Inaugural Details are Outlined

April 10, 1991

It's a bit early for the first musical fanfare--there will be four of them, in all, on inauguration day--but a small shout seems in order to remind the MIT community of events planned for the inauguration of Charles M. Vest as MIT's 15th president.

The inauguration itself, replete with pomp and circumstance and guests from throughout the world, will be held on Killian Court at 9:30am on Friday morning, May 10.

In addition, reflecting President Vest's desire for an event that celebrates the community as a whole, the Inaugural Planning Committee under the direction of Professor Claude R. Canizares is putting together a weeklong program of inaugural activities.

In brief, the schedule includes:

Saturday, May 4--The Johnson Games from 10:30am-2:30pm at Steinbrenner Stadium, followed by the Inaugural Picnic until 4pm on the Kresge Oval.

Thursday, May 9--Burial of a time capsule on Killian Court--a stainless steel cylinder18 inches in diameter and 18 inches long--near the Henry Moore sculpture, at 11am. Community members are invited to suggest artifacts for the capsule which is scheduled to be opened in 2020. (As part of another project, MITers have been asked to submit proposals for essays they would like to write on the inaugural theme, "MIT: Shaping the Future." See some suggestions Associate Provost Samuel J. Keyser made to the Faculty Council in an essay on page 12.)

Thursday, May 9--The Inaugural Concert at 8pm in Kresge Auditorium with performances by four student groups, the MIT Concert Band, the MIT Symphony, the Chamber Chorus and the MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble. In addition, there will be a song commissioned for the inaugural by Yumi Oshima, Class of 1994 (performed by Karol L. Bennet, soprano, and John D. McDonald, piano, artists in residence in music and theater arts) and three other songs written by students in composition class--Alexander P. Rigopulos, Class of 1992, Cynthia L. Harris, Class of 1991, and Charles W. Pokorny, Class of 1991. Guests are invited to a reception immediately following the concert, on the third floor of the Stratton Student Center, to meet all the artists.

Friday, May 10--The Inaugural Ceremony, starting at 9:30am with a Procession from 77 Massachusetts Avenue to Memorial Drive and into Killian Court. The Chief Marshal will be Carl M. Mueller, chairman of the Corporation Committee on the Presidency. Special fanfares have been composed by four members of the music faculty, John H. Harbison, Peter Child, Edward Cohen, and Evan Ziiporyn.

Friday, May 10--MIT Community Reception and Celebration, on the Kresge Oval at 11:30am following the inaugural ceremony.

Friday, May 10--MIT Concert Choir Performance in Kresge Auditorium, at 8pm.

Saturday, May 11--MIT Community Service Fund Road Race beginning at 9:30am at the MIT Sailing Pavilion. Registration is in McDermott Court from 7:45 to 9am.

Saturday, May 11--MIT Symphony Concert in Kresge Auditorium, at 8pm.

All members of the MIT community are invited to these events, but should note that tickets are required for some.

Tickets for the Thursday night concert and the inaugural ceremony will be available beginning Monday, April 29, in the Information Center (Rm 7-121), the MIT Museum Shop in the Student Center, and in Rm A-165 at Lincoln Laboratory.

Those unable to obtain tickets can view both of these events on a large screen at the ice rink in the Johnson Athletics Center. If arrangements can be made, and weather permits, students and others also will be able to hear an outside broadcast of the concert in the barbecue area near the Johnson Athletics Center.

Tickets for the Friday and Saturday night concerts will be available beginning Monday, May 6, in Lobby 10 and at the Museum Shop in the Student Center.

The events immediately surrounding the inauguration ceremony will be augmented, Professor Canizares has announced, by other activities in the spring and fall, including several symposia and colloquia concentrating on MIT's role as "the quintessential research university." The first of these, on Tuesday (April 9), was the J. Herbert Hollomon Memorial Symposium presented by the Technology and Culture Seminar on the topic, "The Technology Race: Can the US Win?" The speakers included President Vest; Roland Schmitt, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Professor Harvey Brooks of Harvard; former president and Institute Professor Emeritus Jerome B. Wiesner of MIT; and Robert White, president of the National Academy of Engineering. The moderator was Daniel Roos, Japan Steel Industry Professor of Engineering and director of the MIT Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development.

The community celebration aspect of the inauguration will continue early in the fall semester with a Presidential Ball to be held in the Johnson Athletics Center.

A version of this article appeared in the April 10, 1991 issue of MIT Tech Talk (Volume 35, Number 28).

URL: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1991/inaugural-0410.html