Inauguration week begins

By: Sam Shelton, Senior Editor

University President Kim Schatzel says that her Sept. 16 inauguration ceremony will be just as much a celebration of Towson’s achievements as her own, but she’s excited to put her own spin on things.

This comes nine months after the University System of Maryland announced Schatzel’s appointment to Towson in early December. Prior to her first day at Towson, which hit during a period of particularly cruel bout of January winter weather, Schatzel formerly worked as Eastern Michigan University’s interim president and provost simultaneously.

Prior to that, Schatzel, now TU’s 14th president, was also EMU’s executive vice president for academic and student affairs.

“We’re going to start some new traditions,” Schatzel said.

These traditions include incorporating symbolic University artifacts into the inauguration ceremony at SECU Arena.

The ceremony itself will include an academic procession of TU faculty members, alumni delegates, the TU Board of Visitors, the USM Board of Regents and other officials dressed in academic regalia. According to Schatzel, the music, which she helped choose, will play a large part in the ceremony.

The inauguration is free and open to the public, but the deadline for RSVPs has already passed. For those who missed out, the ceremony will stream live on Facebook through the University’s page, and other on-campus events will run throughout the week.

“The whole week leading up to it is a time when we can all come together,” Schatzel said.

Through Sept. 17, campus will host a lecture on World War I and modern life, celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month and an inaugural speaker, author Andrew Solomon, who will discuss how people’s differences relate to each other. His talk will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday evening in the West Village Commons ballrooms.

“If I could highlight one thing that’s special that I actually chose, it would be inviting Andrew Solomon to come to campus and give a talk, ” Schatzel said.

A large inaugural committee, which includes faculty, alumni, current student officials and administrators from various facets of the University and is chaired by Assistant to the President for Events and Engagement Teresa Hardin, has been working with Schatzel to plan the ceremony and the preceding week’s events.

 

 

Leave a Reply

Close

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.