After receiving the presidential medallion during investiture ceremonies, President Ann M. Svennungsen receives a standing ovation. ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, who officiated at the ceremony, is at the podium, and to the president’s left are her husband, Dr. Bill Russell, and children John Russell, Mary Russell, Sarah Russell, and Dan Karlgaard, Sarah’s fiancé.

Svennungsen Inauguration
The sun was shining, the choirs were singing, bands played, and a vintage airplane flew overhead to honor Texas Lutheran University President Ann M. Svennungsen’s inauguration day Feb. 1.

While the crowd at Jackson Auditorium was joined by alumni and friends far and wide via a webcast of the ceremony, Seguin Mayor Betty Ann Matthies proclaimed it “President Ann Svennungsen Day.”

It was all part of the joyous three-day event to commemorate the inauguration of Texas Lutheran University’s 14th president.

“The weekend is truly a celebration of the richness of the liberal arts- with music and art, worship, lectures, service projects, feasting, and fun. And the weather, stunning.”

The inaugural events kicked off on Jan. 31 with a special reception and art exhibit of images and text created by Kristi Ylvisaker, a painter from Norway, and her sister Mary Ylvisaker Nilsen, a writer from Iowa.

Lecture
Ray Suarez, senior Washington correspondent for PBS’s “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer” and former host of “Talk of the Nation” on National Public Radio, presented the Inaugural Lecture. Suarez addressed urbanization, connectivity, and social dynamics, and the role that higher education plays in addressing these issues and preparing students to live in a diverse and rapidly-changing world.

His lecture was based on his book, The Old Neighborhood: What We Lost in the Great Suburban Migration.

On Friday morning, Feb. 1, the TLU Women’s Choir sang, and The Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, preached to an overflow crowd of students, faculty, friends and alumni during a special chapel service.

That afternoon, over 180 people – delegates from other institutions of higher learning, the church, faculty, student government, and the TLU Board of Regents – processed to Jackson Auditorium in colorful academic regalia for the inauguration ceremony.

Inauguration ceremony

TLU Regent Susan Giesecke ’60 shakes hands with author and PBS senior correspondent Ray Suarez following his lecture at Jackson Auditorium.

The ceremony included the world premiere  of a hymn by Susan Palo Cherwien and René Clausen, commissioned especially for the inauguration, and special greetings from U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar, Mayor Matthies, Bishop Hanson, Nobel Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug, and TLU Regent and alumnus Mike Washington ’77. Following the investiture by Bishop Hanson and the presentation of the presidential medallion by Regent Chair Karen Norman, President Svennungsen presented her inaugural address (available at www.tlu.edu/inauguration_media ).

Following the ceremony, a one-of-a-kind vintage airplane from World War II flew over the campus. The NA-50, a rare variant of a T-6 Texan, is the only remaining aircraft of its kind. The flyover was arranged and guided by TLU Regent John M. Agather.

The Inaugural Reception in Hein Dining Hall celebrated TLU and President Svennungsen’s ethnic heritages through food from various countries and music by Mariachi Galas de Oro, the German band Fritz und Freunde, the Agape Gospel Choir, and the TLU Mexican Folkdance Group.

Throughout the day, student athletes from every sport served as official greeters – welcoming delegates and guests as they entered the various buildings. Even Lucky the Bulldog made an appearance. The day ended with the Inaugural Coffeehouse, where students presented a gift basket in honor of “President Cinn-a-Bun” and serenaded her with the premiere of “We’re in this Together.”

Day of the Dogs
Over 300 students, along with faculty, staff and alumni, took part in the communitywide service project on Feb. 2.

TLU students Eralyn Hall, Sarah Saatzer, Allison Rodriguez, and Jennifer Hahn join Patt Linden ’60 as they pick up trash, trim branches, and clear underbrush at Seguin’s Memorial Rose Garden. More than 300 TLU students got up early on Feb. 2 to work at 15 sites for the community-wide service project honoring President Ann Svennungsen’s inauguration. Dr. Linden chaired the community-wide service event, Day of the Dogs.

President Svennungsen noted that the number of volunteers exceeded the planning committee’s expectations and that more community service jobs were added.

“It was the best-organized and most effective service project event I have ever seen. And, what goodwill was experienced between TLU and the city we call home! I am so proud of our students – their outpouring of love and hard work,” she said.

The volunteers spread out through the entire city, working at 15 different sites – providing a variety of services from cleaning debris and dead tree limbs out of Walnut Creek to dusting and organizing negatives and artifacts at the Heritage Museum.

Student athletic trainers prepared city baseball fields for youth spring leagues, and dramatic media students helped demolish an old stage at the Texas Theater in preparation for an expansion and renovation of the historic building.

Members of the football team removed an old playground at the Seguin Youth Activities Center, and students, alumni and staff created an Inaugural Grove by planting trees on campus between Hein Dining Hall and Jackson Auditorium.

President Svennungsen visited each of the 15 service project sites during the day, often lending a hand and offering a word of encouragement. She has announced that the Day of the Dogs will become an annual community service event the first Saturday in February.

“It’s the students who asked to make this an annual event,” said President Svennungsen. “Standing alongside such committed students was the perfect way to end one of the best weekend’s of my life,” she said. “Students are the focus. There’s nothing better than greeting our students on the sidewalk, in chapel, at concerts and games, lectures and campus events. That’s what it’s about – teaching and mentoring the next generation of what we call servant leaders. To be a part of such work is an incredible privilege.”