Dr. Darrel D. Colson address the crowd gathered in Neumann Auditorium as his first official act as Wartburg's 17th President. Photo by Amanda Gahler
MAC SLAVIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Words from Plato and Ralph Waldo Emerson coupled with the sounds of the Wartburg Choir echoed throughout Neumann Auditorium as Dr. Darrel D. Colson was inaugurated as the seventeenth president of Wartburg College.
“It’s an amazing thing, I’m amazed at how much care has gone into planning,” Colson said.
Fred Hagemann, chairman of the college’s board of regents, and Steven Ullestad, bishop of the Northeastern Iowa Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, formally installed Colson as the new president.
Nearly 75 delegates from colleges and universities around the country were in attendance and more than 70 student organizations were represented at the ceremony.
Colson was joined by members of the academic community and his family on stage. His son and daughter participated in the ceremony by reading passages from Plato’s “Apology” and Emerson’s “The American Scholar.”
“It’s an exciting time, and I want everybody to know that obviously I’m going to be the focal point of the whole inauguration, which is a bit embarrassing, but the bigger point is that we celebrate the college,” Colson said.
Colson said the college’s heritage is also something to be celebrated.
“We have been here for 157 years, and we will be here for another 157,” he said. “We have this long history and heritage, and we get to rejoice in that. It’s a time of transition for a college that’s had a long history and has a long promising future.”
While the inauguration took place on Friday, Colson has been on campus since July 1. He said he has enjoyed getting to know the campus and the community.
“I feel like I’ve been spending the vast majority of the time getting to know the place, the people, the alums, the regents, the friends of the college, the students, the faculty and the staff; I feel as though that’s been the bulk of my time the first 110 days or whatever it is... that’s an exciting number,” Colson said.