CC to inaugurate tenth president

President Lee Higdon outside of Fanning Hall.

Leo I. Higdon, Jr., the College’s tenth president, will be inaugurated during Fall Weekend 2006 in a special ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 14 in Palmer Auditorium.

The inaugural procession will include a display of 49 international flags, reflecting the citizenship of the College’s student body, as well as current and emeriti faculty and trustees, the College’s past presidents, student leaders and state and local dignitaries.

During the installation, Higdon will be presented with traditional symbols of the trust and authority being placed in him, including a copy of the College’s charter. He will then deliver his inaugural remarks. The title of his talk is, “Between the Past and Future: Preparing for Connecticut College’s Second Century.”

Higdon has 35 years of leadership in higher education and business. He joined CC after serving as president of the College of Charleston from October 2001 to June 2006.

Carol Geary Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), will be the keynote speaker. The AAC&U is a national organization that works to strengthen undergraduate liberal education.

Under Schneider’s leadership, AAC&U launched a 10-year advocacy program to engage students and the public about what matters in a college education for the 21st century. The program builds on a multi-year initiative to improve learning for all undergraduate students.

The ceremony, which also features musicians and dancers from the College community, will start at 11 a.m. and be followed by a picnic on the College Green at 12:30 p.m. It is one of several inauguration events during Fall Weekend. On Friday, Oct. 13 at 4 p.m., Higdon and his wife Ann will take part in a panel discussion “The Peace Corps Experience.” There will also be panel discussions on “Athletics and the Liberal Arts,” featuring Bowdoin College President Barry Mills, and “Faculty Research and Teaching at Connecticut College” on Saturday.

An exhibit of photos, programs, invitations and newspaper coverage from previous inaugurations, will be on display in the lobby of the Charles E. Shain Library starting Oct. 2. The exhibit, called “Auspicious Beginnings: Presidential Inaugurations at Connecticut College (1915-2006),” will run through Nov. 21.

A full schedule of Fall Weekend events is posted at fallweekend.conncoll.edu.

For more information about the inauguration go to www.conncoll.edu/inauguration.