Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends will celebrate a new chapter in Wittenberg’s 173-year history when the university inaugurates its 15th president, Dr. Michael L. Frandsen, at 4:45 p.m. Thursday, April 5, in historic Weaver Chapel. The totality of the Wittenberg experience is expected to shine during the ceremony and in the series of events planned throughout the week.
The event, carrying the theme “Light Illuminated: Learning, Growing, Changing,” is expected to draw hundreds of delegates representing colleges and universities across the country. Representatives from Wittenberg's faculty, staff, students and alumni will offer words of welcome, while Randy Bass, vice provost for education and professor of English at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., and founding executive director of Georgetown’s Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, will provide the keynote address.
“Our motto is ‘Having Light We Pass It On To Others,’ and we expect this week of events and the inauguration itself to show how the Wittenberg community makes its collective light visible each day – in the classroom, on the field, in our community and around the world,” said Karen Gerboth, vice president of marketing and communication and co-chair of the Inauguration Steering Committee.
The inauguration date was selected following several conversations with senior leaders, program coordinators, faculty, staff and members of the Presidential Transition Team with extensive insight from President Frandsen, who believes firmly that “the focus of any inauguration must be on the academic enterprise and student success.”
The April 5 date was chosen specifically because it precedes the Celebration of Learning, April 6, when students from a range of disciplines and interests share their research and accomplishments, all of which have been made possible through the active, engaged learning environment that defines the Wittenberg experience. The Celebration of Learning then culminates in the university’s annual recognition of academic excellence during the traditional Honors Convocation in Weaver Chapel.
Since joining the Wittenberg community on July 1, President Frandsen has made retention, recruitment and resources the focus of his leadership agenda. Regular engagement in Wittenberg’s hometown of Springfield, a commitment to student success, strategic planning, and investments in campus renewal have also defined his presidency to date as has community building.
Prior to taking the helm at Wittenberg, President Frandsen spent more than a decade in corporate finance followed by senior leadership positions in finance at both Oberlin College and Albion College, that latter for which he also served as interim president.
Frandsen earned his B.A. in finance with distinction and his M.B.A. in quantitative business analysis with honors from The Pennsylvania State University, and his Ph.D. in management from the University of Texas at Austin. He and wife, Sharon, are the proud parents of two grown daughters.
The inauguration ceremony will be followed by a reception on Chapel Lawn.
Coordinated by a 17-member steering committee representing all institutional constituencies, the celebration will also consist of other special events during the week, including a pep rally from 9-10:30 p.m. Monday, April 2, along Alumni Way (rain site: Gus Geil Lounge in the Benham-Pence Student Center) followed by popsicles with the president from noon-2 p.m. Tuesday, April 3. The university’s annual leadership awards will then take place at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 4, in the Center Dining Room of the Benham-Pence Student Center, while the Joseph C. Shouvlin Center for Lifelong Learning will host the Celebration of Learning from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, April 6. The Honors Convocation at Weaver Chapel will then commence from 4:15-6 p.m. Friday.
Adding to the “totality of the Wittenberg experience,” Saturday’s events will center around service and the arts, beginning with two Celebrate Service events, including a Lesotho Nutrition Packing event and one with the Springfield community later in the day. The senior art exhibit in Koch Hall’s Thompson Gallery will be open from 2-5 p.m., and a variety show and other performance-related events are being scheduled for the evening. A worship service at 11 a.m. on April 8 at Weaver Chapel followed by a campus picnic until 2 p.m. on Chapel Lawn will conclude the week.
A complete schedule and more inauguration-related information can be found online at www.wittenberg.edu/inauguration2018.
