Tradition and vision shared center stage on Kaufman Mall Oct. 11 at the inauguration ceremony of Roseann Runte. Along with the pomp and circumstance of installing Old Dominion's seventh president, which included the investiture by Lt. Gov. John H. Hager and a presentation of the University Medal to Runte by former presidents James Bugg and Al Rollins, there was a break with tradition by having the ceremony include the awarding of honorary degrees.

Two of the honorary doctorates went to Old Dominion alumni Richard Ellenberger '75, president of Broadwing Inc., and astronaut Michael Bloomfield (M.E.M. '93), who also served as guest speaker for the Founders' Day dinner that evening.

More than 1,500 members of the university community and friends of Old Dominion, including faculty dressed in full academic regalia, gathered on Kaufman Mall for the inauguration ceremony, the highlight of a weeklong series of events that carried the theme "Portal to New Worlds."

"Together we have all established a vision for Old Dominion University," Runte said, speaking to the campus community. "You are my vision. Each one of you is an important part of this university and its future."

Runte announced a number of initiatives, citing first the need to increase scholarship support for both graduate and undergraduate students. She drew a big round of applause when she stated her pledge to contribute $20,000 to the university scholarship endowment each year of her presidency.

Other initiatives included the creation of the Presidential Global Scholarship Program, which will offer a four-year set of experiences designed to help students understand global issues and build global competence.

Runte also talked about a symbolic project that will result eventually in the creation of a new sculpture for the campus. She invited members of the university community to bring spare coins they have collected from their travels around the world to a large box in Webb Center. Once the box is filled, a sculpture will be designed and cast from the coins.

"It will represent international understanding and remain an inspiration for us all as we endeavor to achieve this global agenda," she said.

Runte's inauguration, which had been in the planning stages since July, came exactly one month after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. In her speech, she acknowledged, "We are united in a time of sorrow when we still mourn those who lost their lives in last month's tragedy, especially those members of this university community. It is a time of uncertainty as we wait with our many military students and their families to know if they will be called to duty."

While noting that, "In this troubled world, it might seem frivolous to speak of education and selfish to celebrate the work of a single institution," Runte went on to quote English author G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936), who said that education is the "soul of society which is passed from one generation to the next."

Runte added, "The greatest positive changes in the world have occurred as expressions of human will, not by the force of arms, but by the force of words."

Roseann Runte is not the first president of Old Dominion to have a background in the humanities - Bugg and Rollins started out as professors of history - but she is the first university administrator who is also a poet, which she addressed in her remarks:

"If anyone thinks that being led by a poet means that will and power will be submissive or weak, then he has forgotten Elizabeth Sargent's definition of verse: "Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat."

Runte pledged continued service to Hampton Roads, but let it be known that progress will require help. "As we work to support the population of this region, we will need a financial investment from the government of the commonwealth of Virginia and the assistance of the community so that, together, we can achieve [our] ambitious goals."

She concluded her remarks by referencing the Inauguration Week theme.

"Let us move together through new portals to new dominions: new dominions of the mind and spirit, new dominions of strength and leadership. Let us bring new worlds to the Old Dominion and make Old Dominion the portal to the world for the community of Hampton Roads and the commonwealth of Virginia."