Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
September 28, 2001

Campus invited to installation, celebrations

by Anne Krapfl
Iowa State's 14th president, Gregory Geoffroy, will be officially installed to the post during activities Oct. 5-6. The university community is invited to three public events to celebrate the occasion.

The installation ceremony begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, at C.Y. Stephens Auditorium.Tickets are not required. WOI Radio producer Hollis Monroe will serve as master of ceremonies.

Following greetings from various campus constituencies and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, Geoffroy will be introduced to the Iowa State community by Graham Spanier, president of The Pennsylvania State University and Geoffroy's friend. Spanier received bachelor's (1969) and master's (1971) degrees in sociology from Iowa State.

Owen Newlin, president of the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, will install Geoffroy as president, and Geoffroy will offer a convocation address.

The ceremony will feature several musical performances, including a solo by international opera star and ISU artist-in-residence Simon Estes. The ISU Wind Ensemble will perform "Dismantling the Silence," a piece commissioned by the university and written by Jonathan Saggau for this event. A 2001 graduate of Iowa State, Saggau currently is working on a master's degree in composition at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston. The title of Saggau's piece comes from a quote by Robert Oppenheimer during his work in the early 1940s on the first atomic bomb.

The installation ceremony will be followed by a public reception from 11 a.m. to noon in the Scheman building.

Geoffroy and his wife, Kathy, also will celebrate with the campus community during a picnic from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, south of the campanile. Barbeque sandwiches and ice cream will be served, with members of Iowa State's Block and Bridle Club staffing the grills. The ISU pep band will perform during the picnic. Geoffroy will speak briefly, and said he hopes for a chance to meet more students, staff members and faculty.

In case of rain, the picnic will be moved indoors to the Memorial Union Sun Room.