In welcoming attendees to Liz Magill’s inauguration on a sunny Friday, October 21, Trustees Chair Scott L. Bok said the celebration “marks a renewal of our aspiration for Penn and all that it can be.”

“Like any new beginning, we face it with excitement and joy, and with seriousness of purpose,” Mr. Bok added, gazing at the crowd in Irvine Auditorium, and speaking to all who tuned in via livestream. “We live in complicated times and we cannot know what challenges are ahead. What I do know is that we are ready, with a University resolved to academic excellence and service to others, a red and blue spirit that is strong and tenacious, and, beginning today, a president who is hand-picked for this moment at Penn.”

President Magill, formerly provost and executive vice president at the University of Virginia, officially assumed the role as Penn’s president in July. Ever since, she has worked diligently to get to know the University, as well as the city she now calls home, and recently launched “Tomorrow, Together,” intended to set a strategic framework for Penn’s future. Magill learned early on of what she calls the “virtuous impatience” of Penn people—their sense of urgency in putting their knowledge to work, and their drive to do good with it. Thus, in her inaugural address, she urged the Penn community to not only meet the moment, but to make it.

“We can be confident enough in our strengths to be bold, to take risks, to play offense,” she said. “We can stand tall on our distinctive values and the creativity and tenacity of Penn people.”

“Making the moment,” President Magill described, is like “drawing down the lightning”—a nod to Penn founder Benjamin Franklin, who, using a kite and key in the mid-1700s, worked to better understand electricity.

“We welcome a challenge here and we thrive on it,” President Magill said. “To answer the great challenges of our time, opportunity and truth will be our conductors, our kite and key, our means to draw down the lightning … Today, the very nature of truth is contested and the means to opportunity are fragile. The University of Pennsylvania is called upon to redouble our historic and our forward-looking commitment to these twin principles.”

Following tradition during the inauguration ceremony, Mr. Bok gave President Magill the president’s badge, created in 1981, which signifies the authority of the chief executive, as well as three symbolic brass keys to the University, which were first used at the 1895 inauguration of Charles C. Harrison, who was a Penn provost.

Also at the ceremony, the Rev. Charles Howard gave an invocation and a benediction; Faculty Senate Chair Vivian Gadsden and Penn Alumni President Ann Reese provided greetings on behalf of the faculty and alumni, respectively; Erica Hunt recited a poem she had written for the occasion, “Dear Neighbor,” and various student performers were showcased.

Before the inauguration ceremony, an academic procession from College Hall to Irvine took place, including the 12 Penn school’s deans, senior administrators, trustees, and presidents and delegates from universities across the United States. Former Penn Presidents Amy Gutmann and Judith Rodin processed, and were present on Irvine’s stage, which featured a sprawling backdrop inspired by the ornamental patterns in Penn’s Fisher Fine Arts Library—the site of the first welcome event for President Magill.

After the ceremony, President Magill joined her family and friends, as well as thousands of Penn students, faculty, and staff, at a lunchtime picnic and concert at Shoemaker Green, which featured Philadelphia food and performances from two of President Magill’s favorite musical artists—Sheryl Crow and Jeff Tweedy. The day’s events continued to bustle late into the afternoon, with an academic symposium at Irvine featuring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan in conversation with President Magill, which was also livestreamed.

It was an engaging conversation apt for President Magill, a legal scholar and law professor who, before becoming provost at UVA, served as dean of Stanford Law School and vice dean of UVA’s School of Law. Before her career in higher education, her work included service as a law clerk for Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In his remarks at the ceremony, Mr. Bok referenced a popular quote from the late justice: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” In doing so, he noted how much President Magill has clearly “taken this advice to heart.”

“[President Magill] has a great talent for people and for building relationships to reach a common goal,” Mr. Bok said. “She understands, like every successful leader, including our own Benjamin Franklin, that we will achieve so much more collectively than we ever could separately.”

She said as much when closing out her address. “As Penn’s ninth president, I pledge to do everything in my power to support this University, this city, and our people in making the moment,” President Magill said. “The future awaits. But we’re ready. Let us draw down the lightning—together.”

Adapted from a Penn Today article by Lauren Hertzler, October 21, 2022.