Moments in History: The inauguration of President Lori S. White and more

DePauw’s gold shines as Lori S. White is inaugurated as president

The golden sun shone on DePauw University Oct. 1, as Lori S. White was inaugurated as DePauw’s 21st president.

The two-hour ceremony was marked by a cloudless sky, vibrant academic regalia, inspirational songs and rousing speeches. Attendees – students, alumni, faculty and staff members, White’s family and friends and delegates from more than 50 higher education institutions from across the country – braved the unusually warm temperature and honored a requirement to wear masks to witness a moment in DePauw history: White is the first woman and first person of color to be appointed president.

The inauguration’s theme was “Rise,” based on the poem “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou, one of White’s favorites. The ceremony featured several songs, including a rendition of Rosephanye Powell’s song “Still I Rise” by the DePauw Chamber Singers and “The Impossible Dream,” sung by Chloé Johnson ’22.

Thomas Parham, president of California State University, Dominguez Hills, presided over a libation ceremony, a celebratory ritual in which he harkened to ancestral spirits. English professor Eugene Gloria, the John Rabb Emison professor of creative and performing arts, read his poem, “Outside of Eden,” which he wrote for the occasion. Holden Thorp, to whom White reported when he was provost and she vice chancellor at Washington University, gave the keynote speech before White offered remarks.

Photos: Brittney Way, Linda Striggo and Cami Henry ’22

Chloé Johnson ’22

Moments in DePauw’s History

1837 1852 1867 1870 1871 1877 1884

Indiana Asbury College is established. Asbury Notes, Indiana’s oldest college newspaper, is published. Five women enroll in fall 1867 after the Board of Trustees and Visitors voted to include women. The nation’s first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, opens. Indiana Asbury College graduates its first four women. Indiana Asbury welcomes its first international students, four men from Japan. The School of Music is established.

Holden Thorp

“She knows that no field stays the same, that there’s no fixed canon, and that only in reaching for the new can scholarship thrive.” – Holden Thorp

Tony Tillman and his wife, President White.

1888 1890

Tucker E. Wilson is the first African American to graduate from DePauw, so named in 1882. DePauw and Wabash College compete for the first time in what would become one of college football’s most intense rivalries. The annual game became known as the Monon Bell in 1932.

1928

Mary Washburn Conklin ’28 becomes the first DePauw graduate to win an Olympic medal, a silver, as a member of the United States’ 400-meter relay team in Amsterdam.

1949

WGRE-FM, the first 10-watt college FM radio station in the country, goes on the air.

1970

Protests against the Vietnam War occurred on campus, including an attempt to burn down the campus ROTC headquarters.

DePauw welcomed delegates from more than 50 institutions and organizations.

“I believe that liberal arts colleges like DePauw are crucial, now more than ever, to our ability to create a better, more just and more humane world. … We will rise by staying true to this noble purpose and keeping our mission to contribute to the betterment of society at the very core of who we are.” – President Lori S. White

1980 1981 1982 1988 1996

The Science and Mathematics Center is named for chemist Percy Lavon Julian, the 1920 valedictorian appointed posthumously to the chemistry faculty in 2021. Alan Hill ’81 becomes DePauw’s first national champion when he wins the Division III pole vault title. Astronaut Joseph P. Allen ’59 flies on the space shuttle. He did so again in 1984, when he walked in space. Dan Quayle ’69 is elected U.S. vice president. DePauw partners with the Posse Foundation to enroll students with extraordinary potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes.

Presidential Gown The president is the focal point of many college or university formal academic events. For this reason, the president typically wears a distinctive gown unique to the institution, as demonstrated by Dr. White’s regalia featuring DePauw’s Old Gold.

Chevrons The unique feature of a presidential gown is the addition of the fourth chevron to each sleeve. This honor is granted only to one who holds the rank of president or chancellor of an academic institution.

Personal Touch For her inauguration, Dr. White wore earrings given to her that morning by her husband, Tony Tillman. The President’s Medallion The President’s Medallion is the badge of office for the president when participating in formal university ceremonies. The 3.5-inch medallion features a relief carving of the seal of DePauw and is engraved on the reverse with the president’s name and the year in which the president’s term of office began.

Kente Cloth

Dr. White’s robe features cuffs of Kente cloth, which dates to 12th-century Ghana and the

Ashanti people. The cloth was worn by kings, queens and important figures of state in Ghana’s society during ceremonial events and special occasions. Kente cloth received its name from the term “kenten,” which means “basket,” because of the cloth’s woven design. Each Kente pattern was unique and had its own name.

1998 2015 2018 2019 2020

Ferid Murad ’58, a physician and Ph.D. pharmacologist, is a co-winner of the Nobel Prize. Douglas HallwardDriemeier ’89 argues before the U.S. Supreme Court and secures the rights of two people of the same sex to marry. DePauw appoints Sami Aziz director of the Center for Spiritual Life, the first imam to direct a spiritual program at an American college. Veronica Pejril, director of Faculty Instructional Technology Support, becomes Indiana’s first transgender elected official when she is elected to the Greencastle City Council. Lori S. White becomes DePauw’s first woman and first Black president.