Inauguration of President Mark McCoy to highlight Old Gold Weekend, Oct. 27-29

Thursday, August 11, 2016

The formal installation of D. Mark McCoy as DePauw University's 20th president and the dedication of Hoover Hall will be two of the highlights of Old Gold Weekend, Oct. 27-29.

All members of the DePauw community and friends of the college are invited to attend several events, including the inauguration of President McCoy, set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, in Kresge Auditorium in the Green Center for the Performing Arts.

The program will feature an address by Vernon E. Jordan Jr., the 1957 DePauw graduate. A longtime adviser to former President Bill Clinton, Jordan is considered a legendary figure in the civil rights movement.

Remarks by Jordan -- who has been called the "Rosa Parks of Wall Street" by Harvard University history professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. -- will be presented as part of DePauw's Timothy and Sharon Ubben Lecture Series.

DePauw President Mark McCoy

Meanwhile, DePauw's new dining facility, Hoover Hall, will be dedicated on Friday, Oct. 28 at 4:30 p.m. The 48,600-square-foot building, which offers views of historic East College, was made possible by a collection of gifts from alumni.

R. David and Suzanne A. Hoover (both 1967 DPU graduates) provided the lead gift to support the construction effort and the building bears their name. Sarah R. and John H. Wallace (both 1976 grads) and James B. Stewart, Classs of 1973, made a joint commitment to support creation of a faculty and staff dining room within Hoover Hall.

Hoover Hall replaces the "Hub," a food-court-style dining hall in the Memorial Student Union Building, and will serve as the primary dining space for first-year students and upper-class students living in university housing.

McCoy officially assumed the DePauw presidency on July 1. He was appointed the 179-year-old university's 20th president March 7 following a national search led by a committee of DePauw alumni, faculty, students and administrators.

Coming to DePauw in August 2011 as dean of the School of Music, McCoy led an effort that raised the national profile of the the sixth-oldest school of music in the nation and invigorated its offerings with the creation of the 21st Century Musician Initiative in 2013. He remains committed to engaging the Greencastle and Putnam County communities with the life of the university, with an important example of that outreach being last summer's opening of Music on the Square, in downtown Greencastle.

In addition to serving as an adviser to President Clinton, Jordan was executive director of the United Negro College Fund; director of the Voter Education Project of the Southern Regional Council; attorney-consultant, U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity; assistant to the executive director of the Southern Regional Council; and as Georgia field director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

He has received numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate from DePauw. A political science major as an undergraduate, Jordan is an advisory member of his alma mater's Board of Trustees.

"This promises to be a weekend that will be remembered for a long time, as DePauw honors its traditions and celebrates the possibilities of the future," Marshall Reavis '84, chairman of DePauw's Board of Trustees, offfered.

"We have much to celebrate and look forward to at this college we love so much. I hope our many alumni, parents and friends make the trip to Greencastle to be a part of a historic and fun-filled weekend."

Some other Old Gold Weekend events, which are open to all, include:

Thursday, Oct. 27:

-- The dedication of portraits to honor the contributions of Judson and Joyce Green (1974 and 1975 alums), David and Suzanne Hoover, and Timothy and Sharon Ubben (both Class of 1958); 5:30 p.m., Great Hall, Green Center for the Performing Arts, with reception following.

Friday, Oct. 28:

-- Presentation of the Old Gold Goblet to Kathryn Fortune Hubbard, a 1974 graduate. The goblet is given for "eminence in life's work and service to alma mater."

Hubbard, a member of DePauw's Board of Trustees, is the co-founder of Bridges of Understanding, a nonprofit, nonpolitical group dedicated to fostering better understanding between the United States and the Arab world; noon, Union Building Ballroom.

-- Two Alumni College sessions, led by faculty membersy, will provide guests with a window to the current student academic experience at DePauw, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m., locations to be determined.

Saturday, Oct. 29:

-- Community cookout following the inauguration ceremonies; noon, Hamilton Park (adjacent to the DPU athletic campus).

-- Women's soccer vs. Allegheny College, noon, Reavis Stadium.

-- Men's and women's swimming vs. Albion College and Washington University (St. Louis), 1 p.m. Erdmann Natatorium, Lilly Center.

-- Football vs. Denison University, 2 p.m., Blackstock Stadium.

-- Men's soccer vs. Allegheny College, 2:30 p.m., Reavis Stadium.

DePauw's Old Gold homecoming celebation debuted in 1907.

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