GREETINGS FROM THE ACADEMY
Morton Owen Schapiro,
Williams College, President

My name is Morty Schapiro and I’m the President of Williams College.

It’s an honor and a pleasure to be here with you this morning.  Inductions have a dual purpose, celebrating an institution and an individual.

Trinity has much to celebrate.  As a liberal arts college, it is a proud member of a small but feisty segment of the higher education universe -- a group that positions undergraduate education at its core, providing a distinctive education characterized by small seminars and a focus on the development of critical thinking skills.  Along with Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan and seven other outstanding colleges, Trinity is a member of NESCAC, the New England Small College Athletic Conference, a group committed to finding the right balance between athletics and academics as we try to lead the rest of Division III both in the classroom and on the playing fields.  Finally, Trinity College sets the standard for community involvement, having discovered that it is ultimately much more effective to build bridges reaching out to its neighbors rather than build walls to try to keep them away.

We celebrate, too, President #21, Jimmy Jones, who joins your ranks after an illustrious career as a faculty member and as an administrator.  President Jones has already demonstrated that he knows how to be a successful college president, so I’m not afraid that I will scare him off when I point out the obvious – these jobs are tough.  To paraphrase Clark Kerr, former head of the University of California, a president is expected to be a friend of the students, colleague of the faculty, good fellow with the alumni, and a sound administrator with the trustees.  Above all, he or she must enjoy traveling in airplanes, eating meals in public, and attending public ceremonies.  (As I said, it is nice to be here today.)

President Jones, members of the extended Trinity family, may you strive together to reach your loftiest goals.  Your friends and admirers at Williams and elsewhere in the academy look forward to watching this wonderful college continue in its role as a true leader in American higher education.