Installment Ceremony to Honor Academic Tradition and UW-Green Bay’s Seventh Chancellor, Michael Alexander
Green Bay, Wis.—Campus and community will join together to celebrate academic tradition and welcome a new era in school history with the formal investiture of the University’s seventh chancellor, Michael Alexander. Although Alexander was named the University’s chancellor in spring of 2020, the University postponed installation ceremonies until this fall because of the pandemic.
The Chancellor’s Installation Ceremony will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021, in Cofrin Family Hall of the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts on the Green Bay Campus. There will also be a virtual opportunity to watch the occasion. See more on the Installation Website.
Media is invited and is requested to RSVP to Sue Bodilly, bodillys@uwgb.edu by Tuesday, Sept. 28.
The ceremony will feature many long-held traditions of the University’s history including the University Mace, the signing of the Ceremonial Document, and the presentation of the University Medallion.
Since named Chancellor on May 1, 2020, Michael Alexander has focused on building tangible, action-based priorities to advance the University’s mission and values. Formerly the University’s provost and vice chancellor, Alexander has worked towards strengthening UW-Green Bay’s connections to and with regional high-school students, increasing non-credit offerings for the employees of Green Bay area businesses, and continuing to raise the trajectory of the University’s impact and outreach.
The audience (faculty, staff, students and friends of the University) are welcome to take part in the pomp and pageantry long-associated with major academic gatherings, while following COVID-19 best practices, including wearing face-coverings. The ceremony will highlight campus traditions specially adapted for UW-Green Bay, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015.
The list of ceremony participants includes UW System President Tommy Thompson, who will issue the leadership charge and present to Alexander his symbol of office (the UW-Green Bay Chancellor’s Medallion); members of the UW Board of Regents; and Dr. Tina Sauerhammer, vice chair of the Chancellor’s Council of Trustees. Aisa Micaiah Rogers, a senior studying Musical Theatre and Dance, will perform the National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing, and the Alma Mater. Secretary of Faculty and Academic Staff Steve Meyer will serve as the master of ceremonies. Alexander will also provide comments on the future of UW-Green Bay.
About the UW-Green Bay Installation Traditions
The University Mace—a ceremonial staff signifying authority—will be carried to the stage Thursday by the University’s most senior faculty member, Prof. Phil Clampitt, the Blair Endowed Chair of Communication. As part of the ceremony,
Clampitt will remove from the Mace handle a scrolled parchment document signed previously by each of UW-Green Bay’s six chancellors, to which Michael Alexander will add his own signature affirming the University’s purpose.
The text of the proclamation: The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay is dedicated to the idea of an educated person as one who is guided by the love of learning, committed to inquiry, creativity and scholarship through interdisciplinary and disciplinary approaches to defining and solving problems, and who is an active citizen providing service to the community.
Originally, maces were used as spike clubs for protection before becoming a symbol of fierce strength. The University Mace was created in 2001 by UW-Green Bay Professor David Damkoehler. The University Medallion is another symbol representing the Chancellor’s authority. Medallions have been used for centuries as a reward or to recognize achievement. These traditions re-emphasize, with each new University leader, UW-Green Bay’s commitment to the community and its students and the celebration of the past, the present and the future.
About Chancellor Michael Alexander
Michael Alexander came to UW-Green Bay in 2019 having previously served as director of the School of Music at the University of Northern Colorado since 2015. He was also director of Orchestras and interim director of the School of Music at Kennesaw State University and music director of the Georgia Symphony Orchestra from 2004-2015. During his time with the Georgia Symphony, he began the Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra program, which engaged over 400 students from the region each year in music education. Michael Alexander has degrees from the University of Georgia, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Madison.
Since being named the seventh chancellor of UW-Green Bay in May of 2020, Chancellor Alexander initiated six strategic priorities to support the future of the University: to continually improve student success and retention; provide access and support for all who desire to learn; embrace digital transformation as a way to model the world we live in; enhance the University’s connection with our region; renew and strengthen our commitment to sustainable practices and environmental stewardship; and create a sustainable path forward for Green Bay Athletics and the Weidner Center.
Alexander served as provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs from 2019-2020 and led the expansion of the University’s Continuing Education and Community Engagement efforts to build connections to high school students, increase non-credit offerings, and provide educational services to regional businesses. He also created an Office of Sustainability to improve efficiencies and increase the profile of UW-Green Bay as a campus traditionally engaged with environmental study; and restructured Graduate Studies and the Office of Grants and Research, setting the stage for the University’s growing research efforts.
About the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Established in 1965, UW-Green Bay is a public institution serving 8,970 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students and 79,604 continuing education enrollees each year across all campus locations. We educate students from pre-college through retirement and offer 200+ degrees, programs and certificates. UW-Green Bay graduates are resilient, inclusive, sustaining and engaged members of their communities, ready to rise to fearlessly face challenges, solve problems and embrace diverse ideas and people. With four campus locations, the University welcomes students from every corner of the world. In 2020, UW-Green Bay was the fastest growing UW school in Wisconsin. For more information, visit www.uwgb.edu.
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