. Rodin is the seventh University president and the first female president in the Ivy League. "This is a red-and-blue letter day for Penn," Shoemaker said. "I can fully imagine how Judith feels today, some 32 years after she came to Penn as a scholarship student from Philadelphia, she came back as our president." Shoemaker presented Rodin with a President's Badge and keys to the University. The keys were last used at Charles Custis Harrison's inauguration as provost in 1895. Rodin had joked about the badge the night before, at her inaugural dinner, when she said the chain had to be cut to fit her after former President Sheldon Hackney wore it. The president's inaugural address focused on undergraduate education, the University's relationship with Philadelphia and the University's past, present and future. "In a sense, the most central tradition that this University inherited from its founder is a disdain for tradition -- a willingness to challenge orthodoxy and to think creatively and boldly," she said, discussing Franklin's idea of joining "theory" with "practice." Rodin summarized her plans for the "Penn Education of the Twenty-First Century," which was released in a report last week and includes changes to housing, student services, curriculum and mentoring. She said she hopes to create a "seamless experience between the classroom and the residence, between the playing field and the laboratory." Rodin also emphasized the University's relationship with the city of Philadelphia, which she said is "one of Penn's greatest blessings." "Our towers at Penn are anything but ivory and isolated," she said. In completing her remarks, Rodin said she wants to work with the University community to "recommit ourselves to Penn." Before Rodin was introduced, Shoemaker and several representatives of the University community greeted the audience and extolled Rodin's virtues. After an invocation by University Chaplain Stanley Johnson, Shoemaker opened the ceremony, saying it marked the commencement of a "new era." "This is indeed a day of immense significance for the University," he said. "These proceedings symbolize both the continuity and renewal of America's first university." Philadelphia Mayor and University alumnus Edward Rendell said he first met Rodin as an undergraduate, and was pleased that one of Philadelphia's "native daughters is being inaugurated as president." "We've enjoyed a wonderful relationship with the University of Pennsylvania," Rendell said. "We look forward to nurturing that relationship." Faculty Senate Chairperson Barbara Lowry said the faculty wanted a president who was a scholar with leadership experience, as well as an innovator, adding that "we found that person." Several student and staff leaders also spoke. Yale University President Richard Levin, who worked with Rodin when she was provost of that university, referred to the University's past, when the provost used to be the chief executive officer of the University. "We now give our Provost to become your provost," he said. "We will be watching with great pride and affection as Judy takes this University to new glory." Throughout the inaugural, student groups performed several vocal and instrumental musical selections. During the ceremony, the Inaugural Chorus sang the Academic Festive Anthem, taken from proposals made by Benjamin Franklin, which Rodin later cited in her address. University Secretary Barbara Stevens carried the University Mace in the academic procession before the ceremony and was followed by Rodin, who acknowledged the crowd gathered along the Walk with a smile and a wave of her hand. Throughout the procession, bagpipers provided musical accompaniment. All participants were dressed in academic costume. As the ceremony concluded and the participants marched in a recessional, Rodin and her son, Alex Neijelow, were the last to leave, walking out with their arms around one another. "Being with my mom is great," Alex said before the academic procession began. "Getting to spend more time with her and seeing all the students and talking to them is the best part." Nearly 1,000 people watched the ceremony in Irvine Auditorium. Others were able to see the inauguration through ResNet and the Academic Video Network.