A warm Inaugural welcome for Father Pilarz.

What I Have Learned So Far - words by Mary Oliver, inspiration by Marquette University students.

Behind the scenes of Inauguration Week at Marquette.

Reflect, Imagine, Transform

The Marquette community came together to inaugurate the university’s 23rd president, Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., on Friday, September 23, 2011, in a ceremony that culminated a week of reflection, worship, celebration and fellowship, with additional events to follow in the months ahead.

The events and ideas of the Inauguration have been captured in words, photos and video, including:

Webcast recordings of the Inauguration Ceremony and an Inaugural Mass held a day earlier, plus an “On the Issues” session with Father Pilarz, Marquette Law School distinguished fellow in law and public policy Mike Gousha and a live audience.
Two video presentations incorporated in the Inauguration Ceremony: one featuring students reading Mary Oliver’s What I Have Learned So Far, a favorite poem of Father Pilarz’s, and the other featuring behind-the-scenes footage of Inauguration week events and the university preparing to welcome its new leader.
A slideshow of a student retreat with Father Pilarz held September 19, 2011.
The printed programs for the Inauguration Ceremony and Mass and a transcript of the address by Father Pilarz.

The event’s theme — Reflect, Imagine, Transform — was inspired by a 2010 address by Rev. Adolfo Nicolas, S.J., superior general of the Society of Jesus, that challenged those in Jesuit higher education to renew their institutions. In the spirit of the “profound engagement with the real” called for by Father Nicolas, the inauguration included a Call to Service through which students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends of Marquette are pledging to work to better their communities. The first in a series of academic gatherings to explore issues raised by Father Nicolas will be Depth of Thought, Depth of Imagination: Challenging Superficiality on November 14, 2011.