University of New England

Nexus

STEERING A NEW COURSE,
CHARTING A NEW DESTINY

The Inauguration of Danielle N. Ripich

On the last day of September in a big white tent under a clear, blue autumn sky, the University community celebrated a long-standing ritual marking the transfer of power and the ascension of a new president. Danielle N. Ripich, Ph.D., the University of New England’s fifth president, was inaugurated at a perfectly orchestrated ceremony on the University Campus attended by more than 300 observers and well-wishers.



Among the special guests were her husband, Terry; her mother, June Newberry Frowine; son, Michael, with his children, Forde and Nina; daughter Amy and her husband Spence Roddey, with their children Joe Jay, Terry and Nick; daughter Sarah; and guests from as far away as South Carolina and Ohio.

The formal ceremony began with a procession of delegates, trustees, faculty members, former presidents and the platform party, parading out of the Harold Alfond Center for Health Sciences and led by two bagpipers and a drummer. At the very end of the line marched President Ripich, draped in regal presidential regalia incorporating UNE’s official colors of blue and gray.

The celebration included greetings by the mayors of Biddeford and Portland, the president of Clark University, and representatives from the faculty, students and alumni. Trustee Board Chair Vincent Furey gave welcoming remarks, and President Ripich gave the inaugural address, which is printed below. Her inaugural theme was “Steering a New Course, Charting a New Destiny,” inspired by a line from a Walt Whitman poem, “A Passage to India,” which reads: “Sail forth! Steer for the deep waters only!” In preparing to come to Maine, President Ripich reread Henry David Thoreau, Sarah Orne Jewett, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost and other New England writers and poets.

The inauguration ceremony was an integral part of the St. Francis College/UNE Alumni Weekend and was followed by a festive lunch for all participants and alumni.

Although President Ripich had technically begun her job this past summer, the inauguration was the symbolic recognition of her new presidency. The ceremony included the entrance and departure of the University Mace, representing the passing of authority from the previous president, Sandra Featherman, to President Ripich, and presentation of the Presidential Medallion, the “chain of command” symbolizing the leadership and authority of the University president. Inscribed on small plates welded into the Medallion’s chain are the names of the previous presidents.

President Ripich came to UNE with a strong background in healthcare education and research. She previously served as dean of the College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). While at MUSC she was also a professor in the University’s College of Medicine, Department of Neurology. She earned her graduate degrees in speech pathology and is widely known for her work in child language, having written extensively in her field.

President Ripich’s
Inauguration Address

Good morning, everyone – trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni, delegates, community leaders, friends of the university and other special guests, and, of course, my family. Thank you all, so very much, for being here today to share this special moment in the evolving history of this wonderful institution – the University of New England.

This is truly a remarkable day. For me, certainly. But more importantly, for this unique institution all of us here today have chosen to attend, to serve or to befriend.

The theme of today’s celebration is “Steering a New Course, Charting a New Destiny.” I was  inspired by a line from a Walt Whitman poem, “A Passage to India.” The line reads: “Sail forth! – Steer for the deep waters only!” I find that line of verse particularly meaningful to the way I see our University’s future.

What better charge for this University – with one campus here on the ocean and the other campus based in a port city – than to “sail forth,” confidently into the promising but uncertain waters of the future. And to steer only for the “deep waters” is a powerful symbol. It tells us that we should focus on  those things in life that truly matter, that are worth fighting for and working toward. For us, a still-young university on the cusp of greatness, the things that matter most I believe are already established in our mission and core values.

In my first address to the University community, I quoted Nannerl Keohane, the former president of Duke University. She deepens our nautical theme when she says, “A university is a company of scholars – a group of adventurers – engaged in the discovery and sharing of knowledge.” This partnership in intellectual exploration includes all those who provide the material support for the voyage. This means the entire UNE community contributes to and is part of our enterprise, and benefits from this voyage of discovery. All of us who are part of this voyage should find the University of New England a place that expands our skills and allows for personal growth.

In our nautical metaphor, it would be easy to compare the University of New England to a ship. But a truer comparison, given the nature of this university, is a flotilla of ships that includes our three colleges, Arts & Sciences, Osteopathic Medicine and Health Professions as well as our researchers, our athletic programs, our student services and other parts of the university.

My family had a summer cottage on a small island in Lake Erie. Our children took sailing lessons every summer in Put-in-Bay. My husband and I would go down to the bay to watch their progress sailing the small, two-person boats. Initially there was a lot of bumping into each other, and a lot of yelling – “you’re taking my wind! hey, that’s my job!” But by the end of each summer, the boats left the docks in precise formation, sailed straight to their marks, and the young sailors worked with determination and cheered each other on as they mastered their course.

I see UNE as adventurers – as sailors on our flotilla of boats. We don’t have a global positioning system, but we have our compass and we know our generally agreed direction. As we go about our strategic planning process over the next year, we will begin steering our new course, laying out our marks, and building a number of “ships” with their own “captains” – deans and vice presidents – who will need to align the fleet to reach our new destiny.

As your new president, captaining the University’s diverse flotilla will be a complex enterprise, and keeping everyone on course will be a great challenge. I suspect there will be some amount of bumping into and yelling at each other. But this a challenge I am looking forward to because everyone is engaged and working toward our new goals.

You see, I love this. I was inspired to my vocation in education by my mother and father, who were both teachers in a small mill town on the Ohio river. I can well remember listening to them talk at the dinner table, discussing what motivates young students to learn. My father taught me that education is not the collecting of facts but rather a dynamic process of acquiring and applying knowledge. It is an ongoing conversation that is led by our basic human desire to learn and to understand.  My parents were my early role models and my inspiration and remain so now. My mother is here  to share this day. She serves on the Ohio Retired Teachers Board, she volunteers to read to kindergarten classes, hers is a life of service and teaching.

My own deep desire to unite my avocation – a deep love of learning – with my vocation as an educator is wonderfully captured in the final stanza of the Robert Frost poem, “Two Tramps in Mud Time.”

My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future’s sakes.

In this quote he addresses the merging of love and need – the passion of commitment to one’s work and that which allows each of us to truly serve within the perspective of our own imperfections and limits.

People who know me know that when I was first approached for this job, I wasn’t looking to be the president of a university. I was quite happy being a dean of a college at a fine medical school in South Carolina. So when first asked, I declined. But a number of things changed my mind.

As I reflected on my personal voyage, I realized that I missed undergraduates and a diverse campus life. And the more I looked into UNE, the place and the people really captured my heart and my imagination. It was obvious that this is a very special university. A few weeks ago I was waiting to have breakfast with one of our trustees and met a gentlemen, also waiting for someone. We began chatting and I introduced myself and told him that I had just moved to UNE. He said “Oh, I know UNE, that’s the little school with the big dreams.” What a great way to be seen. However, we are not so little anymore with our 3,500 students this year. UNE offers the best of all worlds to my mind, because it combines traditional arts and sciences programs with healthcare and medicine. There are very few schools that have what we have academically, not to mention two wonderful, distinctive campuses in great locations.

But the really compelling reason I was attracted to UNE was its mission and core values. One of its core values is access to education, something I care deeply about.

In reading about UNE’s history, I learned that Westbrook College, the University’s charter institution, established in 1831, was one of the first colleges in the  United States to offer co-education. It also admitted all races and took a strong anti-slavery position.

In the middle of the Civil War, the school in another bold, entrepreneurial move, almost unheard of at the time, restructured its curriculum and offered the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree – to women, six decades before women could vote!

In the 1930s, the institution that would become St. Francis College began offering first a high school, then in the early 1950s a college education to young Franco-American men from the local mill towns. This provided access to higher education to a group of students who otherwise would not have attended college.

The New England College of Osteopathic Medicine was created to provide osteopathic medical education to a region of the country where this opportunity did not exist. Once again access to education was given to a group of students who would not otherwise have it.
In 1978, when St. Francis College merged with the New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, the University of New England was created. Now Maine had its only private university and its only medical school, which was and remains the only osteopathic medical school in New England.

In 1996, the University merged with Westbrook College, making it a larger and much more diverse institution of higher learning. This allowed us to develop our College of Health Professions on the Westbrook College Campus and to significantly grow our College of Arts and Sciences on the University Campus, again increasing access to quality higher education in Maine.

Throughout its history, the University of New England has made social responsibility another one of its core values. An excellent example is Martin Luther King’s historic visit to the St. Francis College in 1964. A two-day symposium hosted by the College titled “I Have A Dream” brought together many noted regional and national leaders of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.

The symposium’s purpose was to bring to our state a greater awareness of the civil rights struggles our country was facing at that time. Much of the discussion focused on the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act then being considered by Congress. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the opening address for the session on Civil Disobedience at a critical period in our nation’s history.

UNE’s commitment to social responsibility is evidenced today with the University’s emphasis on service learning and respect for the environment.

“Citzenship” is the senior-year theme of the University’s undergraduate core curriculum. All senior students, regardless of major, are required take an interdisciplinary seminar and participate in a community service project. During their seminar students discuss the personal and public responsibilities they anticipate, and share their concerns for the world they are about to enter.

The focus is on preparing UNE students to make a difference in the world, their communities and their professions. We challenge them to understand the balance between making a successful living and making a meaningful life.

Respect for the environment is reflected in the strength of our biology and environmental majors, which number more than 500 students. It is also reflected by the faculty, staff and students from both campuses who serve on the Environmental Council, a focal point for increasing awareness and understanding of environmental issues both at the University and in the extended community.

A third core value is UNE’s commitment to educating primary care physicians and a myriad of healthcare professionals for Maine and the region. In the 1980s UNE began adding the academic programs that would put it on a path to become the premier university in the region for the education of healthcare professionals. Today, we educate more students practicing healthcare in Maine than any other single college or university.

Usually a public institution’s mission, UNE has taken on the challenge of preparing the health care workforce and health care researchers for our state.

With such strong core values in place – access to education, social responsibility and quality health care – we are well positioned to begin a new course and chart our new destiny.

The challenges of the future, as I see them, require building upon the “3 Rs.” Not the basics of reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmatic, though my parents would tell you those are critical too. The 3 Rs I’m referring to are Research, Resources and Reputation.

UNE is fast becoming a significant research institution. Our current strengths are in biomedical, applied health and marine science research. We must build on these, if we are to become the university to which we aspire.

Relevant new initiatives include a new biomedical research building; a new school of pharmacy; and a collaborative venture of our medicine, marine science and basic science researchers with the purpose of investigating the ocean and human health.

When I say we must build our resources, I mean more than financial resources. We must build all the resources that define a superior university – our faculty, our physical plant, our academic programs, our student body and our endowment.

UNE’s reputation has grown significantly over the past two decades. Once known only for our flagship programs in medicine and healthcare, we now command respect for our growing programs in the arts and sciences, education and business. U.S. News & World Report once again ranked UNE as one of the best universities in the North. We climbed eight spots in the top tier of our category. No other college or university in Maine was ranked higher. This is the fifth year that U.S. News has ranked UNE a top regional university. But our star can rise higher and shine brighter, and I intend to push us toward the kind of excellence that commands wider and greater recognition.

All great institutions are built over time, and led by exceptional people. This university is no different. I have great hopes and ambitions for my tenure here. I am fortunate to be able to build on the strong foundation developed by past UNE presidents, all of whom are either here or represented today.

The University’s first president, Jack Ketchum, was a respected business consultant who brought to UNE a rare blend of financial expertise and high ethical values. He served the institution from its founding in 1978 to 1985.

Charles Ford, our second president, was an exceptionally good academic program builder. He created highly regarded allied health science programs like physical therapy and occupational therapy as an administrator, then served six years as president.

The third president, Thomas Hedley Reynolds, was initially going to be a short-term, interim president. He had recently retired after a tenure as president of Bates College, where he turned Bates from a respected regional college into one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation. He stayed here four years and served UNE well.

Then came my predecessor, Sandra Featherman. She came at an important juncture in the University’s evolution, and moved UNE from a niche school emphasizing medicine and healthcare to a comprehensive university. She also led the institution through the successful merger with Westbrook College.

I am very proud to be here, at this critical point, to take on this leadership task and will do my best to merit your faith in me and lead this splendid institution. I come here with an open mind and a willingness to learn. The learning curve of a new president is truly intimidating! But I have a good idea what it will take to move this University to the next level of quality and recognition.

We are a young, entrepreneurial, innovative university. All these qualities give me confidence in our future.

But I cannot do it alone. I need your help. I need all of you to join me in this immense enterprise – this voyage of great adventure, discovery and accomplishment for our university.

The famous teacher Helen Keller said it beautifully: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

So let us begin together to do only the best work of which we are capable…

Let us begin together – trustees, faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends – to unite as a true university.

Let us begin together to steer a new course and chart our new destiny.

Let us begin together to sail forth, and to steer for the deep waters only.

Let us begin together.

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