President Larry Bacow will join 11 other presidents in University history when he is formally inaugurated on April 19. The ceremony at Ellis Oval will be on the second of three days of planned festivities, including an inaugural concert and nighttime celebration.
In collaboration with the Stewardship Office, administrators have been working to coordinate the event since its date was set last summer, inviting prominent scholars from both within and outside of the University to speak at the inauguration.
Guest speakers include MIT President Charles Vest and Dartmouth's President Emeritus James O. Freedman, both of whom were invited by Bacow.
It is common for schools to invite distinguished academics to these ceremonies to endorse university presidencies, according to Provost Sol Gittleman. Guest speakers are often veterans of university leadership who will speak about "how unique American higher education is" and welcome Bacow to "the guild."
Freedman said he is looking forward to paying tribute to Bacow. "Larry's an old friend, and I was just thrilled to find out about his appointment and thrilled when he invited me to say a few words," he said.
Freedman has never worked with Bacow, but he said the two "met through a mutual friend and have been very close now for about six or seven years."
Bacow worked closely with Vest for three years, and the MIT President appointed him as that school's third chancellor. Vest was unavailable for comment.
A collection of five well-known University figures will also speak at the ceremony, denoting the approval of undergraduates, professional and graduate students, administration, faculty, and alumni about the presidential choice. Among the speakers are Board of Trustees Chairman Nathan Gantcher, Tufts Community Union (TCU) President Eric Greenberg, medical student Colleen O'Connor, Dean of the Dental School Lonnie Norris, Drama Professor Barbara Grossman, and Alumni Association President Bill O'Reilly (LA '77).
Gittleman will present a welcome address after which Bacow will begin his inaugural speech.
Norris hopes the inauguration "brings worldwide press, brings recognition of the President's name in his new position, by his comments inspires the best and the brightest to want to enroll, teach, donate, affiliate with Tufts."
The official Friday morning inauguration will be preceded by an hour-long Thursday night concert featuring several Tufts musical groups. The concert introduces a piece by University Professor John McDonald in its premiere. "Inaugural Augury" is a piano solo composed for the occasion.
Other groups that will be featured at Thursday's concert include the Tufts Chamber Singers, a Faculty Jazz Trio, The Tufts Third Day Gospel Choir, and the Tufts Symphony Orchestra. The Bacows requested that the Orchestra play "David Diamond" from its recent tour in Greece.
"I am excited about the size of the audience and the positive reaction we are already getting," McDonald said. Five hundred people have already made reservations.
The festivities continue into Saturday evening when a combined 150th anniversary and inauguration celebration will take place in the Gantcher Center. Bacow and O'Reilly will address the audience before turning over the evening to music by the band Jump Street, Tufts a cappella groups, dancing, and a birthday cake. A sesquicentennial time capsule will be dedicated the following day, as well as "some surprises," according to the event's coordinator, Executive Associate to the President Judy Olson.
"This is only the 12th time in 150 years that Tufts has inaugurated a new president. It is a significant event in the history of the institution, and an exciting time for all of us who have the opportunity to attend and participate in the celebration," Olson said.
As a former MIT Chancellor, Bacow was one of the two most senior academic officers and was part of the MIT faculty since 1977. He was appointed Tufts President on Sept. 1, 2001, when former President John DiBiaggio retired from the office.
