Greetings to the President

On this occasion, when we gather to mark the beginning of a new presidency, I am delighted to convey to you, President Weiss, the warmest good wishes of the College faculty.

The faculty has already welcomed you as its presiding officer and as a professor. We know that you have been a beloved teacher and that you have earned international esteem as a scholar. Today, we, the members of the faculty, join with all others here in honoring you in your role as chief executive, recognizing in you an academic leader of imagination, vision, energy, and, as has been said, good humor.

We are confident that you now have the opportunity to call forth the best from the entire college, from our alumni, our administrators, our staff, our students, our faculty, and our trustees. We greet you, therefore, with good will and high expectations. We entrust the College to you, insofar as it is ours to entrust, with a great sense of possibilities and the hope that, with your encouragement, the teaching of our faculty and the learning of our students can carry Lafayette forward to new academic distinction.

We are honored to have you in our midst, President Weiss, and we anticipate with keenest interest the years that lie just ahead. 
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 

Good afternoon, everyone. I’m Phil Mitman, and it is my distinct honor and pleasure today to be here representing the City of Easton at this magnificent event in the history of Lafayette College.

It’s important for me, as mayor, and for our Easton City Council, to continue the tradition that we’ve had over many, many years of cooperation between the city and the College under the leadership of Presidents Bergethon, Ellis, and Rothkopf.

I’m proud to say that my dad, Ken Mitman, was a Lafayette alumnus, class of 1935, and his spirit is alive and well with me today.

First and foremost, I want to honor and thank the trustees of Lafayette College, who for so many decades have led and supported the capital campaigns which make this college what it is, for their investments in the college, most recently at the lower part of College Hill, the North Third Street corridor. A lot of investment has gone in there thanks to the College.

President Weiss and I have begun working together, and we’re going to focus on three areas of partnership: first, all the ways in which the educational and service missions of Lafayette College can both benefit from and serve the City of Easton; second, the continued revitalization of the North Third Street corridor, and third, right here on College Hill, we want to make sure we continue this strong and vibrant neighborhood.

Thank you to all the past and present leaders of this acclaimed college.

President Weiss, welcome to you and your family. 
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 

Good afternoon. Allow me to share with you my first impressions of President Daniel Weiss.

I had dinner with President Weiss at Dean [James F.] Krivoski’s home last April, along with the other member of Student Government. I was not sure what to expect of the president and I was nervous to meet him for the first time. But, as I shook his hand and began conversing with him, he made me feel calm and relaxed. He displayed his down-to-earth personality and expressed a genuine curiosity about my feelings toward Lafayette.

From a student perspective, I think the biggest asset President Weiss brings to this College is his concern for the students. Not only does he aim to further the College’s status as an academic institution, he also genuinely cares about what the students want inside and outside of the classroom. He listens when students speak to him, and, in his first few months here, it seems as if he has met as often with students as with faculty and administrators.

He’s often spotted walking around the campus with his wife and two sons, striking up conversations with students. To give all of you an idea of how connected he is to the student body, this past week there was concern and frustration among students about certain issues. President Weiss heard about the concerns and organized an open forum. Just three days ago, he walked into a room filled with 120 frustrated students and said, “Okay, let’s talk. I want to hear what you have to say.”

President Weiss did not have to organize that meeting. I’m sure he was busy enough as it was this week. He does not have to meet with the students. These are things he does by choice. As part of his job, President Weiss has taken it upon himself to make students a priority. He brings to the table a refreshingly open-minded attitude that is giving students reassurance.

President Weiss goes above and beyond expectations, and I, for one, am certainly impressed. It is my honor, as representative of the student body, on this day, October 14, 2005, to officially welcome President Weiss into our community.  
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 

On behalf of the alumni body, it is my distinct privilege and great pleasure to welcome Professor Dan Weiss as Lafayette College’s 16th president.

Dan joins our community in wonderfully interesting times. Under past presidential leadership, most recently Art Rothkopf’s 12-year tenure, Lafayette has grown and prospered in immeasurable ways. Now, however, is not the time to stand firm and admire our accomplishments. In fact, as Dan is keenly aware, we have even greater challenges and opportunities ahead.

If I can be so bold as to term the last 50 years of Lafayette’s history as the modern era, then I would like to take you back to the beginning of that era and read to you comments made by our 12th president, Roald Bergethon. These comments were made at Dr. Bergethon’s first meeting of the faculty, almost 50 years ago today. He said, “We must do all we can with what we have. We must do better when – not if – resources and capacities permit. We must ever be discontent as long as any possible gain in quality can be made. Neither you nor I will live long enough to be able to say to the educational moment, ‘Linger a while, you are so fair.’”

Dan, in you we see the intellect, the energy, the sense of purpose, the passion, and, most important, the requisite courage to lead Lafayette to the next level. We have observed your respect for our experiences, the reverence you have shown for our traditions, and we believe in your leadership and its ability to take us and the College forward. We do believe you get it.

As alumni, we cherish our memories and what Lafayette has meant to each of us. As stewards, we commit ourselves to a future for Lafayette even greater than its present.

Welcome to you. Welcome to Sandra, Teddy, and Joel. Welcome to the Hill, welcome to Lafayette, and welcome to our very special community. 
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 

President Weiss, it is my great honor to extend greetings and a warm welcome to you on behalf of the administrators, support staff, plant operations and security personnel, and technicians of Lafayette College. We are the individuals who were privileged to support President Rothkopf’s inspiring vision for Lafayette, and we heartily welcome you, the next guardian of our beloved Lafayette.

As each of us in the higher education community knows, the College’s staff is comprised of individuals who support and complement the efforts of our extraordinary faculty to provide the finest education possible, both in and out of the classroom, to our students. Although the staff has only enjoyed the benefit of your leadership for a few months, your warmth, intellect, knowledge, humility, and good humor are universally recognized, and the entire Lafayette community has already enthusiastically embraced you.

As we look around this gathering today, we are reminded that the education that we are able to provide is a function of the quality of our teachers and the talent of the many other individuals who play a supporting role, sometimes unsung, in fulfilling our institution’s educational mission. Each alumnus who is here today can surely recall not only extraordinary faculty who touched their lives, but others as well – perhaps a secretary, a financial aid officer, custodian, counselor, or security officer – who went the extra distance for them and left an indelible impression of kindness and concern that became a defining and integral part of his or her Lafayette Experience. Some of these staff members are current employees of Lafayette, others are among our more than 300 retirees (many of whom are with us in the audience today), and still others are with us only in spirit. But each of them has played a role in forming the Lafayette that we collectively are so proud of today. In celebrating your inauguration, we are mindful and appreciative of their contributions to the achievements of Lafayette.

On occasions such as these, we are reminded that the many Lafayette constituencies represented here today are now under your leadership, President Weiss, the link between the past and the future, the connection between the generations that have preceded us and those that will follow, between the Lafayette that has been and the Lafayette that is yet to be.

As vibrant and splendid an institution as has been passed on to us, we must define ourselves not only by the achievements that Lafayette has already attained, but by what we will choose to become. I am reminded today of the saying attributed to an anonymous Native American: “We do not inherit our land from our ancestors. Rather, we borrow it from our children.” We live in a time when the challenges facing our national and world leaders are daunting, and we, all of us in the higher education community, who collectively are entrusted with the responsibility of preparing our young people to be responsible and courageous civic leaders, must heighten our emphasis on, and our students’ capacity for, greater cross-cultural understanding, both abroad and at home. Our ability to educate our students in this regard will have a direct and material impact on their capacity to bridge cultural barriers in our increasingly global marketplace of commodities and ideas. On the day that he was assassinated, President Kennedy had planned to offer the following words: “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” The challenges faced today in our ever-smaller world only underscore the importance of these words and demand the inclusion of greater cultural understanding in the knowledge-base of our students.

Lafayette must also recognize that it, along with the other members of the higher education community, plays a pivotal role in assuring access to its unique opportunities. As you have already observed, President Weiss, access involves more than re-examining definitions of admissibility. It is also intimately tied to one’s ability to afford an education. Perhaps as compelling as the question of how we educate our students is the question of whom we educate. Who will enjoy the privilege, as so many individuals in this room, and I, have, of access to a Lafayette education? This is precisely the question posed by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor two years ago in the landmark case of Grutter v. Bollinger. She said, “In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity.” Given our changing national demographics, this issue is more compelling now than ever before in our nation’s history. As Abigail and Steven Thurstrom have observed, the divide in America related to issues of access “is the most important civil-rights issue of our time.”

In short, the achievement of equal opportunity will not come without equal access. While we may not know, or agree upon, the best approaches to address this issue, there is consensus that this challenge and opportunity demand the attention of our educational leaders. We must consider this issue collectively, consciously, and constructively for the good of all of our citizens and, thus, the good of the entire nation.

President Weiss, each member of your staff looks forward to assisting you in meeting these and other challenges. Each of us will play a role in shaping the Lafayette that we have borrowed from the future, and each of us today renews our commitment to support your efforts to guide her well for the generations yet to come.

Welcome to Lafayette. 
  
  
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 

It’s a special privilege for me to speak at this important moment in the history of Lafayette College. I remember 12 years ago how moving it was for me to read in the program at my own inauguration the names of those who had preceded me in the presidency. Now my own name has been added to that list, and I’ve been given the honor of welcoming my successor.

The pleasure is even greater because I’m joined here on the platform by David Ellis, Lafayette’s 13th president, and Kay Bergethon, whose husband, Roald, preceded David. Both Roald and David were superb leaders of this institution, and each was generous in giving advice to a very neophyte successor. David, Kay, and I, as well as our families, are delighted to join with the other greeters in formally welcoming Dan Weiss, Sandra, and their family, into the Lafayette community.

I can attest from my own personal experience that the College has chosen its new leader wisely. Dan Weiss is an accomplished scholar and a skilled academic administrator. Last spring, he and I spent dozens of hours together discussing the key issues facing the College. During those briefings, I learned that he’s an extremely thoughtful person who listens well and thinks before he acts. I’m confident that he is the right leader to take this College to next level of achievement and reputation.

Although I shared as much information as I could with Dan during those conversations, living for several months back in what our students call “the real world” has given me a fresh perspective on my own personal Lafayette Experience. (And I might say to the students here that the real world is very overrated!) So here’s a bit of additional advice for our new president.

First, globalization and technology are not just buzzwords. I can attest even a few months after having left Lafayette as to how incredibly complex the world has become outside these cloistered walls. There are fundamental changes occurring at an astonishing rate. When I was president, I often said how much the world had changed since my classmates graduated some 50 years ago. My comments would be equally apt for alumni celebrating their fifth reunion, or even their first or second reunion. Lafayette’s focus must be on helping our students think clearly, communicate well, and understand the technology that changes almost daily. Our graduates must also be thoughtful citizens who bring strong moral and ethical values to bear on the critical issues facing our society.

President Weiss, you will hear many voices – faculty, alumni, students, administrators, and neighbors –expressing different, sometimes conflicting, viewpoints. I would urge you to listen respectfully to all these views and then take action upon what must be our College’s first priority, which is giving our students the very best possible education and equipping these undergraduates to successfully navigate a very real and very complex world.

Welcome to you, Dan, and to your family. Best of luck as you guide this wonderful College to even greater heights.