Vargas wants attention deflected to school during his inauguration

After 10 months in office, Carlos Vargas-Aburto will be inaugurated as the 18th president of Southeast Missouri State University.

The ceremony, which is open to the public, will take place from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday at the Show Me Center. A reception will follow until 5 p.m.

Although the inauguration commemorates Vargas joining the university community, he will not be the focus of the day, said Bill Holland, vice president for university advancement and executive director of the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

“Dr. Vargas only had one clear mandate for the planning committee,” Holland said. “And that was first, foremost and only, it was not to be about him. It was to be about the university, its history, its successes and its future.”

The schedule of events for the day reflects this request.

Ann Hayes, the university’s news bureau director, said the inauguration was planned in May so it could dovetail with the activities occurring on campus as the academic year comes to a close. Holland said specifically, it was designed to tie in with commencement, since that is “the most important thing a university does: convey a degree to someone who’s earned it.”

Festivities will be carried out throughout the day and will include tours of the Academic Hall dome, shuttle tours of the campus and open houses in various departments on campus.

At 11 a.m., students may gather at Academic Hall for food, music and free T-shirts. At 12:45 p.m., they will assemble and march together to attend the inauguration.

All events, including the ceremony and following reception, are free and open to the public.

At the ceremony itself, representatives from the student government, faculty, staff and alumni will offer welcome speeches. Tomás Morales, president of California State University-San Bernardino and mentor to Vargas, will present a keynote address.

Following the address, Jay Knudtson, board of regents president, will present Vargas with the Presidential Medallion, and Vargas will deliver his inaugural remarks.

Vargas was serving as acting president of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania when he accepted the position as president of Southeast in March 2015.

He officially stepped into the role July 1, 2015, after the retirement of former president Kenneth Dobbins, who served the university in his role for 16 years.

Since then, Holland said, Vargas has changed the culture of the university through his accessibility and his passion for the university and its students.

Looking to the future, he said he expects Vargas to focus on academic success and improvement through efforts such as the university’s drone program and making sure the university’s academic programs receive the highest level of accreditation they can, “all while we’re going to stay solvent.”

Funding for the inauguration festivities has been provided by private donations to the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.

“This is key,” Holland said. “It’s all being privately funded.”

“I hope everyone will feel free to come as they are, no matter where they’re coming from or going to after the event,” Vargas was quoted as saying in the university’s news release for the event. “It is open to all, and we welcome everyone.”

bbrown@semissourian.com

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