As Gov. Tim Pawlenty passed a crystal mace representing leadership to Robert Bruininks, the former University provost and professor officially took hold of the University’s presidency Friday afternoon at Northrop Auditorium.

On Nov. 8, the Board of Regents named Bruininks president after a five-month, nationwide search.

Bruininks is the University’s 15th president, replacing Mark Yudof who left last June to accept the University of Texas System chancellorship.

Bruininks began his inaugural address by saying former University President Marion Burton’s address was only four sentences long.

“While these times may suggest a similar commitment to brevity, I have rarely been accused of this particular practice,” he joked.

While facing issues such as a U.S.-led war in Iraq, a large state deficit and state funding reductions, Bruininks said the University must move forward and continue to reinvest.

“We simply cannot afford to slow down,” he said. “Truly, to mark time is to lose ground in higher education today.”

Bruininks’ main message was the need for the University to reconnect with the people of Minnesota.

Bruininks highlighted two initiatives to guide the University’s link with the public – the President’s Initiative on Children, Youth and Families, and the President’s 21st Century Interdisciplinary Conference series.

Because higher education depends on the next generation of students, the University will seek more involvement and support in the lives of Minnesota children, he said.

Bruininks said the University’s interdisciplinary studies – hybrid areas involving two or more studies – will also be crucial. He cited the University’s work in health sciences, biotechnology and computer and information sciences as examples of interdisciplinary work.

During a short speech following the passing of the mace, Pawlenty highlighted the University’s unique role of being the state’s sole research institution.

Pawlenty also said the University serves as the “main engine” for creating jobs in the state.

“We need desperately for the University of Minnesota to succeed,” he said.

On Feb. 7, Pawlenty cut $25 million in state funding from the University’s current fiscal budget. Pawlenty’s 2004-05 budget proposal, unveiled Feb. 18, calls for another $185 million in reductions to the University over the next two years. If approved by lawmakers, the reduction would be the single largest in the University’s 152-year history.

At a public reception in Coffman Union following the inauguration ceremony, Bruininks played the “Minnesota Rouser” on the trumpet. He was accompanied by Lynn Erickson, who plays trumpet in the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Erickson said Bruininks held his own, even though he hadn’t practiced in nearly 40 years.

“He did a pretty good job,” she said.

The reception drew a diverse mix of University students, faculty and state lawmakers.

Joe DeLisi, a third-year music education major, said he attended the inauguration because of its rarity.

“When’s the next time you’re going to see (a University presidential) inauguration?” he said.

Roland Guyotte, a history professor at the University’s Morris campus, said he is impressed with how Bruininks is handling Pawlenty’s budget recommendations.

Guyotte said while no one likes to talk of severe measures like closing campuses, selective University budget cuts need to be taken very seriously.

Bruininks has said closing one of the University’s coordinate campuses is a possibility.

The University’s current budget situation is not similar to financial problems in the early 1990s that prompted the closing of the institution’s Waseca, Minn., campus, Guyotte said. The Waseca campus was underperforming, while the current coordinate campuses are performing well, he said.

University officials said the weeklong inauguration events cost approximately $100,000 – paid for by private donations.

“Considering it’s such a big university, that’s kind of a drop in the bucket, in terms of what they could have spent,” said Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, Senate Higher Education Committee chairwoman.

Paul Sand covers University Board of Regents and administration. He welcomes comments at [email protected]