Medaille College News

The text of Dr. Richard T. Jurasek’s Inauguration Address from April 5, 2008 is available, along with links to video clips and pictures from the event, at the Inauguration web site.

“A year ago, I was an aspirant for this job. A year ago in that chain of introductions and interviews and presentations, I was asked with laser insistence about my ideas, about what I was thinking, about my record, about my philosophy, my values, the facts. That is how it should be.

But there was little inquiry into how I was feeling. My sentiments at the moment. How I was processing things. How I was responding in my heart was surely not appropriate during a search when the employer is trying to objectively choose the best candidate for the job. That is how it should be.

But things are a bit different now one year later. I am allowed to have more contour, more complexity in that human sense. And these past few weeks, increasing numbers of well-meaning insiders (including my family) and outsiders have been asking how things are, how it feels to be so near the inauguration, what I feel about the College, about my experiences. What does it feel like, you are asking.

My response? I am experiencing, deeply, a wide range of complex emotions. Sometimes contradictory. I find that I am intellectually alive as never before. And I find that I am emotionally alive as never before.

Since you asked, I will talk about my work, your College, our College, about myself – all interrelated – in terms of four sentiments: gratitude, pride, humility, ambition. More »

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