Last Friday afternoon, the University and Eugene community members celebrated Richard Lariviere’s Investiture as the University’s 16th president, where Lariviere confirmed his commitment to University transparency and argued for his controversial funding plan during his speech.
The ancient ceremony, which requires professors and other officiators to wear full academic regalia, was held to honor Lariviere’s installment as president of the University. Investiture ceremonies stand as a formal ceremony to transfer symbols and authority associated with a high office from one person to another.
Friday’s ceremony featured several speakers, and members of the Klamath tribe’s Mid-Nite Travelerz performed an “honor song” and a “leader song” during the event.
Oregon University System Chancellor George Pernsteiner opened the ceremony, which took place on the Memorial Quad in front of the Knight Library. Pernsteiner spoke to the crowd about how presidential power is symbolized through two items: the University medallion and the ASUO president. Outgoing ASUO President Emma Kallaway said Lariviere, who became the University’s president after Dave Frohnmayer in July 2009, has already made a difference on campus. She described how Lariviere does his best to listen to students, faculty members and other staff members at the University.
“What I appreciate most of all is how president Lariviere has sat out the necessary conversations with student leaders to educate himself about the University,” Kallaway said.
His goal is to understand what it means to be a Duck, Kallaway said.
Lariviere spoke at the Investiture after Kallaway. Lariviere’s stated that his main goal is to make the University more accessible to the public. He presented a plan to the audience to support the state and the community by reducing University tuition. Lariviere knows how important the University is to the people of Oregon and the city of Eugene.
“Most important, the University will be a public university,” Lariviere told the crowd. “A public university that finds new resources to help more Oregonians earn college degrees … It will provide greater predictability in college costs and address head-on the affordability question.”
To provide college opportunities to more people, Lariviere argued for a new form of financing, which he presented to the State Legislature two weeks ago.
The idea of a public and private endowment may be accomplished by “taking the $65 million that the state currently provides, which is only 9 percent of the University’s budget, and use those funds to establish a public endowment of $1 billion that we would then match dollar for dollar in private funding,” Lariviere said. “And make no mistake, the University can achieve that goal.”
Lariviere explained that this outline is just one possibility — the University’s best attempt to date — and said the funding conversation between the state and University is still an ongoing process. Lariviere said he saw it as a possibility for the University to lead the way to a new financing system, rather than just following the other models.
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