Inauguration weekend began Saturday evening with a celebration in Keefe Campus Center, where students enjoyed appetizers and jazz music, and Marx addressed the crowd. The inaugural ceremony on Sunday morning was followed by a panel in the afternoon which addressed the issue of privilege and responsibility at liberal arts colleges.
Students, staff and faculty have been planning the Marx inauguration since he began his duties on July 1. According to Director of Public Affairs Stacey Schmeidel, Marx met with the committee and gave them some guiding principles and directions. "[He] wanted this weekend not to be a celebration of him, but to offer students an opportunity to think about what does it mean to be at a liberal arts college," said Schmeidel.
Marx also commented that he wanted to keep the celebration tasteful, noting that the original budget was cut by 75 to 80 percent. Part of the budget was eliminated by cutting the tent on the quad, but the planning committee decided it could use Johnson Chapel as a backup. "I thought that symbolically and financially I wanted this to be a fun and substantive event and not spend more money on it," Marx said. "Again, that was another reason why we had lunch at Valentine, not some fancy catered thing, both because I like the idea of everyone having lunch together with the students, but also because it saved money."
Williams College President Morton Schapiro, who attended the inaugural ceremony, believes Marx succeeded in this goal. "It was nice. It was somewhat understated, but Williams does the same thing. I think really secure institutions don't feel the need for as much pomp and circumstance."
Professor of Mathematics David Cox agreed. "I thought it was the right size event," said Cox. "I liked the people who were up at the podium-they gave a nice vision of what Marx's sense of community was."
The inauguration began with a procession of academic delegates from 46 colleges and universities, who were followed by faculty members. The sheriff of Hampshire County, Robert Garvey, called the ceremony to order. Poet Richard Wilbur '42 recited two poems reflecting core Amherst values, "The Reader" and "The Writer." After Hostetter pronounced Marx president, Marx delivered his inaugural address, which was broadcast via the Internet to a wider audience.
Reaction to the speech on campus was generally positive, although many people said the speech left them wondering what will come next. "I'd say that in both his inaugural speech and with this afternoon's panel, Marx has laid out some very lofty goals for Amherst," said Eric Osborne '04. "I'm very cheered to see a president stressing that with privilege comes responsibility and discussing our moral obligations as citizens of the College and of society. The big question now is what concrete actions will Tony Marx take to live up to the lofty principles he so often discusses."
Professor of German Christian Rogowski agreed. "I think there was a lot of goodwill that one could sense," said Rogowski. "President Marx got off to a very auspicious start, creating a sense of commitment to a vision to rethink what we do here and what we could do better. He struck a good note. [Marx seemed interested in] inspiring general conversation rather than imposing an agenda from outside."
The theme of Marx's speech (see complete text on page 2), which came exactly 40 years after President John F. Kennedy stood on the same steps at the ground-breaking of the library took cues from the late president's words, "with privilege comes responsibility," focusing on the responsibility of a liberals arts college to look beyond its boundaries to the outside world.
"One of the things that is extraordinary about the Kennedy speech is that Kennedy used that celebratory occasion to really critique the question of whether private colleges are living up to their public responsibilities," said Professor of English and American Studies Karen Sanchez-Eppler. "It was certainly appropriate for President Marx to frame his comments in ways that dwell upon Amherst's good ... but I think that he was also recognizing the continuing truth of Kennedy's critique."
Expanding on the founding ideals of the College, Marx noted that it was dedicated to educating students regardless of financial status or religious opinions. He questioned whether we have always lived up to our founding ideals.
Marx drew from President Kennedy's words on the power of poetry to remind the College that it, too, is like a great poet. "The College, this college, can be understood as akin to the poet and artist of which the late president spoke," said Marx. "We must contribute to one another's spirit and not to self-aggrandizement; to self-understanding, not arrogance; to enlightened humility and not the power of domination."
Marx also invoked the words of Emily Dickinson: "We do not know how high we are until we are asked to rise."
In addition to the faculty, the inauguration was attended by students, alumni and trustees. Gregory Prince, president of Hampshire College, Diana Chapman Walsh, president of Wellesley College, Douglas Bennet, president of Wesleyan University and Eiji Hatt, president of Doshisha University, the College's sister university in Japan, also attended. Two previous College presidents, Tom Gerety and Peter Pouncey, were in the audience.
"I thought his speech was unusually good," said Schapiro. "It's not easy to do an induction speech. He obviously spent a lot of time [on it]. It was really fun to be standing where JFK stood 40 years ago to the day. I thought [Marx's] speech was brilliant [in how it joined] what Kennedy said and what's going on now. He made wonderful connections. It is clear that he is a first-class guy at a first-class institution. He's a real keeper: a great mix of intelligence, sincerity, competence and integrity."