The swearing-in of President Michael Hogan as UConn's 14th president this weekend will be a mix of old and new traditions as the university seeks a more upbeat, student-involved inauguration.
"We tried to incorporate all the music performances and such," said Cara Workman, the director of university events. "The main thing the president wanted was a lot of student involvement."
With performances from several university music groups including the Pep Band, Wind Ensemble, Marching Band, Voices of Freedom Gospel Choir and Jazz Ensemble and a new student procession in the ceremony, students will be a major part of the inauguration ritual.
Hogan will be formally sworn in at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., according to the event Web site. The ceremony will open in the traditional fashion, with separate processions of faculty, visiting delegates and the platform party, but this time a procession of students will also march into the theater with Hogan. The student procession will lead the way, behind the university banner.
"It's not standard to have a student procession, so we're doing something special," Workman said.
Delegates and faculty will be dressed in full ceremonial regalia, and the students will be dressed in something representing their respective student organizations. Only one student representative from each campus organization is allowed to march in the procession.
"There are over 500 organizations on the Storrs campus, plus we invited organizations from each of the other campuses as well, so that would be a big number," Workman said.
In the ceremony, Gov. M. Jodi Rell will give a speech, as will representatives of the faculty and staff, alumni and students.
Ryan McHardy, an 8th-semester political science major and current USG president, will speak on behalf of the students. The chairman of the Board of Trustees, John Rowe, will also speak. He will do Hogan's official swearing-in. Hogan will also give an inaugural address.
There are no tickets for the ceremony, so seating is on a first-come first served basis.
The ceremony should finish around 4:30 p.m., around the same time the Inauguration festival in Fairfield Way will begin. The festival will feature a performance by the UConn Steel Drum Band, ice carvings of a husky dog and a caricature of Hogan, as well as carnival-type attractions such as balloon animals, magicians, stilt-walkers and cotton candy according to Workman.
A tent on Dow Field between the Homer Babbidge Library and the Hawley Armory will seat 700 people and host enough food to feed 4,000 people, according to Dennis Pierce, the director of dining services. He said the tent will feature barbecue-style food including hamburgers, chicken fillets, lamb skewers and smoked sausage. There will also be a cake in the shape of the Wilbur Cross building and dairy bar ice cream at the event.
Because of the festival, the only dining halls open for dinner Sunday night will be South, Gelfenbien Commons (Towers) and Northwest.
If weather is poor, all the dining halls on campus will be open and serving the event food, while the festival itself will be held in the Student Union food court.
Students can also watch Saturday night as fireworks light up the sky over Mirror Lake at 10:30 p.m. The fireworks are expected to last 15 minutes. During the fireworks, part of Mansfield Road and Route 195 will be blocked to traffic, said Steve Rhodes, executive assistant to the president. He added that all are welcome.
The Shippee patio is listed on the inauguration Web site as one of the best places from which to watch the fireworks, as is the Rome Ballroom, which will be occupied by the Inauguration gala semiformal dance from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. that night.
The gala will feature music from The Little Big Band and DJ Doug as well as snacks and mocktails, according to the inauguration Web site. Tickets are free and are available on a first-come first served basis at the Student Union Information Center. Students can reserve up to two tickets each.
Friday and Saturday night will feature the standard Late Night events from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. with an inauguration flavor. SUBOG will be offering "Hogan's Heroes" caricatures, commemorative inauguration passes, stuff-a-husky and cardboard cutout photos of President Hogan on Friday night and host a UConn trivia game show Saturday night for "Live at the U."
Earlier on Saturday evening, the Black Student Association will put on its annual fashion show at the Student Union Theater. The event starts at 6:30 p.m., though doors will open at 6 p.m. Tickets for the show are $5 for BSA members and $7 for non-members. An after-party in the Student Union Ballroom will cost $8 for BSA members and $10 for non-members, according to the inauguration Web site.
Events this weekend not geared toward students include a reception at the Hartford Club in Hartford tonight. The reception with Hogan, sponsored by the Alumni Association and the Greater Hartford Alumni chapter, will start with a cocktail hour at 5:30 p.m. and is free for all Alumni Association members.
Early Sunday afternoon, the visiting delegates, who number about 75, according to Rhodes, will have a special invitation-only lunch with Hogan at the Alumni Center before joining the processional into his inauguration.
Contact Aly Shea at
Alison.Shea@UConn.edu.
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