Presidential Inaugurations at Rutgers:
A Brief History
Rutgers inaugurations have a colorful history
NEW BRUNSWICK/PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- When President Richard L. McCormick enters the Louis Brown Athletic Center to be inaugurated as Rutgers’ 19th president, he will be taking part in an American tradition that dates back to colonial days. Festive college and university inaugurations in this country are almost as old as the founding of higher education in the 13 colonies.It is curious then
that, despite being founded as a colonial college in 1766, Rutgers, America’s
eighth oldest institution of higher learning, did not have a formal presidential
inaugural ceremony until the mid-1800s. The first five university presidents,
Jacob Rusten Hardenbergh, William Linn, Ira Condict, John Henry Livingston,
and Philip Milledoler, were installed in their positions with little,
if any, notice.
Rutgers’ sixth president,
Abraham Bruyn Hasbrouck, was not only the first nonclergy leader of Rutgers,
but also the first to have a formal inauguration. The event was a simple
ceremony held September 15, 1840, in the First Reformed Church, featuring
an invocation and benediction, and addresses by outgoing President Milledoler
and new President Hasbrouck.
Since that September day, Rutgers inaugurals have grown and modernized. In fact, it took just a little more than 40 years for the ceremony to take on its modern character.
In 1882, the inauguration of
Merrill Edward Gates was full of pomp and circumstance. Gates’s ceremony
was held in an opera house at the corner of George and Albany streets
in New Brunswick. Festivities included a procession, complete with marshals
and military band, of faculty, students, alumni, trustees, dignitaries,
and guests that started near Kirkpatrick Chapel. The state’s governor,
George G. Ludlow, presided over the inauguration. Outgoing President William
H. Campbell presented Gates with the keys to the college, and greetings
were given by a host of representatives of various constituents. The new
Rutgers president gave an address.
Fast forward to 1959 and many of the elements of Gates’s inauguration
remained in the ceremony for the university’s 16th president, Mason
Welch Gross. The event also began with an academic procession, this time
starting at Old Queen’s and ending in front of the statue of William
the Silent on the Voorhees Mall. New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice
Joseph Weintraub swore in Gross, Gov. Robert B. Meyner presented Gross
with the Rutgers Charter, and delegates from 336 colleges and universities
in North America, Europe, and Africa attended. The day is often remembered
for the powerful inaugural address Gross delivered, which outlined an
activist agenda for the university, including a call on Rutgers to help
solve urban problems.
The inaugural ceremonies for the next two presidents of Rutgers, Edward J. Bloustein and Francis L. Lawrence, continued in much the same manner, with even more pomp added. Indeed, some have called Bloustein “the most thoroughly inaugurated president” in the history of Rutgers.
Both Bloustein’s and Lawrence’s inaugurations featured the now standard elements, such as remarks by the state’s governor, delegates from colleges and universities across the country, an academic procession, and the president’s speech. There were also luncheons, receptions and dinners.
Bloustein’s celebration
proved to be quite elaborate. It featured formal convocations, complete
with academic regalia, at the Newark and Camden campuses, in addition
to a massive inaugural ceremony on the New Brunswick campus. The new president
gave a speech before a joint session of the New Jersey Legislature and
hosted several luncheons for students, faculty, alumni, and civic groups.
Lawrence’s festivities featured a Newark campus concert with jazz
saxophonist Benny Carter and a dinner the night before his inauguration
in Brower Commons on the New Brunswick campus, among other activities.
While steeped in tradition and commonality, inaugurals have had their distinctive
features. The entire state Legislature was in attendance for the inauguration
of Austin Scott in 1891. Faculty wore academic gowns for the first time
in 1906 as they celebrated William Henry Steele Demarest’s inauguration
as Rutgers’ 11th president. In 1971, rather than give the usual welcoming
remarks, students, faculty, and alumni were asked by President Bloustein
to issue “challenges,” ideals or goals to which he and the university
might aspire. President McCormick’s inauguration will be the first
to be webcast live.
Although the festivities on April
13 will be more modest in reflection of today’s economic times,
McCormick’s inauguration will feature the elements that are now
considered tradition. There will be an academic procession of faculty,
students, administrators, alumni, and distinguished guests. Delegates from
colleges and universities; state, local, and national dignitaries; and
representatives of professional societies, community organizations, state
businesses, and the media will be present. The governor is scheduled to
speak.
President McCormick will deliver his inaugural address, one that is expected
to inspire students, faculty, staff, administrators, and citizens alike
to meet the challenges of the 21st century.