Inauguration: Greetings from the Faculty

By Patricia E. Kramer

Lieutenant Governor Murray, Mayor Petty, Bishop McManus, Chair of our Board of Trustees, Kevin Condron, Vice Chair Joan Hogan Gillman, honored guests, faculty, students, and staff of the College of the Holy Cross. Father Philip Boroughs, today we celebrate your inauguration as President of the College of the Holy Cross.  In my first official duty as Speaker of the Faculty, it is my pleasure to extend greetings to you on behalf of the Holy Cross faculty at this celebration.

Father Boroughs, you have been working with the faculty since the beginning of the year and we have had some lively discussions. While I hope you have found these deliberations to be informative and fruitful, I am also aware that it is not uncommon to use the phrase “herding cats” when describing academics. Being a “cat person,” I see this as a very positive description, as it is the deep commitment to independence that lies at the heart of this metaphor. Academics are independent thinkers with strong opinions. That independent thinking may, on occasion, lead to some good-natured debates on issues of importance, perhaps with occasional differences of opinion on how best to achieve our common goals of excellence in our teaching and in our scholarship. Administrators (and we ourselves) can sometimes find the path to reaching consensus rather frustrating and inefficient. Yet it is only by letting all voices be heard and having all opinions valued that we can be more together than we could ever be apart.  Holy Cross is a better place because of our passion for our ideals, our respect for each other, and for our willingness to be good listeners as well as leaders.

Father Boroughs, you share the faculty’s commitment to and passion for Holy Cross. We have benefited from your presence thus far. Today, the faculty welcomes you. We look forward to our work together in our pursuit of excellence in teaching, learning, and research. Thank you.

Patricia E. Kramer, associate professor of psychology, is speaker of the faculty.