Sandra Day O'Connor and Gene R. Nichol were officially installed as chancellor and president, respectively, on April 7 while approximately 4,500 people gathered in the courtyard of the Sir Christopher Wren Building to watch.
O'Connor, former associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court who became the College's 23rd chancellor, called on her new colleagues at the university to participate in paving the way toward a world of greater peace and security.
"Our nation is one built on pride and sacrifice and commitment to shared values, on a willingness of our citizens to give time and energy for the good of the whole," she said. Acknowledging that public service can be both difficult and rewarding, she urged members of the university to focus "energies on sharing ideas, on finding solutions and using what is right with America to remedy what is wrong with it."
"As you students at this College embark on your lives, I hope you will be bridge builders," she said. "Our nation needs you, and those who cross the bridges you will build will thank you."
In his remarks, Nichol, who was inaugurated as the 26th president of the College, also acknowledged the storied past of the university while suggesting the necessity of "lifting our sights higher."
"The College of William and Mary is venerable, beloved and inspiring. It is also hungry and unsatisfied," he said. Nichol promised that during his tenure as president the College would become more open in terms of admissions to those who have not enjoyed "economic privilege"; that it would work toward more racial diversity not only of the student body but among faculty, professional staff and senior administration; that it would further engage the "global community" and that it would foster a culture of undergraduate research while retaining the "heart" of a small-scale liberal-arts program.
"Now it is our turn to answer the call of history," he said. "The trumpet sounds. The bell tolls. This College — this compelling gift from one generation to the next — was founded to place the mightiest tools of intellect in the fullest service to a people. That large work remains our own."
The dual ceremonies opened with a procession of dignitaries representing more than 100 universities, including Oxford, Harvard, Yale and Princeton, who filed along the brick sidewalk leading to the Wren's portico as tribute to the place held in academe by the College. Welcoming remarks were made by a succession of speakers, including James Beers, acting as President of the College's Faculty Assembly, Thomas K. Norment Jr., a state senator representing the Commonwealth, and John T. Casteen III, president of the University of Virginia representing Virginia institutions of higher learning.
In addition, a series of greetings were offered by Walter W. Stout III '64 on behalf of the College's 72,000 alumni, by Kimberley L. Phillips, Frances L. and Edwin L. Cummings Associate Professor of History on behalf of the College's faculty, by Ann Repeta, president of the Hourly and Classified Employees Association on behalf of staff, and by Ryan M. Scofield '07 on behalf of students.
Overall, however, those who spoke concentrated on the serious matter of how William and Mary can extend its tradition of leadership into the future. Perhaps no one voiced that challenge more eloquently than did Casteen, who said, "Ultimately no American institution can claim to be more fundamental to the nation's existence and identity than this College is, and no position within our system of higher education exercises greater moral and public authority than does the one to which President Nichol ascends in a formal way today. Today and today's issues may not seem to be those of 1776, and yet this College and its new leader have the opportunity now and in the future to make a mark on this nation that is as profound as the mark the College made at the time of the nation's founding."
Photo by Stephen Salpukas
