Story by Jake Weber; photos by Dave Trumpie

Note: Those who wish to share thoughts about Dr. Randall's inauguration are invited to do so using the comments feature at the end of this story.

"What knowledge and skills will future employers require of our students?" asked Albion College's president Donna Randall during her inauguration address. "More importantly, what knowledge and skills will society require of future citizens? Such questions are fundamental to our thinking as we envision an Albion education in the next decade and beyond."

A thousand well-wishers from across the country and across the campus gathered in Albion on Friday, April 18, to celebrate the inauguration of Albion College's fifteenth president, Donna Randall. Now near the end of her successful first year, Randall focused her inauguration not on the presidency, but on the College, with student and faculty presentations and performance during the day and within the ceremony itself.

"Selecting a focus for my remarks was easy," Randall noted, in beginning her inaugural address. "At the international, national, state, and local levels, one metaphor prevails: we are at a crossroads."

Randall noted that these "crossroads," marking shifts in the global economy and climate, presidential politics and Michigan's labor and education trends, have enormous impact on the future of Albion's students. "Our students will graduate and apply for jobs that do not even exist at present," she explained. "We need to prepare our students for an unforeseen world. We must anticipate the future and prepare students to become active participants and leaders in that future."

Randall accepted the College medallion from Board of Trustees chair Rich Baird, '78, while daughter Kate looked on. "Albion College was begun 173 years ago as a dream to bring education into what was then a wilderness. You need only to look around you to see how that dream has taken shape and flourished over the course of many generations," commented Baird. "We all look forward to working alongside you as you lead Albion to a new level of distinction."

A key component to her leadership of Albion's change, Randall noted, is what she calls the “essence of Albion," an understanding that Albion's influence on its students extends for decades beyond their years on campus.

This "essence," she stressed, is a key inspiration in directing the College's current strategic plan "to prepare our students for an unpredictable future in a dynamic world," she said. "Through an integrated and intentional liberal arts education, our students will develop a knowledge and skill base that will allow them to be architects for societal change, to become global citizens, and to serve in leadership roles throughout their lives."

"We are fully aware of the responsibility entrusted to us by past generations of Britons," she concluded, "and we will do our utmost to merit that trust and to fulfill those expectations …. I deeply believe in Albion and the power and potential of a liberal arts education to guide us into the future."

The Briton Singers were one of several student ensembles and soloists to perform during the inauguration collage concert. 31 delegates from Massachusetts to Texas gathered with the Albion community to witness Randall's inauguration. Students were an integral part of the inauguration festivities. Six students including Meagan Bosket, '09, presented research during the day and more than 100 performed music and theatre pieces during the collage concert. Randall with family members.

"Use the amazing array of skills and your distinctive sensibility to provide the leadership to Albion that you did to Hartford," said Walter Harrison (above with Randall), president of the University of Hartford, where Randall served as provost prior to coming to Albion. Harrison offered the charge to Randall. A lively crowd enjoyed the post-inaugural festivities. Albion College music professor Andrew Bishop was one of four faculty members who offered special afternoon seminars to visitors and the campus community. Bishop also composed “Jubilant Symmetries,” a wind fanfare, for the occasion. Ashley Larimer, '08, accompanied by music professor David Abbott, performed during the collage concert.

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