CARNESALE TAKES THE HELM
In an historic ceremony that dramatically bridged UCLA’s rich past with its limitless future, Chancellor Albert Carnesale was invested May 15 as UCLA’s eighth chief executive. It was the first inauguration of a UCLA chancellor in 29 years. The colorful ceremony, marked by academic tradition, was witnessed by a capacity audience of 1,800 in Royce Hall. Hundreds more in offices, residence halls 
and the Northwest Auditorium watched via Webcast and cable TV.
“I am excited about the future of UCLA and proud to be a member of the UCLA family,” Carnesale told the assembly. “I look forward to working with all of you as UCLA continues its ascent among the world’s great universities.”
In an address that resonated with the wisdom of his predecessors, Carnesale urged the UCLA community to celebrate its own achievements and recognize its potential to attain even higher goals because of the extraordinary quality and commitment of its faculty, students and staff.
“We are now ready to raise our sights,” the chancellor said. “My goal indeed, our goal is to place UCLA squarely among the ranks of the world’s great universities.”
Along the way, he noted, the university faces formidable challenges: its changing role and the public’s shifting expectations of what higher education should achieve; the explosion of knowledge with which information technology is racing to keep pace; and the growing need for resources.
Carnesale said he would launch a study involving faculty, students and others to address the challenge of organizing knowledge in the 21st century. The results, he said, will have important implications for the future organization of the university.
The chancellor noted that among his highest priorities is to ensure that the faculty’s need for first-rate facilities, equipment and services is met across the entire campus.
The procession into the auditorium included nearly 300 students, staff and faculty in the UCLA Delegation, followed by more than 50 representatives from colleges and universities from as far away as Armenia. The chancellor, accompanied by Chairman of the Board of Regents Meredith Khachigian, UC President Richard C. Atkinson, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and 100 other senior leaders of UC and UCLA, was among the last to enter.
In a letter of congratulations read by Khachigian, President Bill Clinton wrote: “You have dedicated yourself to empowering America’s students with the knowledge, values and skills they need to achieve personal and professional success. I am confident that, as you address the challenges and responsibilities of your new position, you will begin an exciting new era of educational excellence at UCLA.”
When Charles Young was inaugurated in 1969 in Pauley Pavilion, the event was set against a backdrop of anti-Vietnam War demonstrations. This time, 250 chanting students demonstrated outside Royce Hall against Proposition 209. Three demonstrators were arrested, cited and released. Inside, Undergraduate Students Association President Kandea Mosley delivered a speech decrying the end of affirmative action and then sat down on the stage for several minutes, her fist raised in protest.
In his address, Carnesale emphasized that diversity has always been UCLA’s great strength and its cherished hallmark. “The very fact that students are not alike in race, religion, ethnic background, gender, economic means, social experience and myriad other characteristics makes UCLA’s student body a mighty force for its own education,” he said.
“Because I believe so strongly that a diverse student body will, indeed, ‘lift the level of civilization of all of us,’” Carnesale said, quoting, in part, Ernest Carroll Moore, UCLA’s first chief executive, “I will do all that I can, within the law, to nourish that diversity and make it grow.”
Copyright 1998 UCLA Today
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