McRobbie inaugurated as IU’s 18th president

Hundreds of men and women wearing black robes marched through the IU Auditorium at a slow cadence, matching their footsteps to the sound of the giant pipe organ that filled the hall. It was the beginning of Michael McRobbie’s inauguration as the 18th IU president.\nThough McRobbie has been in office since the summer, inauguration marked his official induction into the IU history books, and gave him a chance to reveal his long-term vision for the University.\n“It’s a long-standing tradition at universities around the world to inaugurate a new president,” said Larry MacIntyre, director of media relations. “The tradition goes back a thousand years, probably.” \nThe inauguration was just a small part of “Celebrate IU” week, which includes Wednesday’s cornhole tournament, the weekend concerts and Saturday’s football game against Penn State.\nThe ceremony opened with a performance of “Inaugural Fanfare,” composed by IU Jacobs School of Music professor David Dzubay specially for McRobbie’s inauguration. As almost 200 IU faculty members marched through the hall, they were joined by representatives from universities around the world, including England, Korea and McRobbie’s native Australia, among others. Other musical performances included Jacobs School lecturer and Grammy Award winner Sylvia McNair singing “Songs of the Auvergne,” and the IU Philharmonic Orchestra performing “The Pines of Rome: The Pines of the Appian Way.”\nMaster of Ceremonies and IU Foundation President Curt Simic introduced McRobbie, who delivered his keynote speech to a rousing round of applause.\n“The President intends to say a lot of things in his speech that are veryspecific and concrete as to where he wants to take IU over the next decade,” MacIntyre said.\nLater Thursday night, the delegations and McRobbie attended the Inauguration Concert, a performance by the Philharmonic Orchestra with soloist and Jacobs School professor André Watts.\nCheck out Monday’s Indiana Daily Student for more coverage of McRobbie’s inauguration and \nrelated events.