Inauguration of McCoy as DPU president set Saturday

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Old Gold Day Saturday at DePauw University will see the inauguration of the school's 20th president, D. Mark McCoy, in a ceremony at Kresge Auditorium of the university's Green Center for Performing Arts.

Those who can't make it to campus for Saturday's inauguration are invited to watch the event on a live webcast.

President Mark McCoy

The program, which begins at 10:30 a.m., will be available via this link -- https://portal.stretchinternet.com/depauwadmin/.

The selection of McCoy -- announced March 7 -- was the culmination of a national search led by an 18-member committee of DePauw alumni, students, faculty and administration. That panel came to the conclusion that McCoy, dean of the DePauw School of Music since August 2011, was the best leader to move DePauw forward. The university's Board of Trustees confirmed the selection.

A native of West Virginia, the son of a coal miner and a first-generation college student, McCoy holds a B.A. in music education from Shepherd University, a liberal arts college in West Virginia, a master's degree from the Peabody Conservatory, and a Ph.D. in fine arts with a concentration in music composition from Texas Tech University.

"As a first-generation college student, I believe the undergraduate experience should be inspirational, aspirational and transformational," McCoy has said. "I can imagine no college in America that can do that better than DePauw. Our alumni set a high bar and provide shining examples of how DePauw graduates make more than a living -- they make a life."

The Saturday inauguration ceremony, "Remember DePauw," will feature a keynote address by legendary civil rights leader Vernon E. Jordan Jr. '57.

Dubbed "the Rosa Parks of Wall Street" by Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., Jordan was executive director of the United Negro College Fund, president of the National Urban League, and served as an adviser to President Bill Clinton. He also serves on many corporate boards.

A political science major as an undergraduate, Jordan is an advisory member of DePauw's Board of Trustees and has twice presented the commencement address at his alma mater, in 1973 and 1993.

Saturday's program will also include remarks by community representatives and faculty members, performances by DePauw School of Music students including a preview of a new work by faculty member Jim Beckel, the debut of a poem by English Professor Joe Heithaus and a musical arrangement by noted Broadway composer Nancy Ford Charles '57.

Limited seating will be available. Doors to Kresge Auditorium will open at 9:45 a.m and close promptly at 10:30. In the event the venue fills, a video feed will be available in adjacent Moore Theatre.

The program is part of DePauw's traditional homecoming, Old Gold Weekend, and will be followed by a noon cookout in Hamilton Park at the entrance to the athletics campus. Attendees will be treated to the music of War Radio and lead singer LaToshia Dean Everson '04 and a football game preview at 12:45 p.m. by head football coach Bill Lynch.

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