Pomp and circumstance: President Cantwell’s upcoming investiture
When first hearing about President Elizabeth Cantwell’s upcoming investiture, the descriptions of flowing robes, floppy hats, and a sparkling ceremonial mace may conjure up pictures of “Harry-Potter” level wizardry. However, this event is not about Old Main becoming Aggie Hogwarts, but rather the roots of Utah State University and where it is going.
The investiture, which will take place on April 12 from 5-6:30 p.m., is a ceremony designed to usher in a new university president. Rooted in a long history spanning from medieval times, investitures occur in most schools of higher learning.
“It’s not meant to be a celebration as much as an introduction of the new president, with all of the constituencies, all the stakeholders,” Cantwell said. “It’s very pomp and circumstance.”
Kerri R. Davidson, vice president of institutional affairs and chief of staff, and Janet Anderson, senior vice provost & senior associate vice president, worked together to plan the event.
Davidson compared the event to a president’s inauguration or queen’s coronation.
“It’s the way for us to have a formal recognition of the opportunity, the authority and the vestiture of an individual in becoming the president of a university,” Davidson said.
The investiture will include speeches from Cantwell and Gov. Spencer Cox, along with formal ceremonial traditions, such as the procession of faculty and the presentation of Cantwell with a medallion and mace. The medallion is a medal emblazoned with the seal of Utah State on one side and Cantwell’s name on the other. The mace is a 4-foot staff, with a model of the “A” tower on top.
“This will feel similar to commencement in that faculty will be dressed in regalia,” Davidson said. “We’ll have the governor there to speak. We’ll actually have a formal kind of investiture charge where that’s provided to President Cantwell. And she’ll actually also give a keynote address sharing her vision for Utah State which will really, really be exciting.”
Cantwell said her speech will answer some questions regarding where Utah State will go under her leadership.
“What does it mean to be who we are? And what’s it mean to be a modern land grant university? What’s that future mean?” Cantwell said. “It’s not so much who we are today, but what are we going to be. Sometimes presidents give speeches that are really about their vision for the institution. I’m going to lead the way, but I tend to give the entire community a place in defining that future.”
Even though Cantwell’s speech will be future-focused, she said it’s important to acknowledge history and tradition, especially during an event that has occurred for thousands of years.
“It’s always really useful to remember that our institution goes back around 130 years, but these traditions literally go back to medieval times when colleges were part of religious institutions, and they were really about training people,” Cantwell said. “The only people who were scholars were people in religious organizations, so some of that is just like ancient. And while I don’t think we need to pay extraordinary fealty to that, I do think it’s useful to remember that’s a piece of how we got to this place where we seek to educate anyone that wants to be educated, which was definitely not how it was in medieval times.”
There are many symbols associated with the investiture, including robes, caps, medallions and a new mace, which Cantwell joked would be like having an Aggie-themed lightsaber.
“The mace has got some cool aspects to it,” Cantwell said. “It’s 3D-printed in titanium, so it’s light because it’ll be hollow. It’s got that representation of the tower of Old Main at one end and that lights up. We brought in people from the Caine College and ended up in the theater design group. There was a remarkable, thoughtful process about what should this be to represent USU, so we’ve got sagebrush and we’ve got bulls and the emblems of the university.”
There will also be many cultural factors to the event. The day will begin with a blessing from a medicine man on the Blanding campus, which will be streamed on AggieCast. The Red Spirit Singers will also perform on drums, and a local junior named Grace Olson will sing the national anthem. There will even be a world premiere of a composition created for this event.
“It’s really going to be a really eclectic, diverse way to celebrate with a lot of symbolism, a nod to the past and some kind of historical symbols and also with a vision to the future,” Davidson said. “That’s what we’re excited about with President Cantwell and her leadership. We’re just excited to come together and celebrate that as a community.”
Many ecclesiastical leaders, dignitaries and other community leaders will attend, and staff and students are welcome to join in-person. There will also be many options for viewing the ceremony from campuses across Utah. Viewing parties will be located at many locations, and the event will also be broadcast live.
“For this particular event, we have been sure to include and have people participate from across the state of Utah,” Davidson said. “This isn’t just a celebration at the Logan campus. We have multiple watch parties and celebrations across the state.”
For students specifically, west campus will have activities going on during the ceremony with a watch party. There will be stickers designed by students and a photo booth.
“We hope we’ll have a lot of students to come and attend, because this isn’t just for community leaders and dignitaries and legislators. Utah State exists for its students,” Davidson said. “We hope that a lot of students will come and attend and celebrate with us and whether they’re across campus, or they’re in a statewide location celebrating.”
After the investiture, there will also be a reception in the Merrill-Cazier Library. This event will have VR tours, exhibits and other activities.
“It’ll feel very festive,” Davidson. “There’s a lot of really cool activities and exhibits going on in the library. We’ve got our students, our presidential ambassadors, who will be giving VR tours.”
The cherry on top will be the premiere of a new Aggie Ice Cream flavor designed by Cantwell.
“We’ll unveil the President’s Choice ice cream, which I did get to design myself,” Cantwell said. “It’s not, like, too far out there.”
Davidson said a large group has helped with this event and wanted to share her gratitude.
“I have been so impressed with everybody who’s just been so willing to pitch in, from parking to groundskeeping to public safety, to you know, different musical selections, to all the auditorium,” Davidson said. “There’s ushers and staff and flowers and greenery and regalia. There’s so many elements, and it’s really taken this great big team just kind of locking arms and realizing we’re here in service and support to our students, to our faculty, to our staff and to this president, who has such an incredible vision for where we’re going.”
Davidson said the most important part of the investiture, beyond robes and hats, is celebrating the future of Utah State.
“It’s not just for President Cantwell,” Davidson said. “This is for all of Utah State and for the entire state of Utah.”
For more information on the investiture, see usu.edu/investiture/.