Executive Vice President and Provost Susan Huber has canceled classes the afternoon of Oct. 17 so all students can celebrate President Julie Sullivan’s inauguration.
Rachel Wobschall, executive director of Alumni and Constituent Relations and the chair of the inaugural implementation committee, said the festivities will include an invitation-only Mass held in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, a community luncheon for students, faculty, staff and guests, and a formal installation ceremony.
The ceremony will be held in the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex fieldhouse at 2 p.m., and will be open to the community.
“(Students) can expect a lot of academic pomp and circumstance,” Wobschall said.
The student body will be invited to the celebration by email in a few weeks. To accommodate students on the Minneapolis campus, the School of Law will host a reception at 5 p.m. The celebration will also be available to the public through an online video stream.
Archbishop Harry Flynn will give an opening benediction. There will be a “formal chains of office,” where Sullivan will receive the presidential medallion and give an inaugural address.
“I think it will be a really great day,” Wobschall said. “I’m interested to hear what Dr. Sullivan will have to say in her inaugural address. I think that will be fun to hear that because it will really set the tone for St. Thomas in the years to come.”
Wobschall said the installation will include guest and student speakers, like St. Thomas graduate and trustee Ron Fowler, who knows Sullivan from the University of San Diego. Undergraduate Student Government President Jenna Johnson will also speak.
“It is customary that different constituencies of a university call greetings or best wishes to the new president,” Wobschall said. “So, Jenna will be preparing that greeting on behalf of all of our graduate and undergraduate students.”
Wobschall said the planning committee expects there will be a lot of delegates attending the celebration.
“Part of what happens at an inauguration is that it’s a very academic ceremony, so it will involve all of our faculty and a lot of presidents and people from other institutions of higher education throughout Minnesota. We’ve invited all the presidents of all the U.S. Catholic colleges and universities,” Wobschall said.
St. Thomas president emeritus, the Rev. Dennis Dease, will also attend. Wobschall said Dease will not give a speech because it is customary to focus on the incoming president.
Student Affairs will also be planning activities in honor of the inaugural ceremony, but they are yet to be determined and will likely be scheduled for another day, Wobschall said.
The inauguration planning committee is aiming for high student participation to show support for Sullivan.
Even though afternoon classes will be cancelled, sophomore Max Wagner said he likely won’t attend the ceremonies.
“I think (it) will probably help attendance a little bit, but for the most part, I feel like most people will spend their time doing something more exciting,” Wagner said.
Senior Sydnee Schaefbauer said she plans on attending the celebration, and hopes other students will see the importance of attending as well.
“I’m sure there will be some that will just skip it and skip class too, but I hope for the majority, people would want to go to it,” Schaefbauer said.
Wobschall said students are fortunate to be at the university to be on campus during such a historic time.
“We have good fortune here at St. Thomas,” Wobschall said. “We don’t transfer the presidency very often. It is a real opportunity to kind of see history in the making. It’s the first woman; it’s the first layperson … so I think it is a really exciting history-making event.”
Zach Zumbusch can be reached at zumb8499@stthomas.edu.