Newswise — Lynn Pasquerella been on the job since July 1 and has already become a familiar figure on campus, but Mount Holyoke will officially welcome and inaugurate her as its 18th president Friday, September 24.
The event is part of a three-day inaugural celebration from Thursday through Saturday, September 23-25. The inaugural ceremony will be held September 24 at 2 p.m. in MHC's Gettell Amphitheater (or, in case of rain, Kendall Field House). Students, alumnae, faculty, and staff, along with scholars and dignitaries from throughout the United States, are expected to attend. The ceremony will be simulcast on campus in Hooker Auditorium and Blanchard Campus Center to accommodate overflow audience, and there will be a live Webcast for those who cannot attend. (See http://www.mtholyoke.edu/inauguration/webcast.html)
The theme of the inaugural celebration – The Promise of Women’s Leadership: Uncommon Women for the Common Good – highlights Pasquerella’s uncompromising career as an advocate for women worldwide, as well as Mount Holyoke’s distinctive tradition of educating women who excel and contribute to the greater good. Highlights of the three-day celebration included a scholarly panel discussion on Women's Leadership and Social Justice on Thursday evening, September 23. The symposium featured several noted scholars: internationally recognized philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah; legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon; Joia Mukherjee of Partners in Health; and Kavita Ramdas '85, recent president and CEO of the Global Fund for Women.
Following Friday's inaugural ceremony, there will be a public reception on the Abbey Chapel lawn from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and a fireworks display over Lower Lake at 7:30 p.m.
The first member of her family to graduate from college, Pasquerella is a celebrated philosopher and medical ethicist who grew up in Connecticut and attended Quinebaug Valley Community College. In 1978 she transferred to Mount Holyoke College; she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from in 1980. Encouraged by her Mount Holyoke professors to pursue graduate study, she received a full fellowship to Brown University, where she earned a Ph.D. in philosophy.
From 1985 to 2008, Pasquerella taught philosophy at the University of Rhode Island. In 2004, she became associate dean of URI’s graduate school and, in 2006, was named vice provost for research and dean of the graduate school. In 2008, she joined the University of Hartford as provost and chief academic officer.
The College will be "live-tweeting" the event on Twitter at @mtholyoke.Additional information regarding inauguration is posted on the College's Web site: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/inauguration/
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