After the installation ceremony, which was held in the college chapel, there was a reception in the Halleck Center ballroom. Outside were a bunch of formal looking certificates--they looked like the degree certificates people get when they graduate from college. A closer look showed that they were very fancy congratulation cards from other colleges. As I said, colleges like pomp and circumstance.
After shaking hands with the new president and his wife Patti, the guests were treated to a wonderfully arranged display of various things to eat. The Sodexho people who run the food service at SJC really know how to make these events look nice.
They even had unlimited desserts. I survived them.
Among the many jobs that I would not want is the job of college president. Colleges are facing serious challenges in the next decade or two as new ways of storing and retrieving information continue to develop. The Internet and the other revolutions in information technology are forcing colleges to change, and it is not clear yet which changes will work and which ones will not. However, a job even worse than college president would be editor of a newspaper. How many newspapers will still be around in ten years?Update: For more pictures, go here.
Update II: The SJC press release is here.
2 comments:
my mom was in attendance at this ceremony today. i heard there was quite a spread, so your pictures did not surprise me.
i rolled into rensselaer shortly before mom returned from the reception. i thought we'd be departing for MN and stopping overnight somewhere. i was wrong. mom is staying to play bridge tonight so we're not leaving until the morning, after making a cameo at the farmer's market. since i was up at 5 a.m. CDT this morning, i don't think we'll have any problem making a 7:30 a.m. cameo at the market before departure. unlike mom, i have a job to return to on monday, i'd like to get home sooner rather than later.
since i'm on my own tonight, my options were falling asleep during a movie, watching a high school football game (where it'd be possible one of my classmates of 30 years ago would be) or catching up on e-mail. guess what i chose.
i did walk around downtown briefly. a few things triggered memories of what use to be. i remember the downtown schultz store and read more most distinctly. i remembered the police station was a small building near the movie theater, and was surprised to see it's still in that location.
as i recall, the movie theater had closed for a period, but it's nice to see that they're making a go of it. that bar/restaurant next to the theater was rather busy.
it was getting dark, so i didn't walk to brookside or down to our house on jefferson street. there are plenty of things i don't remember, but plenty of buildings and places that still bring back memories.
and i'm highly doubtful that i'll a journalist in five years. there will always be newspapers, i am convinced, but the dead tree industry will look dramatically different in five years.
I am not sure about newspapers...you may put ours out of business! I know quite a few people who get their local news from you!
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