Next Friday, Syracuse University will experience a landmark chain of events which will also give students a valid reason not to attend class.

In celebration of Nancy Cantor’s inauguration as the university’s 11th chancellor, a ceremony will be held in the Carrier Dome Friday morning. To commemorate the event, construction of a wall in her honor has already begun.

‘The plan all along was a celebration of Syracuse University and its relationships with other schools, intellectuals and the community,’ said the Rev. Thomas Wolfe, dean of Hendricks Chapel and a member of the inaugural committee. ‘It’s exploring the essence of what the university has come to be, as well as imagining its future.’

About 100 delegates from other schools and colleges across the nation will be attending the ceremony, which will include an address by Cantor, followed by lunch on the turf.

‘Nearly 400 members of the faculty will be processing, which is a record number,’ said Wolfe.

Other events following the morning address will incorporate an afternoon symposium about racism and genocide at the Schine Student Center, along with a ‘street fair’ in the Dome highlighting presentations given by student groups. Alumni speakers, as well as lecturers from SU and other schools, will facilitate discussion based around Cantor’s inaugural theme, ‘Exploring the Soul of Syracuse.’

According to William Ritchie, a professor of linguistics at SU, the discussions will be different from when the university’s 10th chancellor, Kenneth ‘Buzz’ Shaw, was inaugurated.

‘Shaw gave a speech to give the university direction, and that was held at Manley,’ he said. ‘This time they’re making it into a considerably larger thing.’

Both Ritchie and Wolfe agreed the inclusion of the community in the event was an important addition to the chancellor’s inauguration.

‘Participants in the community will take part (in the celebration),’ said Wolfe. ‘We hope to get lots of (them) to attend.’

Wolfe acknowledged that although classes will not be suspended for the celebration, the university is encouraging professors and TAs to bring their students to the morning ceremony and address in the Dome.

‘There was a conscious decision not to cancel class,’ he said. ‘Some professors are offering it as extra credit to students who attend the inauguration, and others are bringing their classes even if they aren’t meeting during that time.’

Another aspect of the event features exhibitions by artists known throughout the nation and the world, including 1949 SU alumnus Sol LeWitt, who submitted the designs for a wall in honor of Cantor’s inauguration, which is currently being built in front of Crouse College.

The project, which will consist of six individual walls curving around each other, will extend 140 feet across the hill in front of Crouse College, with each wall standing 12 feet high.

‘The wall is made of cinder blocks. Cinder blocks are a ubiquitous material you can find all over the world,’ said Jeff Hoone, director of Light Work, a nonprofit organization run by artists on campus. ‘LeWitt sees it as using common materials to make something heroic out of something simple.’

The wall, which has no formal title as of yet, will have a name by the inaugural celebration next week, Hoone said.

 

Published on October 28, 2004 at 12:00 pm