In a morning of pomp and circumstance mixed with the personal and profound, Carroll University officially installed Dr. Cindy Gnadinger as the 15th and first woman president in its 172-year history on Friday, March 16, 2018.
Dr. Gnadinger began working as president in July, 2017, following a nationwide search. The inauguration ceremony was the formal occasion in which various members of the Carroll community joined with the greater community of academia to issue a welcome and call to service to Dr. Gnadinger. A number of representatives of other higher educational institutions attended.
Among those on hand and addressing those assembled was Dr. Rolf Wegenke, president of the Wisconsin Associate of Independent Colleges and Universities, who reminded Dr. Gnadinger that a pioneer, by definition, is both creator and collaborator. The Rev. Dr. Deborah Block, a Carroll trustee and alumna of the university, also spoke, and noted that the inauguration was a fitting way to mark Women’s History Month.
The ceremony marked the conclusion of a week-long series of events celebrating Dr. Gnadinger’s inauguration. Events during the week leading up to the ceremony included a speech by Mr. Theo Wilson, an award-winning poet and activist, who discussed what he learned going undercover in the Alt-Right, his experience as a police brutality survivor, and what it looks like to embrace our history and move forward.
Other events through the week engaged various members of the Carroll community–students, faculty and staff, alumni/ae, and the greater Waukesha community. Following the inauguration, faculty, staff, alumni/ae, and students spent a week volunteering at a local Habitat for Humanity building
project.