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INAUGURAL REMARKS
Sarah Besnoff '09
Representing the Students
Welcome Barnard students, alumnae, faculty, staff, guests and friends of the College. My name is Sarah Besnoff and I am the President of the Student Government Association of Barnard College. I am here today to welcome President Debora Spar on behalf of Barnard students.
Barnard women start our time here as high school graduates from around the world, ushered into this "college on a hilltop," set to accomplish and perfect our signature “9 Ways of Knowing” and to graduate “strong and beautiful” Barnard alumnae. During my first tour of campus, my tour guide promised that Barnard College provides "the best of all worlds." Now as a senior, I understand how much that idea informs student life at Barnard. We are the "best of all worlds" because we are a liberal arts women's college in partnership with a larger university. We are the "best of all worlds" because we prize independence and entrepreneurship while still having a superb advising program. We teach a ground-breaking liberal arts curriculum, while offering real-world education through internships.
My tour guide was right - Barnard College is the place where everything is possible. We are challenged in our classes to think about different perspectives and in our extra-curricular life to balance many options and obligations. Barnard women are globally-minded, while actively serving the local community. Barnard women exemplify our mothers' dreams of gender equality while still understanding the need to fight for parity. Barnard women travel outside our gates to study abroad, while still returning home to celebrate Spirit Day. And the "city that never sleeps" is certainly true - New York's has many distractions and I have a lot of midterms.
At Barnard, we learn to be leaders through these dichotomies we juggle as students. To become these leaders, we also look to our own – our professors, alumnae, staff, administrators, and our President. Our President should be a model leader: one who learns from different perspectives and balances diverse interests. Our President should be both a scholar and a business-savvy administrator. Our President should be both a big-picture strategic thinker and a great listener, passionate about the opinions of individual students. Most importantly, our President should be excited to serve students food at Midnight Breakfast. We have certainly found our President in Debora Spar.
Debora Spar exemplifies all the leadership qualities Barnard women cultivate during our time here. She is a political scientist, teacher-scholar, author, administrator, mother, and leader and it is my most esteemed honor to now call her our President. The Eleventh Leader of Barnard College, President Spar, will help Barnard continue her tradition of empowering future global leaders. On behalf of all students, I welcome you to our community, our sisterhood, our College. Welcome to the "best of all worlds."
WEBCAST
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REMARKS:
» Provost Boylan, Call to Order
» Anna Quindlen's Remarks
» Lee Bollinger's Remarks
» Allison Stanger
» Kimberly Patton, Benediction
» Frances Sadler's Welcome
» Mary Gordon's Welcome
» Phyllis Ben's Welcome
» Sarah Besnoff's Welcome
» Investiture
» Debora Spar's Keynote Address