Inauguration Q&A: A Welcome Home Celebration

Congratulations Flames, you’ve made it through the first couple weeks of school! September is a busy month with Convocation and the Presidential Inauguration. You may be asking: “What is an inauguration?” “What will that look like at Lee?” or “What will happen to the class schedule during this event?” There’s no need to fret! The Clarion sat down with Vice President of Operations Josh York to help you understand what’s going on.

Q: What is a presidential inauguration and why is it an important tradition for our university?

A: Whenever you have a new president on campus, you want to officially welcome them and their family ... The way that you would inaugurate a president of the United States, is the same for our university. We’ve only had three [university presidents] in 39 years, so we’re very fortunate in our 108 year tradition at Lee to be inaugurating our 18th president, Dr Phil Cook. We’re thrilled to be able to do that and the way that the Lord has blessed the campus.

Q: What can students expect to see or experience with inauguration?

A: We have a series of events that are part of the inauguration schedule because we want to have an opportunity to interact with a lot of different people. The inauguration ceremony is going to be at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 19, but the inauguration events start the day before on Thursday.

Q: What will Thursday look like?

A: Thursday morning, we’re gonna have a special inauguration chapel service in the Conn Center. It will be open to all students, staff, and faculty – allowing them to get a sneak peek into the inauguration. The chapel service will feature a festival choir and orchestra, a processional, and special guest Dr. Mark Williams, who is the third assistant general overseer of the Church of God ... After this special chapel service, we’re going to push everybody out to a big party on the Ped Mall. The Ped Mall celebration is an opportunity for students to interact with Dr. and Mrs. Cook ... Afterwards, everyone is welcome to a special open house in the new Welcome Center. Lastly on Thursday night, we’ll have a VIP banquet to honor Dr. Cook and his family, friends and colleagues.

Q: What events will happen on Friday?

A: Friday morning will be the inauguration ceremony featuring the festival choir and orchestra, which is always a highlight for anybody who has seen or been a part of a celebration on campus ... There will be representatives from our faculty, our local government and our board of directors, who will all have a piece in welcoming Dr. Cook as he steps into this role. Then, we’ll hear the presidential address, which is a time for Dr. Cook to really share his heart and vision for the campus. We always love parties around here, so we’ll push out into the Ped Mall again to enjoy all of our guests and celebrate with one another, have some good food and enjoy the afternoon.

Q: What will classes look like Friday?

A: We’ll cancel classes during the 10:10 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. timeframe, so that all students can have the opportunity to participate in the inauguration and the reception. Classes in the morning that begin at 8 a.m. and 9:05 a.m. will still happen and classes will pick back up at 1:25 p.m. We’re hoping this class schedule allows students to engage with the inauguration ceremony, be out on the Ped Mall, enjoy some free food, and interact with our guests.

Q: What makes this inauguration special?

A: The thing that makes it the most special is that we’re welcoming Dr. Cook back. I don’t know what that looks like at a lot of other campuses or how common that is, but I know that we’re really excited to welcome back someone who’s one of our own. This is someone who knows who we are, experienced the campus for many years and has a lot of value to put into his experiences. He is bringing the external experience that he’s had over the past few years and really building off of that. While that’s not specific to the inauguration events itself, I do think it’s specific to inaugurating Dr. Cook. “Welcome Home” will be a theme for the Thursday celebration with our students on the Ped Mall. We want him to know that he was missed and we’re super excited that he’s back.

Q: What does student involvement look like at this event?

A: The festival choir and orchestra will be a mixture of all of the different ensembles on campus. Student athletes, clubs and organizations will all be asked to represent as well ... We want our guests to see a great representation of our campus. We’re so proud of the students, service organizations and musical talent at Lee that we certainly want them to be a part of it. Everybody will be involved! We want a full view of what our student body looks like. It’s unfortunate that we don’t have a space large enough to fit 4,000 people, so we’ll be very intentional to make sure that our students are well-repre- sented ... In a likeness to Celebration 2024, we will have a human wall following the inauguration showcasing our amazing, diverse student body.

Photo by Aubrianna Brown

Q: Lastly, what should students know about Dr. Cook?

A: He is and will be a student’s president; I’ve seen it firsthand. He loves to interact with students, so I would encourage them to take every opportunity they can to stop and say “hello” to him! He wants to know who you are. He wants to know your name. Dr. Cook wants to know where you’re from. He loves to know people’s stories. That’s not just because it feels like the right thing to do, but it’s really part of his heart and who he is as a man and a leader. I think that’s part of why we believe so strongly in his future success at Lee University ... It’s natural for some people to see somebody that’s in a position of authority and look the other way. This isn’t the guy to do that. This is the guy to run to and not away from, so I would certainly encourage students to do that. There will be a true relationship that comes out of it.