FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 28, 1999

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119

DRAKE TO CELEBRATE THE INAUGURATION
OF PRESIDENT DAVID MAXWELL OCT. 6-10

Drake University will celebrate the inauguration of David E. Maxwell, who became Drake's 12th president on May 15, with a series of festive and provocative events Oct. 6-10.

"The inauguration isn't about me, it's about Drake," President Maxwell said. "That's why the theme for Inauguration Week is 'The Place of Drake - in Higher Education, in the Community, and in the Lives of Those Who Learn and Serve Here.'"

Inauguration Day festivities will start with a pancake breakfast from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 9, in Hubbell Field near the Hubbell Dining Hall. The Drake Marching Band will play during the breakfast and then lead the crowd over to Drake Stadium for the Homecoming Football Game, which starts at noon. The Bulldogs will take on St. Mary's College of Moraga, Calif.

Following the football game, Dr. Maxwell will be installed as president in a ceremony featuring faculty and delegates from other colleges and universities in full academic regalia. The event will start at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, in the Drake University Knapp Center, 2601 Forest Ave.

The ceremony will include President Maxwell's inaugural address and a speech by his mentor and friend, Sol Gittleman, senior vice president/provost of Tufts University. In addition, the Drake Symphony Orchestra will perform "Veritas," an inspiring piece composed for the occasion by professor William Dougherty, chair of the music department at Drake.

Following the ceremony, there will be an inaugural celebration featuring food, music and fellowship at the Knapp Center. President Maxwell will join in the festivities by playing his guitar with Drake Jazz Ensemble I.

In keeping with the inauguration theme, Drake will hold a forum with a series of frank and open panel discussions, in which the University will explore ways it can best serve the needs of individuals and society. The forum, titled "Serving the Common Good: a Forum on the Place of Drake," will include five sessions on Friday, Oct. 8. Morning and afternoon sessions will be held in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main, 26th Street and University Avenue. The luncheon session will be held in Parents Hall in Olmsted Center, 29th Street and University Avenue. All of the panel discussions will be shown live on cable TV on the College Channel (TCI 98/46). The panels are as follows:

Drake in the Public Arena, 8:30 to 10 a.m. Moderator: former Iowa Gov. and former Drake University President Robert D. Ray. Panelists: former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad; Des Moines Mayor Preston Daniels; former U.S. Congressman Neal Smith; and Iowa Gov. Thomas Vilsack.

Drake in the Business Community, 10:15 to 11:45 a.m. Moderator: Jack Rehm, retired chairman and chief executive officer of Meredith Corp. Panelists: David Drury, chairman and chief executive officer, The Principal Financial Group; Marcia Hanson, executive vice president for corporate development for the AmerUs Group; Suku Radia, managing partner of the Des Moines office of KPMG Peat Marwick; and Lloyd Ward, chairman and chief executive officer of Maytag Corp.

Drake in Higher Education, noon-1:30 p.m. Moderator: Robert Hariman, professor of rhetoric and communication studies and endowment professor of the humanities at Drake. Panelists: Drake faculty members Judith Allen, associate professor of psychology; Lon Larson, professor of pharmacy administration; Patricia Prijatel, the E.T. Meredith distinguished professor of journalism; and David Skidmore, associate professor of politics and international relations.

Drake in the Community, 1:45 to 3:15 p.m. Moderator: Dennis Ryerson, editor of The Des Moines Register. Panelists: Michael Blouin, chief executive officer of the Greater Des Moines Partnership; Patty Daniels, vice president of the Drake Neighborhood Association; Martha Willits, president of United Way of Central Iowa; and Eric Witherspoon, superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools.

Drake in the Future, 3:30 to 5 p.m. Moderator: David Walker, the Dwight D. Opperman distinguished professor of law. Panelists: Barbara Dietrich Boose, publications director at Drake; Neil Hamilton, the Ellis and Nelle Levitt distinguished professor of law and director of the Agricultural Law Center at Drake; Doug Hillman, the Aliber distinguished professor of accounting at Drake; Robert Hariman; Annette Liggett, professor of education at Drake; David Miles, chair of the Drake National Alumni Association; and John Rosen, Drake's student body president. The session will conclude with comments from President Maxwell.

Also participating in the forum will be former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois. He also will deliver the annual Bucksbaum Lecture at Drake at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7, in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main. His lecture, which is free and open to the public, is titled "Changing Places: Higher Education's Changing Responsibilities at the Turn of the Millennium." A reception and book signing will follow in Levitt Hall.

Simon, who now directs the Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, is the author of numerous books, including "Freedom's Champion Elijah Lovejoy" and "Tapped Out: The Coming World Crisis in Water and What We Can Do About It." The Bucksbaum Lecture is made possible by a gift from Melva and the late Martin Bucksbaum.

Inauguration Week festivities will start Wednesday, Oct. 6, with the first "Let's DU Lunch" event in the Younkers Tea Room in downtown Des Moines. President Maxwell will be the featured speaker at the lunch, which is sponsored by the Central Iowa Drake Alumni Chapter and the Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce. The event will begin at 11:30 a.m. and the program will begin at noon. Tickets, which are $15 per person, are available by calling (515) 271-3152.
Also on Wednesday, Oct. 6, there will be an Inauguration Concert featuring Drake faculty and student soloists and ensembles at 8 p.m. on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main, 26th Street and University Avenue. The performance is free and open to the public.

Inauguration Week will conclude on Sunday, Oct. 10, with an interdenominational worship service at 10:30 a.m. at First Christian Church, 2500 University Ave. Officiating will be the Rev. Jim Nelson of the Wesley Foundation.

For more information about Inauguration Week at Drake, call (515) 271-2000 or visit the Drake Inauguration site.