The Inauguration

On September 17, 2010, seats of Edman Chapel filled as Wheaton College celebrated the Inauguration of its eighth president, Dr. Philip Graham Ryken ’88. The pageantry of Wheaton’s event, in keeping with traditions from ages past, underscored the nobleness of the pursuit of knowledge and the grandeur of academia, as 122 delegates from institutions in the U.S. and overseas attended, plus a couple hundred Wheaton faculty. Students, staff, alumni, civic leaders, and many more filled the remaining seats. Others watched on cable TV and over the Internet.

Wheaton’s sixth president, Dr. J. Richard Chase, recognized the importance of such grand occasions. He once said, “Celebrations are important to academic life. They symbolize the opening and closing of periods of time and accomplishment, giving an occasion to restate goals and regain enthusiasm.” Though Dr. Chase entered the presence of our Lord just less than one month before this inauguration, no doubt he would have been overjoyed to sit on Edman’s stage with this new president, who was one of “his” students when he served in the presidency from 1982-1993. (Read more about Dr. Chase’s life on pages 26-28, 45 of this issue of Wheaton.)

Wheaton inaugurations seem all the more noteworthy since they are rare. The average presidential term for the 3,200 institutions of higher education in the U.S. is 8.5 years. The average term for Wheaton’s first seven presidents is 21.4 years. Granted, this statistic is skewed by Charles Blanchard’s term of 43 years, but not counting his term, the average is still 17.8 years.

College presidential inaugurations in many ways still resemble the medieval ceremonies from which they originated. Scores of people queue up outside the rear door of the great hall. Over their long, heavy gowns (that in the 13th century gave protection from the cold, dank hallways and sitting rooms of stone castles) are colorful, ornamented hoods. As these people gather into line, they stand in ranked order. The music begins, signaling the start of the procession. Stepping into the great hall, the line of individuals wends its way between the mass of spectators, at last filing into the empty front rows saved especially for them. And the ceremony begins.

An important aspect of Wheaton’s ceremony was the investiture, when the powers, privileges, and responsibilities of that office were bestowed on the new president. Dr. David Gieser ’71, chairman of Wheaton’s Board of Trustees, presented Dr. Ryken with a medallion,die cast in bronze and overlaid in oxidized sterling silver. At the center of the medallion is Wheaton’s motto Christo Et Regno Ejus, “For Christ and His Kingdom.” It is not simply a time-honored saying born in the mind of our founding president, Jonathan Blanchard. For 150 years, Wheaton’s “center” has remained the same.

President Ryken will wear this medallion at commencement and other formal academic functions of the College. It is the same medallion first worn by “his” president, Dr. J. Richard Chase, on the occasion of his inauguration, nearly three decades ago.

Georgia I. Douglass '70 M.A. '94

Editor

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