UMaine Presidential Installation Event Sept. 23

Sept. 14, 2005
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571

ORONO, Me. -- Robert A. Kennedy will be formally installed as the University of Maine's 18th president on Friday, Sept. 23. Members of the UMaine community are invited to attend the event, scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Maine Center for the Arts.

Kennedy, the former UMaine provost and executive vice president, served as UMaine's interim president from Aug. 15, 2004-April 15, 2005, when he was selected for the position following a national search. The Sept. 23 event is ceremonial in nature, and will include an installation address by Kennedy. Others offering remarks will include Charles L. Johnson III, chair of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees; Meredith Strang Burgess, chair of the UMaine Board of Visitors; UMaine Faculty Senate President Marie Hayes; and Julie-Ann Scott, president of the Association of Graduate Students, representing UMaine's student population. Robert Edwards, president emeritus of Bowdoin College and a member of the UMaine Board of Visitors, will be the featured speaker. Gov. John Baldacci will provide a videotaped greeting at the beginning of the event.

University of Maine System Chancellor Joseph Westphal will conduct the investiture ceremony itself.

UMaine Dean of Students Robert Dana, a 1980 UMaine graduate, will be the master of ceremonies. Following the installation, Kennedy will host a coffee bar reception in a tent located in the Maine Center for the Arts parking lot.

"It is a tremendous honor to be president of the University of Maine, especially at such an exciting time in the institution's history," Kennedy says. "I am grateful for the opportunity and I am looking forward to the installation and related events."

The ceremony will be relatively informal, and will not feature academic regalia. It will be preceded at 12:30 p.m. by an ice cream social, on the UMaine Mall, for students, faculty members and staff members.

The Sept. 23 event will be part of a series of activities marking the formal beginning of Kennedy's presidency. The Sept. 24 Maine Center for the Arts Installation Gala, featuring comic Bill Cosby, will bring hundreds of visitors to UMaine to enjoy the region's premier performing arts facility. Kennedy also plans to participate in as many scheduled student activities as possible during the preceding week, including film showings, music events and lectures. He will serve as grand marshal in the Saturday, Sept. 24 parade marking Old Town's Riverfest community celebration.

In keeping with UMaine's role as a statewide university, Kennedy will also attend a series of celebratory receptions around the state in late September and early October. Those invitation events will be in Belfast, Portland, Bangor and Presque Isle.

"UMaine owes much of its success to friends, alumni and others from all around Maine, and it is important to us that we show our sincere appreciation for that support," Kennedy says.

With the permission of supervisors, UMaine offices may close at 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 23 for employees to attend the installation, as well as the reception. Supervisors should make sure that signs are posted and that telephones are forwarded or have messages indicating when the office will re-open. Facilities used by the general public, such as Fogler Library, Memorial Union and Memorial Gym must remain open. Classes are not canceled, unless individual faculty members so choose.

Seating will be reserved for faculty members, until 2:50 p.m., when those seats will be opened to the general public.