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D. Bruce Johnstone is University Professor of Higher and Comparative Education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy in the Graduate School of Education. He is a former SUNY chancellor and president of Buffalo State College.
What can you tell us about the origin of the presidential
investiture as a campus ceremony in the United States? Does it differ
from similar ceremonies at European universities?
There has
always been ceremony and regalia connected to universities, probably
going back to their ecclesiastical roots and to the veneration in which
the scholar was held in days past (maybe a little more so than today).
European universities are generally led by a rector: always a
distinguished senior member of the faculty, elected by the faculty for a
limited term, and who would one day return to his or her professorial
duties. Therefore, even more so than with a U.S. university
president, the European university rector is quite
literally a "temporary first among equals," presiding at the sufferance
of his or her senior colleagues.
What meaning is the ceremony meant to convey and how is this
done?
I think that the ceremony, with all of its regalia and
pomp, is meant to convey the enormous importance to the university of
its roots and its traditions. The university is not just another
organization: it is a repository—an anchor—of a society's
history and literature, its science and its culture. The modern
university, going back to its early 19th century German roots, is the
paramount social institution devoted to the search for truth, and is, or
at least always should be, anchored in deeply held and hard-to-change
values. What may appear "merely ceremonial," then, actually has
considerable purpose.
Are the academic regalia used in campus events like commencement
even more important in a presidential investiture? If so, why and in
what manner are they displayed or used?
To me, the academic
regalia conveys the "specialness" of the academic profession and the
traditions and values that are so important to the academy. The academic
procession with all of the professorial costumes, signals that the
faculty, which is the heart of any great university, are welcoming our
new president to our midst as the leader of our scholarly
community—which is quite different than welcoming a new boss in a
company.
Beyond the historical significance of an investiture, why is such
a ceremony still relevant today?
Perhaps because so many values
and traditions are seemingly being swept away in this day, one could say
that the investiture, with its reminders of these noble traditions, is
even more important.
It has been a dozen years since the investiture of former President
Greiner, so the upcoming investiture of President Simpson will be a
brand new experience for UB students, and probably many of the faculty,
too. What can they expect at the ceremony?
I hope they will be
reminded of the larger, even more noble, mission of the university and
the international institution of which UB is merely one example—as
opposed to the more mundane, and frankly distracting, issues that so
easily preoccupy us, such as budgets, parking, campus housing and
security.
More broadly, what would you expect to be the effects of
an investiture ceremony on the life of the campus and those who directly
participate in it?
I hope they are reminded of, and perhaps
remember, these values and traditions, as well as the fact that John
Simpson is here as our president because he shares these values and
traditions.
Can you reflect a little on your own previous investitures—as
president of Buffalo State College and as SUNY chancellor? What did
these ceremonies mean to you personally?
Leadership in a college
or university is especially difficult—much more so than in a
business or even a governmental agency, where there is a boss in charge.
A university president must be a leader who is responsible for millions
of dollars, as well as the education of thousands or tens of thousands
(or in my case as SUNY chancellor, hundreds of thousands) of students,
but who must lead and influence, more than merely exercise authority. By
participating in these investitures, I was conveying the fact that I,
too, had to lead and influence, rather than merely be a boss over the
State University of New York.