New College to Host Presidential Inauguration

For the first time in 46 years New College of Florida is conducting a formal presidential inauguration as it celebrates the appointment of Dr. Donal O’Shea as its fifth president.  

Friday's inauguration ceremony begins with the pageantry of a formal procession, with more than 150 New College professors and delegates from universities including Oxford, Harvard, Yale and Princeton, all in colorful academic regalia.

The ceremony features prominent speakers from government and education:

• Jennifer Carroll, lieutenant  governor of the state of Florida;
• William R. Johnston, chair of the New College of Florida Board of Trustees;
• Frank T. Brogan, chancellor of the State University System of Florida;
• Joanne Creighton, interim president, Haverford College; former president, Mount Holyoke College.

The ceremony continues with the presentation of the Symbols of Office, including the historic Presidential Medallion given to President John G. Elmendorf at his inauguration in 1967.

Following the presentation President O’Shea will deliver his inaugural address.

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Before coming to New College, O’Shea was the dean of faculty and vice president for academic affairs at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. where he joined the faculty in 1980.

An internationally acclaimed mathematician, O’Shea earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Harvard and then attended Queen’s University in his native Canada where he earned master’s and doctoral degrees, also in mathematics.

His inauguration ceremony will include performances by Acappelago, the New College student a cappella group, and the Riverview High School Kiltie Band Bagpipers. A post-inauguration reception will also feature the Kiltie Band and New College’s New Cats jazz group.

Inauguration weekend activities continue Feb. 16 with an academic showcase on the international impact of the liberal arts, with college presidents and New College alumni from around the globe. There also will be panel discussions on the New College education, with alumni including William Dudley, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

An elegant, black-tie Inaugural Ball on the New College bayfront will close the festivities on Saturday evening.

All events, with the exception of the Inaugural Ball, are free and open to the public.