Following Chancellor Kent Syverud’s inauguration ceremony in Hendricks Chapel on Friday afternoon, participants and audience members slowly filtered out of Hendricks Chapel into the late afternoon sunlight. While some people went to change out of the robes they’d worn for the ceremony, others stood around talking in small groups in front of the chapel.

A few minutes after the ceremony, the SU Marching Band began playing in front of Carnegie Library, drawing a small crowd. Across from the band, people began filing into a large white tent set up on the quad for the reception. On either side of the two entrances to the tent, SU a cappella groups Main Squeeze, Orange Appeal, Otto Tunes and the Mandarins performed songs for reception attendees.

Inside the tent, the noise was deafening as people stood around small tables talking and consuming the free food and drinks. Far from the typical hot dogs and burgers of college fare, the food set out in the tent included cheese and crackers, antipasto brochette, pulled pork biscuits, Tuscan chicken bits, Ricotto croquettes, fresh fruit and various types of sandwiches. Drinks consisted of orange punch and water flavored with oranges. There were chocolate-covered pretzels and red velvet cake set out for dessert.

For Ivan Rosales, one of the student members of the chancellor search committee, the ceremony brought the whole process full circle. On Thursday night, the search committee had a final dinner commemorating the end of the chancellor search, he said, a dinner very similar to the one the committee had at the beginning of the search process many months ago. Finally seeing Syverud inaugurated felt like “mission accomplished,” Rosales said.

“I feel good about what we did,” he said. “It’s nice to see so many people happy and appreciative of what we did.”

Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner attended the ceremony along with other political dignitaries from the region including county executive Joanie Mahoney and Rep. Dan Maffei, D-N.Y. Miner said she thinks highly of the new chancellor and that she came to the ceremony because SU is an important institution in the community.

Miner has had the opportunity to work with Syverud several times already and she said she looks forward to working with him more in the future.

“This is a great day for this institution, our city and our community,” she said.

Lorraine Branham, dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, was similarly optimistic about Syverud’s tenure. Branham said she likes the things Syverud has said so far and the direction he wants to take the university.

“So far, so good,” Branham said. “What has it been? Three months? We’re still getting to know him and he’s still getting to know us.”

Published on April 14, 2014 at 1:53 am

Contact Jessica: jliannet@syr.edu | @JessicaIannetta