Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1980 [PAGE 301]

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1979]

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

291

to have my name advanced to serve as chairman of the committee, I initially demurred. I was a little more than a year away from retirement and there were other tasks that had already been set. But I quickly recognized that to be asked to serve in that capacity was one of the highest respects a faculty could bestow on a colleague and that only a "clod" would decline that task. Since 1 was not prepared to accept that image of myself, I indicated I would accept the responsibility if my colleagues asked me to do so. Now, I can truthfully say that I am unendingly grateful for being called to the task. It has been the most informing and the most rewarding assignment that I have carried out in my stay in the University. 1 learned much, including some things about myself, that have been almost unbelievably revealing. I only wish I had learned them earlier. But I take comfort in the aphorism of Mr. Justice Frankfurter, "Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late."

REMARKS, DR. IKENBERRY

President Forsyth called u p o n Dr. Ikenberry to address the meeting. T h e p r e s i d e n t - e l e c t s p o k e as follows: President Forsyth, Members of the Board, President Corbally, President Henry, Professor Wagner, Colleagues, and Friends of the University of Illinois: Election by the Board of Trustees as president of the University of Illinois is an honor, of course, but it is also a public trust. It is in harmony with this sense of public trust that I accept your designation as the fourteenth president of the University of Illinois. I will dedicate my efforts to the advancement of the University and to the peoples and causes it serves. The quality of a university can be measured in terms of people and ideas. One looks to the character and reputation of the faculty of the University; to the quality of its students; to the achievements of its alumni; to the professionalism of its staff; and to the dedication of the members of its Board of Trustees. And beyond these qualities, one looks to the power of ideas — and the ideals for which it stands. By each of these measures, the University of Illinois stands as a truly great university. It is a source of strength for the people of Illinois, as well as for people all over the world. Mrs. Ikenberry and I, and our family, look forward to coming to Illinois. It will be our new home and you, we hope, will become our new friends. We come with expectations for continuity as well as change. We share your sense of pride, growing out of more than a century of excellence — a rightful pride in the accomplishments of the University of Illinois. Consistent with this pride, I asked if it might be possible for President Emeritus David Dodds H e n r y — (who incidentally, 1 am compelled to add, received all three of his earned degrees from Penn State) to join President Corbally and me today for this occasion. I will strive to continue this tradition of excellence symbolized by Dr. Corbally and Dr. Henry. As we reflect on the past, however, we need also to keep our eye on the future. T h e decade of the 1980s will be one of change and challenge for this state and nation, as well as for the University. Not only must we be prepared to respond to new needs and new challenges, but we also must work to create new alternatives and new opportunities to improve the daily lives of people in the years ahead. If we are to do so, the University must be prepared to accept and lead toward change. I am especially pleased that we have begun these discussions in Chicago, one of the world's major centers of economic, cultural, and intellectual streng f h. T h e University of Illinois must continue to be a major force for progress in this city. We have an irrevocable commitment to Chicago and we intend to strengthen our presence here in the years to come. This same day, we will join with colleagues in Urbana-Champaign, the birthplace of the University. That campus is a tower of strength. It is served by