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Thank you. Your Excellency, Chairman Haldeman and trustees, dear dear President Wright,
Provost Scherr, faculty, members of the administration and staff, guests and students, I bring you
greetings from Brown, a university that has as its core mission to prepare students for
lives of usefulness and reputation. Today, we at Brown take great pride in the vision,
wisdom, and achievements of Brown alumnus Jim Yong Kim, as he is inaugurated as the
17th president of this great university. (It's in - you know, it's painful to have to say
that: this great university.) His election as leader of Dartmouth continues and cements
a long tradition of cooperation between our two institutions.
I also bring you greetings from the Council of Ivy League Presidents, the governing body
of the fabled Ivy League of sports. Although the term Ivy League was first used in the
1930's, the agreement establishing a common framework for all intercollegiate sports in
the eight Ivy universities was not signed until 1954. Since that time, the league has
grown in strength and distinction, not merely because of its athletic prowess, but also
because of the academic rigor of member universities. Dartmouth athletics, and its academic distinction,
have been an important component of this storied Ivy League history. President Kim, we look
forward to welcoming you to your first Ivy presidents' meeting in December. I think it's
fair to say that you will be surprised by the degree of passion and debate that typifies
council meetings, where yes, athletics policy, compliance and infractions dominate the agenda.
Anyone beginning service as the president of a leading university such as Dartmouth
invariably hears from skeptics that ours is an impossible task. They speak of the fractured
nature of all academic communities today, where a president, in trying to forge a common
agenda and strategic direction, must frequently balance opposing views, aims, intentions and,
of course, identities. Critics of academic culture may speak of the challenge of working
with tenured faculty, governing boards, alumni and donors, and activist students, who together,
they observe, create a cacophonous chorus of concerns. However, those who know the academy
well also recognize that at its core, the university is a community in which the importance
of intellectual rigor, freedom of speech and inquiry, dispassionate analysis, scholarly
and creative innovation, and a passion for problem solving in the service of society
override the disparate aims of its members. I am confident, President Kim, that in you
this university has found another Dartmouth president who understands the centrality of
these priorities to all members and supporters, and that you can demonstrate through personal
example the ways in which many voices can become one in together building a bond and
enhancing Dartmouth's stellar history.
The power and promise of your personal example was evident from your earliest time at Brown.
Demanding the best of your education, you sought opportunities to expand your knowledge
and experience across widely divergent academic and extracurricular areas. Your stated passion
for incorporating the humanities in your quest to prepare yourself for a possible career
in the sciences revealed a wholesome, ecumenical view of the academy. Your character as a member
of the community showed a deep respect for difference. These values to which you have
committed yourself for decades are, we know, essential for a university president who must
preside over, care for, respect, and support a diversity of individuals, fields and pursuits.
Moreover, you advance characteristics of leadership that are highly desirable in a university
president. The moral strength and courage to make difficult decisions, the tenacity
to stay the course, the intellectual generosity to tolerate and learn from criticism, the
ability to extract learning from failure, the persuasiveness and charisma to represent
the university well, and the distinction to be truly an international leader.
As president of Dartmouth, you are prepared to speak to the world, and have the world
speak back to Dartmouth. There are college and university leaders represented here today
who welcome you into the fellowship of university presidents. We embrace you and offer you our
support as you lead Dartmouth forward. May you do so with good humor, with tolerance
for the time that it takes for change to occur, with enjoyment of the myriad pleasures of
mentoring and leading a community of scholars and with a conviction that there is no more
satisfying vantage point from which to influence lasting positive change.
Jim, we are very proud of you. Congratulations to you and Godspeed.