Haas formally took office on October 27, before a crowd of about 1,000 in the Fieldhouse on the Allendale Campus. The audience included 30 dignitaries from Michigan government, U.S. colleges and universities, Grand Valley President Emeritus Arend D. Lubbers, former GVSU President Mark A. Murray and many of Haas' family members.
Media note: Downloadable photos from today's ceremony will be available in the afternoon. Call News and Information Services for the link to the photo Web site.
His 30-minute address traced Grand Valley's history back to the 1950s when West Michigan leaders began petitioning state legislators to establish a "college out of a West Michigan cornfield."
"From that beginning, teaching in the liberal education tradition throughout the curriculum has been at the center of Grand Valley," Haas said.
Haas talked about the leadership of Lubbers, who served as president from 1969-2001, and his vision for a liberal education university. During Lubbers' tenure, enrollment grew from 2,700 students to almost 20,000. "Under President Lubbers' visionary leadership, we grew in size and stature, but never moved away from our liberal education foundation," Haas said.
Haas said Murray, who served as president for five years, left Grand Valley keeping to promises he made during his 2001 inaugural address: raising the rate of graduation and embracing more rigorous academic programs.
Haas then reminded the audience why a liberal education is so important. "What makes our liberal education commitment so relevant is that it equips students with the ability to adapt and knowing how to think," he said. "If our students have critical thinking skills, are able to communicate, work in teams, work with technology, and understand and appreciate diversity, they are ready to face the complex realities of the world in which they will lead."
He said today's Grand Valley is a university that is seeking more global opportunities, striving for increased diversity and continuing to make environmentally and fiscally responsible decisions.
"We will take our liberal education foundation, our values, our commitment to excellence, and our aspirations, and be on the national landscape as an institution of choice in Michigan and well beyond," he said. "We are a comprehensive university of extraordinary quality."
