The Inauguration of Anne F. Harris

The Inauguration of Anne F. Harris

President Anne F. Harris was inaugurated as 51��app’s 14th president on Saturday, May 7, at 10:30 a.m. CDT

Inaugural Address of 51��app's 14th president Anne F. Harris

The Inauguration of President Anne F. Harris, held Saturday, May 7, 2022, is complete. You can watch President Harris' Inaugural Address above, or view the .

View the full event transcript.

Download the program (PDF).

14th President of 51��app College

Anne F. Harris

Anne F. Harris, an energetic leader and gifted teacher, joined 51��app College in 2019 as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College. Later that year, the 51��app Board of Trustees appointed her to serve as acting president; in 2020, the board unanimously selected Harris to be the 14th president of 51��app College. During her tenure here, President Harris has quickly become a trusted and admired member of the College community. Before coming to 51��app, she served for more than two decades as a professor of art history at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.; for three years, she was also vice president for academic affairs at DePauw. At 51��app, Harris has demonstrated remarkable leadership in the areas of diversity and inclusion, academic program and community development, and financial stewardship and fundraising. A prolific researcher and author, she has published numerous articles and juried and invited papers; Harris also co-authored a textbook on medieval art history, which was published in 2021.

Learn more about President Harris
Community Event

Prairie Planting on North Campus

President Harris’ inauguration provides us with an opportunity to celebrate 51��app College’s sense of place. This prairie will provide participants the chance to renew Iowa's native landscape, have fun, pay respect to native cultures, and build community.

New Date: This event has been postponed from May 6 to May 13 due to wet conditions.

Friday, May 13, 2022
2–4 p.m. CDT
North of Ward Field

Learn more about the prairie planting.
Inauguration Celebration Concert

A high energy concert will feature guest artist and instructor Michela Marino Lerman (NYC), and all-original student music from the 51��app Jazz Ensemble, Digital Music Making, Sonic Activism, and Tap is Music! No tickets required.

Friday, May 6, 2022
7:30 p.m. CDT
Sebring-Lewis Hall, Bucksbaum Center for the Arts
Community Event

Community Art Project

We invite you to join us in creating a community art project as part of the reception following the Inauguration ceremony. We will be folding origami paper cranes and sharing them throughout the community and the nation. Local students, community members, and 51��app College students have been folding cranes leading up to this celebration.

Saturday, May 7, 2022
11:30 a.m–1 p.m CDT (UTC−05:00)
Kington Plaza

Learn more about the origami paper cranes project.

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Ceremony Participants

The Academic Procession

Trustees of 51��app College
Delegates
Faculty and Staff of 51��app College
The Platform Party

The Marshals of the Procession

William Freeman, College Marshal, Associate Professor of Physical Education
Jeffrey Blanchard, Assistant College Marshal, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Statistics
Evelyn O. Freeman, Assistant College Marshal, Assistant Professor of Physical Education
Kelly Herold, Chair of the Division of Humanities, Associate Professor of Russian
Gemma Sala, Chair of the Division of Social Studies, Associate Professor of Political Science
Lee Sharpe, Chair of the Division of Science, Professor of Chemistry
Ben Cooprider, Staff Council Co-chair, Assistant Athletic Director
Erika Jack, Staff Council, Academic Assistant

Participants in the Inaugural Ceremony

George Moose ’66, Honorary Marshal, Trustee, Co-chair of the Selection Committee
Keith A. Jantzen ’80, Co-chair of the Inauguration Steering Committee
Eva Hill ’22, Student Representative
Vida Praitis, Chair of the Faculty, Professor of Biology
Julie Gosselink, Trustee, President, Claude W. and Dolly Ahrens Foundation, Co-chair of the Inauguration
Sarah Smith, Staff Council Representative, Director of Outreach Programs and Events
Lester Alemán ’07, President, Alumni Council
Michael Kahn ’74, Chair of the Board of Trustees
Trish Fitzgibbons Anderson ’80, Honorary Marshal, Trustee, Co-chair of the Selection Committee

President Harris wishes to offer a special thank you to her children — Oliver, Iris, and Roman Mackenzie — for their participation in the program as readers.

Trustees of 51��app College

Michael Kahn ’74, Chair
Sheryl Walter ’78, Vice Chair
Angela Onwuachi-Willig ’94, Vice Chair

Current Members

Lester A. Alemán ’07
Trish Fitzgibbons Anderson ’80
David B. Braman ’75
R. Christina Cutlip ’83
Odile Disch-Bhadkamkar
Jeetander Dulani ’98
Shelley Floyd ’72
Julie Gosselink
Keith A. Jantzen ’80
John H. Kispert ’85
Kimberly A. Kuncl ’87
Tobi Klein Marcus ’87
David E. Maxwell ’66
Kathryn J. Mohrman ’67 and D.H.L. ’05
George E. Moose ’66 and LL.D ’90
Jeanne Myerson ’75
Saumil Parikh ’99
Nancy L. Radermecher ’83
W. Edward Senn ’79
Karen E. Shaff
Joel R. Spiegel ’78
Kristin Stout ’89
Matthew E. Welch ’96
Eric E. Whitaker ’87
Connie Wimer

Life and Retired Trustees

Robert F. Austin Jr. ’54 and D.H.L. ’96, Life Trustee
Elizabeth Ballantine, Life Trustee
J. Robert “Bob” Barr ’57, Life Trustee
Richard W. Booth ’54, Life Trustee
Ann Bowers
Nordahl L. Brue ’67, Life Trustee
Carolyn Swartz Bucksbaum ’51 and D.L. ’12, Life Trustee
Warren Buffett
Janet Carrig ’79
Thomas R. Cech ’70 and D.Sc. ’87
Mary Sue Coleman ’65 and D.Sc. ’04
Henry Cornell ’76
David Crosby
George Drake ’56
John F. Egan ’57, Life Trustee
Florence Fearrington
Laura M. Ferguson ’90
Patricia Jipp Finkelman ’80, Life Trustee
Patty Lou Floyd
Harold “Hal” W. Fuson Jr. ’67
Ronald T. Gault ’62, Life Trustee
Charles E. Gottdiener ’86
Atul Gupta ’88
I. Craig Henderson ’63 and D.Sc. ’94
Steve Holtze ’68
Kihwan Kim ’57 and D.H.L. ’00, Life Trustee
Clinton D. Korver ’89
Sylvia Kwan
Ron Lavender ’50
Todd C. Linden, Life Trustee
Caroline H. Little ’81, Life Trustee
James A. Lowry ’61 and LL.D. ’08, Life Trustee
Paul A. McCulley ’79
Susan Holden McCurry ’71
Frederick L. “Fritz” Maytag III
Randall C. Morgan Jr. ’65 and D.Sc. ’92, Life Trustee
Stephen G. Moyer ’79
Robert C. Musser ’62, Life Trustee
Patricia Meyer Papper ’50, Life Trustee
John Roy Price Jr. ’60, Life Trustee
Marian Friend Pritzker ’45
Ronald B.H. Sandler ’62, Life Trustee
Penny Bender Sebring ’64 and LL.D. ’15, Life Trustee
M. Anne Campbell Spence ’66 and D.Sc. ’99
Barrett W. Thomas ’97
Kenneth J. Thompson
Lawrence W. Towner
David P. White ’90, Life Trustee
Henry T. Wingate ’69 and LL.D. ’86, Life Trustee

Learn more about our retired and life trustees.

Delegates

1636 Harvard University: Qiaomei Tang; Alum
1701 Yale University: Mariko Schmmel; Alum
1740 University of Pennsylvania: Carolyn Jacobson; Alum
1783 Dickinson College: Edward Phillips; Alum
1824 Kenyon College: David Lopatto; Alum
1832 Wabash College: Gregory Redding; Dean of Students
1833 Oberlin College: Amy Kalkbrenner; Alum
1833 Haverford College: Benjamin Le; Associate Provost for Faculty Development and Professor of Psychology
1833 Kalamazoo College: Karen Lowell; Alum
1837 DePauw University: Rebecca Schindler; Edwin L. Minar Professor of Classical Studies and Director of the Honor Scholar Program
1837 Knox College: James F. Ramsey; Alum
1839 Loras College: Scott McClure; Vice President for Institutional Advancement
1847 Lawrence University: Richard and Susan Ramsey; Alumni
1851 Coe College: Kimberly Lanegran; Joan and Abbott Lipsky Professor of Political Science
1852 Wartburg College: Darrel Colson; President
1853 Cornell College: Craig Allin ’68; Professor Emeritus of Politics, Public Policy, and Constitutional Law
1855 Bates College: Tina Iyer Elfenbein; Alum
1855 Berea College: Joseph Bagnoli; Alum
1860 Augustana College: Elizabeth Lawrence; Assistant Professor of History
1861 Vassar College: Leslie A. Gregg-Jolly; Alum
1874 St. Olaf College: John Rommereim; Alum
1881 Drake University: John Smith; Vice President of University Advancement
1885 Bryn Mawr College: Tamara Beauboeuf; Alum
1887 Pomona College: Vince Eckhart; Alum
1889 Agnes Scott College: Donna Sadler; Professor Emerita, Art History
1928 Mount Mercy University: Todd Olson; President

Alumni Council

Lester A. Alemán ’07, President
Robert M. Gehorsam ’76, President-Elect
G. Christopher Meyer ’70, Past-President

Edmund E. Atkins ’66
Claudia J. Beckwith ’77
Ann Poor Cary ’81
Kelly E. Clements Hopfer ’96
Deborah B. Feir ’68
Kate Goddard ’91
Deborah I. Gottschalk ’90
Graciela G. Guzmán ’11
Phillip G. Hales ’02
Andrea J. Jackson ’95
Bernard Jackson Jr. ’86
David S. Jarvis ’04
Anton C. Jones ’02
Jake M. Joseph ’11
Eric B. Mistry ’14
Rebecca Reetz Neal ’65
Robert A. Ruhl ’76
Scott D. Shepherd ’82
Thomas J. Triplett ’69
Benjamin E. Vaughn Jr. ’15
Dawn Helsing Wolters ’87

Music

Brass Quintet

Craig Swartz, trumpet
Andrew Bishop, trumpet
Guinevere Wallace, horn
Nathan Dishman, trombone
Michael Short, tuba

The 51��app Singers

John Rommereim, Conductor, Blanche Johnson Professor of Music
Marlys Grimm, Collaborative Pianist

Soprano

Josie Bleess ’25
Maren Cooper ’22
Mia Eierman ’24
Katherine Goodall ’23
Anna Inghram ’24
Yurie Okumura ’25
Maren Ronald ’24
Aleesha Shi ’22
Madeline Thompson ’24
Kana Tsuruta ’25
Anna Wilson ’23

Alto

Rebecca Bozzo ’24
Adah Lange Bryan ’25
Olivia Carr ’23
Maia DeGrazia ’24
Finn Dierks-Brown ’24
James Hidlebaugh ’22
Eva Hill ’22
Zoe Tate Knoernschild ’24
Ariel Richards ’23
Dolché Sanders ’23
Moraine Shore ’23
Isabella Steward ’25
Haruna Suzuki ’23

Tenor

Maia Battis-Wyatt ’23
Ben Curran ’25
Aidan Danbury ’22
Lukas Bruihler ’23
Jacob Johnson ’23
That “Phukao” Prommolmard ’25
Elliot Swaim ’25
Han Xie ’25

Bass

Evan Albaugh ’25
Marty Allen ’24
Rexford Essilfie ’22
David Gilbert ’22
Will Green ’24
Beau Leavenworth ’25
Mushadda Morocco ’24
Minh Nguyen ’25
David Rothfusz ’23
Sam Sirna ’25
Zach Spindler-Krage ’25
Joshua Turner ’22
Phillip Tyne ’24
Oliver Wolfe ’25

Presidential Search Committee

Trish Fitzgibbons Anderson ’80, Co-chair
George Moose ’66, Co-chair

Trustee Members

Shelley Floyd ’72
Julie Gosselink
John Kispert ’85
Jeanne Myerson ’75
W. Edward Senn ’79
Joel R. Spiegel ’78
Matthew E. Welch ’96

Faculty Members

Todd Armstrong
Caleb Elfenbein
Karla Erickson
Lakesia Johnson
Vida Praitis

Staff Member

Erika Jack

Student Member

Regina Logan ’20

Alumni Member

Ryann Haines Cheung ’93

Inauguration Steering Committee

Julie Gosselink, Co-chair
Keith Jantzen ’80, Co-chair

Committee Members

Lester Alemán ’07
Delphina and Scott Baumann
Rachel Bly ’93
Jayn Bailey Chaney ’05
Monica Chavez-Silva
Nameera Muhammad Dawood ’23
Jay Dick ’93
Randye Jones
Tess Kulstad
Kim Kuncl ’87
Regina Logan ’20
Peter-Michael Osera
Mary Knuth Otto ’63
Jim Powers
John Rommereim
Janet and Kevin Stutz
Connie Wimer

Sub-committee Members

Chris Bair ’96
Meg Jones Bair
Jeff Blanchard
Mike Burt
Heather Cox
Karen Dillon
Sarah Gearhart-Anderson
John Hammond
Britta Meints
Jeanette Moser
Nino Parker ’07
Jim Swartz
Scott Turley
Jenelle Veit
Cassie Wherry
Rick Whitney
Tilly Woodward

51��app

Founded in 1846, 51��app College is a private, coed, residential liberal arts and sciences college in 51��app, Iowa. Around 9,000 people live in our town. About 1,700 students attend the College. We call ourselves 51��appians. We’re committed to contributing to the common good, and we’re consistently ranked among the nation’s best liberal arts colleges.

Learn more about us
The President’s Medallion

When participating in official occasions, the president of 51��app College wears full academic regalia, which includes the President’s Medallion as the visible symbol of office.

A gift from Harold G. Horn ’33 and Dorothy Salisbury Horn ’34, the medallion was first presented at a special convocation in February 1967, when Robert N. Noyce ’49, chair of the board of trustees, invested Glenn Leggett, the eighth president of the College, with the new symbol of office.

The design of the medallion and the heavy chain that surrounds it blend traditional and contemporary elements that reflect 51��app’s long tradition of excellence and its continuing service on behalf of contemporary educational and social needs. Central to the design is the seal of the College, which is appropriately surrounded by a laurel wreath, the traditional symbol of excellence. The medallion and chain are made primarily of sterling silver, with yellow gold as a complement.

The late Louis Glenn Zirkle, a distinguished American artist and 51��app College professor of art, designed and crafted the President’s Medallion.
The Iowa Band Cane

Carried by the College Marshal in the academic procession, the Iowa Band Cane has a silver head and a silver scroll attached a few inches below the head. The cane honors the Iowa Band, 11 Congregational ministers, all 1843 graduates of Andover Theological Seminary, who came to Iowa with a special purpose: “Each to found a church and all a college.”

The ministers saw the latter part of their intention fulfilled with the founding of Iowa College (now 51��app) in June 1846. The members of the Iowa Band were: Ephraim Adams, Harvey Adams, Ebenezer Alden Jr., James Jeremiah Hill, Horace Hutchinson, Daniel Lane, Eratus Ripley, Alden Burrill Robbins, Williams Salter, Benjamin Adams Spaulding, and Edwin Bela Turner.

Benjamin Spaulding originally owned the cane, which was presented to him as a gift in 1864 by Dr. James Taylor of Ottumwa, Iowa. Spaulding had the idea that the eldest member of the Band should keep the cane until he died, and it would then pass to the next eldest member, and so on. When the cane was given to Spaulding, six of the original members survived. Their names (Spaulding, Lane, H. Adams, E. Adams, Robbins, and Salter) are inscribed on the cane. When Salter died in 1910, the cane was given to the College. The cane used today is a recreation of the original Iowa Band Cane.
Academic Regalia

The custom of wearing a distinctive dress for academic ceremonies dates to the Middle Ages. Academic dress worn at commencements and other college and university ceremonial occasions lends dignity and color and reveals academic achievements through the style of gowns and hoods, and their varying colors.

Based on the costumes worn at universities in the 14th and 15th centuries — especially at Oxford and Cambridge in England — today’s academic dress is essentially the same as that standardized in the United States by the Intercollegiate Code adopted in 1895. It includes the familiar square mortarboard cap with a tassel that may be black, gold, or an appropriate color, such as pink for a degree in music.

Read more about academic regalia.
Past Presidents
President Harris joins a distinguished line of past 51��app College presidents, including our most recent, Dr. Raynard S. Kington.
- George Frederic Magoun, 1865–84
- George Augustus Gates, 1887–1900
- Dan Freeman Bradley, 1902–05
- John H.T. Main, 1906–31
- John Scholte Nollen, 1931–40
- Samuel Nowell Stevens, 1940–54
- Howard Rothmann Bowen, 1955–64
- Glenn Leggett, 1965–75
- A. Richard Turner, 1975–79
- George A. Drake ’56, 1979–91
- Pamela A. Ferguson, 1991–97
- Russell K. Osgood, 1998–2010
- Raynard S. Kington, 2010–20
Learn more about our past presidents
Traditions

With more than 175 years of tradition, 51��app has a legacy worthy of its past, future, and current community. From its abolitionist roots to the incubation of the Social Gospel movement, 51��app has a deeply meaningful history and a legacy of activism.

Learn about the College’s history

Meet a few of our notable alumni

Sing along with the 51��app Songbook

Personal Planning

Visitors are welcome on campus if masked.

51��app College welcomes the participation of people with disabilities. Accommodation requests may be made to Conference Operations and Events, and accessible parking and facilities are indicated on the campus map.

Local Facilities

Downtown 51��app is relatively flat and conducive to walking, as well as close to campus.

Local restaurants
Local hotels and lodging
of arts, outdoor activities, and more

Blocks of rooms are being held under “51��app College Inauguration” as follow:

Check-in: Friday, May 6
Check-out: Sunday, May 8

Best Western Pioneer Inn & Suites — 15 rooms reserved; 641-236-6116
- Will be released on April 22
Comfort Inn & Suites — 25 rooms reserved; 641-236-5236
- Will be released on April 6
Country Inn & Suites – 24 rooms reserved; 641-236-9600
- Will be released on April 6

Travel

51��app College’s location in central Iowa makes it an easy drive from any major metropolis in the Midwest. Visitor parking is available on and around campus.

Campus map and directions

For media inquiries, please contact Mattia Wells, senior content strategist—media relations.

51��app

The Inauguration of Anne F. Harris

Congratulations, President Harris!

Anne F. Harris

Prairie Planting on North Campus

Inauguration Celebration Concert

Community Art Project