“Together we shall rise, as together we serve,” proclaimed Penn President Amy Gutmann at the conclusion of her impassioned inaugural address, in which she called on the University community to embrace a “Penn Compact” pledging to increase access to a University education to all qualified applicants regardless of ethnicity or income; to foster interdisciplinary research and teaching and forge a new partnership between arts and sciences and the professions; and to engage society from the local to the global level.

“By putting our principles into ever better practice, our Penn family will rise from excellence to eminence in teaching and research as we become ever more accessible,” Gutmann told the audience assembled in Irvine Auditorium and watching from two remote locations on campus or seeing the live webcast. “I ask that you join me in uniting behind our Penn Compact. Let us make this new beginning at Penn worthy of our boldest aspirations.”

The October 15 ceremony investing Gutmann, who took office on July 1, as Penn’s eighth president was the centerpiece of a week of inauguration-related activities that began in an atmosphere far removed from the vivid, vaulted interior of Irvine. On Saturday, October 9, Gutmann and more than 500 student, faculty, and staff volunteers participated in a day of community service at Sayre High School, painting interior walls, improving the grounds, and performing other clean-up tasks around the school, located at 58th and Walnut streets.

There was also a concert on Hill Field Wednesday night. Featuring the Philadelphia-based hip-hop group, The Roots, and warm-up act the Pat McGee Band, this was intended primarily for students—plus Gutmann herself, a self-described fan of The Roots’ music.

After the inaugural ceremony on Friday morning, a free lunch was offered on College Green and Wynn Commons, with a variety of international choices. The inaugural events culminated—or segued into Homecoming Weekend—with a series of panel discussions on Friday afternoon that examined various aspects of the inaugural theme of “Rising to the Challenges of a Diverse Democracy.” (For a detailed report on the symposium, see page 36.)

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