[ Music ]
[ Applause ]
>> Thank you, Alexander
String Quartet,
and you guys looked
wonderful [laughter].
It is now my honor to
introduce the Chair
of the California State
University Board of Trustees,
Robert Linscheid, the presiding
officer for today's event.
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid:
Good afternoon.
Is this mic on?
Good afternoon.
>> Audience: Good afternoon!
>> Robert Linscheid:
That's good.
Boy, it is very colorful
tonight.
I was talking to some
of my colleagues.
We're going to go downtown
tonight and make reservations
for dinner, I think [laughter].
This is a -- what
a way to do this.
But good afternoon and
welcome to everyone,
to the Investiture Ceremony
at San Francisco State
University's 13th President,
Leslie E. Wong.
I bring greetings on behalf
of the California State
University Board of Trustees
and I'm pleased to join
you today's celebration.
To open today's ceremony,
it is my pleasure
to introduce Ms. Christina
LeoSantos [assumed spelling],
I'm sorry, an SF
alum in biochemistry
who will sing our
national anthem.
Christina.
[ Applause ]
[ Inaudible Conversations ]
[ Singing National Anthem ]
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid:
You may be seated.
Thank you, Ms. LeoSantos.
That was a beautiful rendition.
Now, to help us reflect on the
spirit of our gathering today,
I'm honored to introduce Fr.
Stephen Privett, President of
the University of San Francisco
who will deliver the invocation.
Father Privett.
[ Applause ]
>> Fr. Stephen Privett:
So let us pray.
Oh God, accept ourselves,
we have no other prayer.
Truth is among your most
generous gifts to us.
This calling to be unique and
uniquely yours and we know
from stipple on trout
70 shades of green,
more than 100 periodic elements,
birds and beasts innumerable.
You love best what is varied,
different and ineffably itself.
So one task of learning, like
Monet, we must set up 14 easels
to trace what sun and
rain do to the color
and contour of a cathedral.
Like Mendel, or Crick, or
McCormick [assumed spellings],
we must train our eyes on
common things, peas or corn,
to see what is shared,
the pattern invisible,
the providence beneath.
Like O'Keefe [assumed spelling],
we must study a garden
of blue petunias to
paint the night sky.
Like every writer ever born,
we must imagine what it
is like to be another.
There are many moments
of sacred time.
Let these years of
learning be among them.
From this blossoming labor,
let us know both
resolution and resolve.
Use all our ordinary efforts
to find the just way the open
heart, our truest self and you.
We are grateful that
you have sent Les Wong
to join our community.
We ask your blessings on
his time of leadership.
May it be fruitful for the
university community, satisfying
and sustaining for him.
We pray that San Francisco State
will always be a sacred space
of learning, lit by your wisdom,
your mercy and your grace.
We ask these blessings, oh word
in whom our worthiness
dissolves,
grateful that we have no
prayer except ourselves.
>> Robert Linscheid:
Thank you, Fr.
Privett. On this historic
occasion, I would like to begin
by recognizing some of
our distinguished guests.
With my fellow members
of the California State
University Board of Trustees,
please rise when I call your
name and I ask the audience
to please hold your applause
until I've read all their names.
Trustee Roberta Achtenberg.
Trustee Ken Fong.
Trustee Lupe Garcia.
And Trustee Lawrence Norton.
Thank you each for
joining us today.
[ Applause ]
What representatives of
the Chancellor's Office
of the California State
University who are seated
on the stage today, please
rise when I call your name;
and once again, the audience,
please hold your applause
until all have been recognized.
Chancellor Timothy White.
General Counsel Christine
Helwick.
Executive Vice Chancellor
and Chief Financial
Officer Ben Quillian.
[ Applause ]
Special recognition
also, Chancellor White;
this is his first investiture
of many more to come.
We want to offer a
special greetings to you.
[ Applause ]
Now, would all the university
presidents seated on stage,
please rise after
I call your name
and I'm sure the audience
will hold their applause
until I've finished [laughter].
Ruben Arminana, President
of Sonoma State University.
Admiral Thomas Cropper,
President of the
California Maritime Academy.
Alexander Gonzalez, President
of Sacramento State University.
Tomas Morales, President
of California State
University, San Bernardino.
Leroy Morishita, President
of California State
University, East Bay.
Eduardo Ochoa, President
of California State
University, Monterey Bay.
Michael Ortiz, California State
Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Mohammad Qayoumi, President
of San Jose State University.
Joseph Sheley, President
California State University,
Stanislaus.
John Welty, President of
Fresno State University.
Judith Greig, President of
Notre Dame de Namur University.
Dorothy Leland, Chancellor
of the University of
California Merced.
Fr. Stephen Privett, President
of the University
of San Francisco.
And of course, of whom
are a face to all of you,
Robert Corrigan,
President Emeritus,
San Francisco State University.
[ Applause ]
Now, would the members of
President Wong's cabinet
who are seated on stage, please
rise when I call your name.
Sue Rosser, Provost and Vice
President of Academic Affairs.
Nancy Hayes, Vice President
of Administration and Finance
and Chief Financial Officer.
Robert Nava, Vice President
of University Advancement.
Jo Volkert, Interim Vice
President of Student Affairs,
Enrollment Management.
Patricia Bartscher, University
Counsel and Chief of Staff.
Thank you all for
being here today.
[ Applause ]
Now, would the deans of the San
Francisco State's six colleges
please rise when
I call your name.
Linda Oubre, Dean for
the College of Business.
Betsy Kean, Interim Dean of the
Graduate College of Education.
Ken Monteiro, Dean for the
College of Ethnic Studies.
Don Taylor, Dean of the College
of Health and Social Sciences.
Paul Sherwin, Dean
of the College
of Liberal and Creative Arts.
And Sheldon Axler,
Dean for the College
of Science and Engineering.
Thank you all for
being here today.
[ Applause ]
Additional people at
the platform party,
I'd like to introduce now.
Adenike Hamilton, President
of Associated Students,
Incorporated, San
Francisco State University.
Douglas Roberts, Director of
Institute for Public Policy
and Social Research at
Michigan State University.
John Gumas, Chair of
the San Francisco State
Foundation Board.
Leona Bridges, a 2012 inductee
into the San Francisco
State Alumni Hall of Fame.
And the Honorable Willie
Brown, Former Mayor of the City
of San Francisco and San
Francisco State's 1981 Alumnus
of the Year.
[ Applause ]
I know I should've
done the mayor last
because I wasn't
finished [laughter].
Alejandro Murguia, poet
laureate of San Francisco State
and Professor of Latino Studies.
Lorna Chang Hill, San
Francisco State Supervisor,
for Undergraduate Admissions.
And Lawrence Hanley,
Academic Senate Chair,
and Associate Professor
of English.
Now, let's congratulate
them all.
[ Applause ]
And on behalf of President Wong,
thanks to the students, faculty,
staff, alumni, and special
guests who have made time today
to be part of today's
celebration.
In honor of President Wong,
we will recognize a number
of individuals who will
provide official greetings
on this historic occasion.
But before I turn
over the microphone,
let me offer special
greetings on behalf
of the California State
University Board of Trustees.
Now, as some of you know that my
wife and I recently located --
relocated to San Francisco,
very quickly we become welcomed
to the world-class
city of San Francisco
and consider San Francisco
State to be our home campus.
We trustees are ever so proud to
have Les Wong as our leader here
at San Francisco State.
Les and Phyllis Wong are the
greatest gift we could've given
to this campus and
this community.
Please, as a community,
embrace their leadership
and support their initiatives.
I know all too well, they
are student centered and, I,
on behalf of my colleagues
on the Board of Trustees
of the California
State University,
wish to welcome them
to San Francisco.
[ Applause ]
It is now my pleasure to
recognize Leroy Morishita,
President of California
State University East Bay
who will provide
greetings on behalf
of the California State
University Presidents.
Leroy.
[ Applause ]
>> Leroy Morishita: Good
afternoon, everyone.
I am pleased to have the honor
of representing my colleagues,
the presidents of
the other 21 campuses
of the California
State University,
in officially extending
greetings
and welcoming Leslie Wong to
the CSU system as President
of San Francisco
State University.
The job of a CSU President
demands awareness of
and responsiveness to the needs
of students, faculty, staff,
and the community all within the
context of a public university
in service for the public good.
President Wong's vision
and aspirations align well
to the traditions of San
Francisco State's commitment
to social justice,
equity, diversity,
and focus on student success.
He brings to the
campus a strong history
of successfully leading
a public university.
He has earned the trust and
respect of students, faculty,
staff, and alumni
by establishing successful
partnerships
with community leaders
and advocating effectively
in regional and state
legislation.
I have had the privilege
to know President Wong
for over 20 years.
He is a man of integrity
and honor, and a leader
who keeps his commitments
and respects his colleagues.
His focus is on students
and the importance
that a university
education provides
in making a meaningful
difference in their lives
for their families
and communities
and for the world at large.
Throughout his career, President
Wong has successfully led
insightful and ambitious
initiatives.
His leadership has
been characterized
by student centeredness, candor,
transparency, and energy.
Knowing Les and having
had the privilege to work
at this great university for
most of my professional life,
I was pleased to have the
opportunity to encourage him
to seek this presidency
and I actively advocated
for his candidacy.
The university has acquired
an exceptional leader.
I know his expertise and
vision will greatly benefit San
Francisco State, the region,
the California State
University system and beyond.
President Wong and Mrs. Wong,
on behalf of your
presidential colleagues,
we extend our heartfelt
congratulations
on this auspicious
occasion as we look forward
with anticipation to the
unfolding of your vision
and aspirations during
your tenure as President
of San Francisco
State University.
Thank you and welcome,
President Wong.
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid: Thank
you, President Morishita.
On behalf of the faculty of
San Francisco State University,
I am pleased to recognize
Dr. Lawrence Hanley,
Chair of the Academic Senate.
[ Applause ]
>> Lawrence Hanley: Greetings!
Greetings, everybody.
On behalf of the academic senate
of San Francisco
State University,
I welcome President Les Wong
to the dynamic exciting,
innovative, rigorous, robust,
and rambunctious
academic community
that is San Francisco
State University.
At the heart of every great
academic achievement, individual
and collective is one key
value - collaboration;
collaboration among colleagues,
collaboration across the campus,
collaboration between past
and present, collaboration
between classroom and
cutting-edge knowledge,
and between intra and
extramural communities.
Well, ready, President Wong
has demonstrated a keen
and formidable gift
for cultivating these
powers of collaboration.
Even as we extend this most
genial welcome, we, the faculty,
staff, and students of San
Francisco State University,
henceforth known as Gators,
look forward with confidence
and optimism to his leadership
of this great institution.
And now, in my Jesuit-trained
Latin, forgive me, please.
Salve, President Leslie Wong,
[speaking in foreign language].
Welcome, President Wong,
to our beloved community.
Thank you!
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid:
Thank you, Chair Hanley.
On behalf of the staff at San
Francisco State, I am pleased
to recognize Ms.
Lorna Chang Hill,
Supervisor of Undergraduate
Admissions.
Morning.
[ Applause ]
>> Lorna Chang Hill: Thanks.
Good afternoon, President Wong,
Chancellor White, trustees,
colleagues and friends.
My name is Lorna Hill and
I'm honored to be here
on this significant occasion and
bring greetings to you on behalf
of the 2000 staff
members from our campus.
Dr. Wong, our staff
extends a warm welcome
to you and to Mrs. Wong.
Last spring, I had the
privilege of serving
on the presidential
search advisory committee
to select our new president.
We were ecstatic when Dr. --
when we learned that Dr. Wong
accepted this challenging job.
After reviewing 60 resumes
from outstanding academics
from across the nation,
you would be hard pressed
to find a committee to form a
consensus on any one candidate;
but we all agree that Dr. Wong
was not only the best qualified,
but that his character and
demeanor would be the best fit
for our campus and
for our students.
During your initial
seven months on campus,
we have appreciated the manner
in which you have reached
out to our staff and
demonstrated your interests,
your support and
appreciation of our roles.
We have great trust and
confidence in you, Dr. Wong,
and on behalf of our
staff, we welcome you warmly
as our 13th president.
We look forward to
working with you to support
and fulfill your
vision for our campus.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid:
Thank you Ms. Chang Hill.
On behalf of the students,
Ms. Adenike Hamilton,
President of the Associated
Students Incorporated
of San Francisco
State University.
Adenike.
[ Applause ]
>> Adenike Hamilton:
Good afternoon.
I am honored to be here today
to commemorate the
investiture of President Wong.
President Wong, Chancellor
White, faculty, staff, students
and distinguished guests, this
afternoon I bring greetings
to you on behalf of our
university's 30,000 students.
Our campus is undergoing a
major transition in terms
of student population.
Our campus is comprised
of a diverse
and energetic student
population,
and our undergraduate
population is also reflective
of California's population
and it's interesting to note
that almost half of our
freshmen class comes
from Southern California.
More students from outside the
Bay Area are selecting SF State
because of its quality academic
programs, and the opportunity
to live and learn in one of
the great cities of the world.
I myself am one of
those students.
Our campus is also going
through a physical transition
with many new projects underway
that will further cement San
Francisco's place as a leader
in higher education
and it's amazing
to have President Wong
leading that charge.
President Wong brings with him
a fresh perspective, ideas,
and the sort of out-of-the-box
thinking our campus needs.
He's plugged in to all
aspects of our campus
and is the right person at the
right place and the right time
to further elevate SF State.
President Wong, we,
the students,
also love that you're
so visible on campus.
We see you in the Cesar Chavez
Student Center, at City Eats,
stopping by our student
organization offices,
athletic events serving
as the head spirit leader
motivating athletic teams, and,
yes, even stopping by noise
complaint our campus dances.
Our students are so fortunate
to have an engaged leader
like President Wong, who,
from the first day here has
made it a point to reach
out to students and to
get to know the people
that the university
is here to serve.
President Wong, on behalf of the
students, we are ready to work
with you in making SF
State a greater university.
We are proud to welcome Dr.
Wong as the 13th President
of San Francisco
State University.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid:
Thank you, Adenike.
I'm certain those Southern
California students
who identified are all
Giant fans [laughter].
On behalf of the San Francisco
State University Foundation
and Chair of the Foundation
Board is San Francisco
businessman, John Gumas.
John.
[ Applause ]
>> John Gumas: Thank you, Bob.
And if any of you
were wondering,
these are very warm [laughter].
Good afternoon, everyone.
My name is John Gumas and it's a
real pleasure for me to be here
as an alumnus of this great
institution, as well as,
the chair of the San Francisco
State University Foundation
Board of Directors, and
it's a pleasure to be part
of this investiture for our
13th president, Dr. Les Wong.
Shortly after Dr. Wong's
appointment last spring,
he reached out to
our foundation board.
He expressed how
excited he was to be part
of San Francisco State and
how much he looked forward
to working with us on the board.
And I can tell you that
President Wong he is a man
of his word because he's been an
active member of our board ever
since and we're very
appreciative of that.
His energy and his
vision of the board,
his passion for increasing
our fundraising capability,
as well as building university's
endowment have reenergized all
of us.
It's also clear to us
that Dr. Wong appreciates
and values our input and advice.
He is clearly commitment to
our students, our faculty
and our staff and he's
equally committed to building
and expanding relationships
with our elected officials,
our school districts,
our community members,
and our business
and civic leaders.
Fact, we saw a great example of
this recently, his leadership
in the community with his
engagement of Proposition 30,
so we thank Dr. Wong for that.
Let me add that the foundation
board is also energized
about Mrs. Wong.
Her passion for the students
and university is
absolutely contagious,
and I see you right
there [laughter].
And it's because your smile
and that smile is what
brightens our day every day,
so we thank you as well.
We are extremely
fortunate to have
such a dynamic couple
leading our university.
President Wong, the Directors
of the San Francisco State
Foundation Board want
to know how much we appreciate
the impact you've had on all
of us and our university in
just seven very short months.
Our future looks awfully
bright with you at the helm.
So, on behalf of the San
Francisco State Foundation Board
of Directors, many of
whom are here today,
we wish you a heartfelt
congratulations
on this special day, and we
look forward to your leadership
and working with you to take our
university to the next level.
Thank you so much.
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid: Thank you
very much, John, and thank you
for your work on behalf
of the university.
On behalf of San
Francisco State's more
than 200,000 alumni,
Ms. Leona Bridges,
a member of the San
Francisco State Alumni Hall
of Fame, will speak now.
Leona.
[ Applause ]
>> Leona Bridges: Good
afternoon, President Wong,
Chancellor White, alumni,
and distinguished guests.
As a proud alumni, I am honored
to be with you this afternoon
and to celebrate
your investiture.
Let me also share
with the audience
that I had the privilege
and the honor of serving
on the presidential
search committee,
and let me say the
committee chaired
by Trustee Achtenberg
made an excellent choice
in selecting Dr. Wong.
This afternoon, I bring
greetings on behalf
of over 200,000 alumni.
We have San Francisco
State University Alumni all
over the state of California,
the United States
and internationally.
In fact, Dr. Wong, I bring you
special greetings on behalf
of the 600 alumni in Taiwan.
They are still talking
about your wonderful
visit to Taipei last fall.
On behalf of the alumni,
we want to acknowledge
and thank our alma mater
for the best education
that we could receive.
Thank you for the education
that have blessed
us today and always.
The faculty and staff of this
university has nurtured us
and shaped us into the
leaders we are today.
San Francisco State University's
commitment to quality education,
coupled with a commitment
to social justice,
has provided our students,
and many of whom are first
generation college students,
with the best education in
the class of this university
and many universities
across this country.
We make our community and
our nation very proud of us.
As graduates of San Francisco
State, we have given much.
We have been given much by this
university and the faculty,
and we have the responsibility
to give back to our alma mater,
and we have to help and
mentor the current students
and the future alumni
of this university.
Our alumni, we are so
excited with your appointment
and we stand ready to serve
and we are committed to you
and the future of
this university.
We are ready to assist you in
connecting and reconnecting
with the alumni, both
locally and globally.
President Wong, we wish you a
long and productive presidency
and we are pleased to receive
you, Mrs. Wong, and your family.
We wish you blessings
and good speed.
Thank you and go Gators!
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid:
Thanks, Leona.
Now, on behalf of one of
the world's finest cities,
the honorable Willie Brown,
former Mayor of San Francisco,
sponsor of San Francisco
State's Willie L. Brown,
Jr. Leadership Institute
and a member
of the San Francisco
State's Alumni Hall of Fame.
Mayor Brown.
>> Willie Brown: Thank
you, Rob [applause].
Mr. President, Chancellor White,
all these other presidents
that are up here [laughter],
these other chancellors that are
up here, but this marvelous
collection of students
who have come to participate,
and listen, and enjoy,
and share with you this
extraordinary moment,
and I am one such student.
Yes, I speak on behalf of the
city and county of San Francisco
because our mayor is on his
way to become an Irishman
in cork [laughter] for
the weekend [laughter],
and then after that he's going
to become a Frenchman in Paris
and then back, to Chinatown
for Chinese [laughter].
But in the meantime,
he has authorized me
since San Francisco State
extended the opportunity
to me in 1951.
I was an immigrant from
Mineola, Texas [laughter].
I came out here, graduated
from [inaudible] high school,
Mr. President, and I was
going to Stanford for purposes
of becoming a math professor.
I went down to Stanford.
Before they told me the price,
they looked at my resume
and said, "You're in the
wrong place [laughter]!"
There's no way you're going
to be able to enter Stanford."
And it was a moonlighting
councilor
from San Francisco
State University,
Duncan Gillies [assumed
spelling], who said,
"And they are right, but I
know where they'll take you --
San Francisco State, the old
campus over on Buchanan."
And I became a member
almost instantly
of this marvelous family
and I have remained a member
of this marvelous family,
and I got the opportunity
when Robert Corrigan was the
president and I served as,
both speaker and mayor,
to really interact
with San Francisco State
and do what Leona says
and that's give back.
And I'm telling you,
Leslie, that I am going to be
in Jerry Brown's face full time
on behalf of this university.
[ Applause ]
As this great university so
richly deserves, the city
and county of San
Francisco is indeed blessed.
There are five or six major
educational institutions
that has more than 200,000
students and employees as part
of that operation in this city,
and believe me, that's a quarter
of the entire population of this
city; in San Francisco State
with its huge student body,
with its activist campus,
with its diversity, and
with the kind of leadership
that it regularly provides
and interacting with the city
as an educational
institution, you are in charge
of something that's
extraordinary.
And as I said to
Steve Privett earlier,
if they've gone four
days, one of the two
of you may have been pope.
Congratulations [laughter].
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid: Now, we're
all eager to read his column
on Sunday, aren't we [laughter]?
Check and see if your name
is in there, I'm sure.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Now, that concludes the official
greetings and now it's my honor
to invite Professor Alejandro
Murguia, poet laureate
of San Francisco, to the podium
to present today's
reading [applause].
>> Alejandro Murguia:
Thank you very much.
Muchas gracias.
I want to take the opportunity
today to welcome President Wong
and Phyllis Wong to San
Francisco, the city of poets.
[ Applause ]
We are truly fortunate to
gather today when so much
of the world is racked
with violence, intolerance,
prejudice, hate, hopelessness.
Poetry is also prophecy and
it is the duty of the poet
to prophesize in folk,
conjure a better world.
The word in Spanish for
hope is "esperanza."
I am very humbled
to offer a poem
for you today titled
"Esperanzas!
-- To Have Many Hopes."
Now, if I can just pull
the poem out [laughter].
The last time I tried this,
I pulled up a parking ticket.
[ Audience Laughter ]
Esperanzas.
Por Pachamama and her oceans,
and her rivers, and her forests.
Who will speak for the salmon?
For the soldier and
the soldier's widow?
For the one in jail
and for the one
that waits for the one in jail?
For the lovers kept apart
by laws and prejudices?
[Speaking in foreign language].
For the women of Gaza?
For the women of Rwanda?
For the village of Fukushima?
For those persecuted and
tortured because they spoke up,
for the refugee wrapped
in barbed wire?
For each and every human
being who sleeps in a street,
or a park, or [inaudible]?
For the sleepless
student drowning in debt?
For the family of that
student drowning in debt?
For the child with
nostalgia to be born?
For every child to
get home safe?
For the elderly alone?
For the permanent end of
hate, disease and poverty?
For a more just world still to
come where no one goes hungry
and the water is clean?
Prisons are outlawed and
schools are free and exciting
and poetry mandatory [laughter]!
For police and politicians?
For the [inaudible]
Indians of the Amazon
and the jaguar faced
with extinction?
For the last battle to stop
and every last gun
forged into a pen?
For the most desperate,
most hopeless in this world?
Those without even
dreams to get by?
We embrace you today
and surround you in
a rainbow of hope.
Muchas gracias.
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid: Thank
you, Professor, Murguia.
Presenting today's keynote
address is Dr. Douglas Roberts.
Dr. Roberts is a
professor and director
of Michigan State University's
Institute for Public Policy
and Social Research, an
organization that works
as a bridge between the
Michigan State University campus
and the community,
building relationships
between the academic community
and public policy makers.
Dr. Roberts has his
distinguished career
in public service spanning
nearly three decades including
appointments
to the administration
of five governors.
That would be unique
in California now,
wouldn't it [laughter]?
He has served the state
of Michigan in a number
of capacities including
Director of the State,
Senate Fiscal Agency, Deputy
Director of the State Department
of Management and Budget, Acting
Director of the Department
of Management and Budget, Deputy
Superintendent of Department
Of Education, and 10 years
as Michigan State Treasurer.
Sorry. He also served as a
member of the Board of Trustees
at Northern Michigan University
where he first met Les Wong.
Please welcome Dr. Douglas
Roberts for his address.
[ Applause ]
>> Dr. Douglas Roberts: Mr.
Chairman, thank you very much
for a very kind and
gracious introduction.
Good afternoon!
Now, that's not strong enough --
it is a magnificent afternoon!
>> Yes [applause]!
>> Dr. Douglas Roberts: Some
of my remarks today you
will have already heard
because we're talking
about the same people,
but I do have a prepared
text and I would
like to present it
to you at this time.
Distinguished members of the
San Francisco State University
family, trustees, community,
government and business leaders,
faculty staff, alumni and
students, it is my privilege
and my honor to be invited
to make a few remarks
at the investiture of Les
Wong as your new president.
I was a member of the northern
Michigan University Board
of Trustees when we selected Les
to become Northern's president.
Les and I worked
together for seven years
and it didn't take long for
us to become close friends.
I hope that you can appreciate
what a special moment it is
for me to be here today to
share a very special moment
with President Wong
and his family.
As we gather to formally
mark the beginning
of President Wong's tenure,
here at San Francisco State,
I want to tell you about
the kind of man Les Wong is
and how he will be a dynamic
and constructive influence
at your great university.
But before I tell you
about my friend, Les,
I want to make something
very clear.
It is not my intent to give
him a letter of recommendation.
I mean, you've already
hired him [laughter].
But it is my intent to
state without reservation
that you have selected wisely.
President Wong grew up in
the "rough and tumble world
of East Oakland,"
not my words -- his.
As he grew up, he discovered
that he has two significant
attributes; he could hit
in baseball and he
was a good reader.
Lucky for us, he chose the
latter in leading the way
to his future career
in higher education,
and what a career it has been.
He has served universities
in North Dakota, Colorado,
Washington State, and
of course, Michigan.
He is a man that
believes that campus
and community support each other
and that he is destined
to serve both.
He is relentless in the
pursuit of excess, of inclusion,
and of the opportunity for
all people in the world
to pursue higher education.
He is not a man to sit high
above in an ivory tower.
At Northern, he regularly
spent evenings and late nights
with students just
to talk and listen.
Of course, there was almost
always a five-gallon container
of chocolate ice cream
involved [laughter].
He also has a very big heart.
Let me quote from one
of his own speakers
to the students at
Northern Michigan.
"Learn and prepare
yourself to act on behalf
of others before you act
on behalf of yourself."
And later in the speech he said,
"Believe in the power
of kindness.
These words reflect a man
with remarkable character."
President Wong is
truly a remarkable man.
He does have a secret, however,
and some of you may already know
about his secret
and I'm sure you do,
and I can state his
secret in one word -
Phyllis [laughter], his wife.
She is charming, delightful
and self-sacrificing.
She epitomizes what one
woman can do on her own time,
unselfishly working to
assist and honor students
in their quest for a
meaningful education.
As you will discover if
you have not already,
Les and Phyllis are
a remarkable team.
Today's ceremony marks a
beginning of a new chapter
in the story of San
Francisco State University.
It is also intended
to acknowledge
and congratulate the man
who will open new paths,
transform lives and
lead the university
through this new chapter.
Mr. President, you have my
most heartfelt congratulations.
I am very proud of you.
The university community
itself has shown great pride
by coming together to
celebrate an entire Presidential
Investiture Week.
This is a week of
service, performance
and scholarship and fun.
This is very much in keeping
with the spirit and character
of your new president's
commitment
to campus and community.
Now, I'd like to
lighten up just a little
and have a little fun myself.
Let's start by comparing
President Wong's former home
at Northern Michigan University
with his new home here
at San Francisco
State [laughter].
The two cities are
very different.
Northern Michigan University is
located in Marquette, Michigan,
and Marquette is located in
what we in Michigan call the
"UP," the Upper Peninsula.
The city is on the
banks of Lake Superior,
not exactly the Pacific Ocean
but a great lake nonetheless.
Marquette has a population
of about 20,000 people,
San Francisco about
800,000 people.
I don't think Marquette has
had 800,000 different residents
in its entire history
[laughter].
On the other hand,
Marquette averages
about 13 feet of snow per year.
Let me emphasize -- 13 feet
of snow per year [laughter].
Snowfall in San Francisco?
Not so much [laughter].
The last time San Francisco's
financial district recorded even
an inch of snow was in 1932.
Very different cities
but the schools have more
in common than meets the eye.
Both schools were
founded in 1899.
The best research available
tells us that all students
in the first graduating class
at both schools were women.
Both schools have had five
main changes over the years.
Four to the five names are
almost identical [laughter].
Let me drive that
point home [laughter].
The schools both started as
"normal state schools" --
San Francisco State
Normal School,
Northern Michigan Normal School.
Both schools became
state teachers colleges,
and then state colleges,
and finally both are
state universities.
But there's even some more
interesting parallels.
President Wong left Northern
Michigan University last summer
during Northern's 113th
year of operation.
President Wong arrived here last
summer during the 113th year
of operation of San
Francisco State.
President Wong left Northern
Michigan as its 13th president,
and you know he arrived here as
its 13th president [laughter].
What does all this
research tell us [laughter]?
I believe it tells
us two things.
First, it tells us that
President Wong belongs here.
It is as if it were
written in the stars.
And second, it tells us that
if it is not already true,
President Wong's favorite number
should be [laughter]...13.
Now getting back, I
know firsthand that Les
and Phyllis are both
professional
and personally excited
to be here.
Professionally, it is the
opportunity of a lifetime.
San Francisco State has three
times the number of students
as this last post and it
is located in the city
of great culture
and great beauty.
The move from Northern to San
Francisco represents change
and change is clearly what
we face in the world today.
And we are changing at
what sometimes seems
to be light speed.
As a teenager, Star Trek was
one of my favorite TV shows.
Capt. James T. Kirk would
reach in to his pocket,
flip open his communicator
and make history
with the phrase,
"Scotty, beam me up."
Dr. McCoy would waive his
tricorder over a patient
for an instant diagnosis.
It was called a "tricorder."
Granted, we are not yet
beaming people around
but we all have cell phones
and MRIs can diagnose
with a simple scan.
When I entered college
in the fall of 1965,
I used a slide rule to
help with calculations.
In my second term, I used
a handheld calculator.
From a slide rule to a handheld
calculator to cell phones,
smart phones, iPhones, tablets,
and now the Blackberry
10 [laughter].
That is our world today.
I know many of you have similar
histories and can understand
that change, is now
the new normal.
We are living in a time of both
collaboration and conflict,
a time of both great
challenges and great joy.
We are living in a
time of transition,
from a time when we believed
many things to be impossible,
to a time when we questioned
whether anything is impossible.
Most of all, we are
living in a time
when we can identify
society's needs and problems
and celebrate our ability
to solve those problems.
The question for this
group is what is the role
of the university community and
providing leadership and working
through these problems?
I have seen the university
from different points of view.
I have seen it as a student,
as a state official, a trustee,
and now as a professor.
Each point of view contributed
to an enhanced appreciation
of the enormous responsibility
that the university community
has in influencing our society
and the world we live in.
And while we constantly
strive for social economic
and world solutions, the same
basic questions remain --
what should be taught?
Who should teach it?
Who should it be taught to
and who should pay for it?
The answers will have a major
impact on our economic growth,
our social justice,
our public health.
The solutions will reach to
the very core of our society.
And the days where old students
would need to learn much more
than basic skills, they will
need to learn to be resourceful.
They will learn to be adaptable
and they will learn
to be compassionate.
To those who will lead our
university [inaudible] awesome
responsibilities, leaders tend
to provide the inspiration
that drives everyone
to learn more.
Our nation's sixth
president, John Quincy Adams,
is said to have given
us these enduring words
and the qualities of leadership.
If your actions inspire others
to dream more, learn more,
do more, and become
more, you are a leader.
Universities will need the
very best leadership possible.
Les Wong is one of
those leaders.
My final comments are
directed to my dear friend.
Mr. President, you
have the tools
at your disposal to
make a difference.
You have great instincts.
You have wonderful judgment.
You have a keen intellect
and you have extraordinary
compassion.
Take these tools, Mr. President,
and lead San Francisco
State University
to a magnificent new
chapter promoting a safer
and more just society for all.
Thank you and congratulations,
Mr. President.
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid: The
athletic department just ran
out of here real quick to look
for that number 13 jersey,
I'm sure [laughter].
Thank you, Dr. Roberts.
Now, I have the pleasure
of recognizing professors
Zakarias Grafilo
and Fred Lifsitz, Paul
Yarbrough, Alexander Wilson,
known collectively as the
Alexander String Quartet,
San Francisco State's
internationally acclaimed
quartet in residence.
They will be joined by the San
Francisco State Morrison Center
Student Ensemble, the Holloway
String Quartet in performance.
[ Inaudible Conversations ]
[ Music ]
[ Applause ]
>> What wonderful
musical talent do we have?
Let's give them one more
round of applause, please.
[ Applause ]
Now, it's my honor to
recognize Dr. Timothy White,
Chancellor of the
California State University.
[ Applause ]
>> Dr. Timothy White:
President Wong, Chair Linscheid,
ladies and gentlemen, the
Honorable Willie Brown.
Perhaps I, White, can join
you, Brown [laughter],
and go to Sacramento to change
the dialogue about the value
of public higher education.
[ Applause ]
We'll be known as the
Mocha Brothers [laughter].
[ Applause ]
Blues Brothers have
nothing on us [laughter].
It's a profound honor
as your new chancellor
to invest Les Wong
as San Francisco State
University's 13th president.
As you've heard, President
Wong has a strong background
in working collaboratively in
a public university settings.
He's focused on students,
he's focused on the learning
and creative environment
provided by a strong faculty.
He is very supportive in
enabling of staff who are vital
to the success of
our university.
He is also a strategic thinker,
an innovator, who has the skills
to help this university to
navigate the path ahead,
one of great change, one
of great opportunity,
and one of profound importance
to our quality of life,
our economic development and the
social mobility of our people.
But most importantly, he
understands San Francisco State
and he's passionate about
improving the close ties
and impact that this institution
has with its greater community.
I know that as Bay Area
natives, he and Phyllis,
consider being here
a true homecoming
and that they will be
careful, thoughtful
and progressive steward
to this wonderful campus.
Will President Wong and Trustee
Linscheid, please join me.
[ Pause ]
You guys move over
just a little bit.
[ Audience Laughter ]
Give me my space.
[ Audience Laughter ]
By the authority granted
in me by the Trustees
of the California State
University, I hereby invest you
with the Office of President of
San Francisco State University
with all the honors,
the privileges,
and most importantly, the
authority, responsibility
and accountability
pertaining thereto.
[ Cameras Clicking ]
[ Applause ]
Ladies and gentleman,
please join me
in welcoming President Les Wong.
[ Applause ]
>> Pres. Leslie Wong: I
was trying to talk them
into designing a
baseball cap for me,
but [laughter] it might
have been more appropriate.
Chancellor White, trustees, my
fellow university presidents,
a great faculty, a great staff,
an incredible alumni base,
San Francisco State advocates,
and all who have been touched
by the magic that is San
Francisco State University,
thank you for such
a warm welcome.
Most importantly to
all of our students,
thank you for continuing to
give me hope and assurance
that our dreams and
expectations about your future
in this country will continue
to be my driving inspiration.
I've watched San Francisco
State students dance, act, sing,
and create the most
incredible music.
I've seen them work
in our science labs
and with the children and
young people of San Francisco.
Students planted trees with
me, they ran 5K with me,
and quite a few of you danced
in the quad with me [laughter].
I've heard student leadership
speak loudly and intelligently
about affordable housing,
sustainability, low tuition,
and accessible classes,
campus safety,
and access to quality faculty.
I have seen this campus walk
the talk of social justice.
I've also seen a three-quarter
court buzzer beater
against a nationally ranked
team; a towering home run
by a lady Gator, also against
a nationally ranked team;
and soon we'll welcome home a
national champion in wrestling.
These are but a few
examples, of my passion
to see student performance
in and out of the classroom.
I can't imagine a career
away from university campus
and what a delight
to be on this campus.
I want to welcome the
many friends and my family
from throughout this
wonderful country.
I have had the incredible
good fortune
to work among the best
educators on this planet.
Our adventures through the
state of Washington, Colorado,
North Dakota, Michigan's
glorious Upper Peninsula,
and now home in this
incredible city by the bay,
where it all started
for the two of us.
Well, the only phrase
I can think
of is how fortunate I have
been to have Phyllis with me,
how fortunate I have been to be
near some of the greatest minds
and some of the greatest
teachers.
How fortunate I am that our boys
and their families inspire
my passion for the future,
and how fortunate I am that the
students I have had around me
and especially those here at San
Francisco State University are
as eager as I am, to
keep looking ahead.
I share their optimism.
I have been fortunate
to be in the business
of higher education; well,
more than 30 but less
than 100 years [laughter].
Upon reflection, I can't imagine
being a university president
where hope and expectation
can ever be compromised
by despair and stupidity.
But I don't want to
get into reflections
about where I've been.
Good fortune has blessed many of
my steps, but I want to adhere
to Satchel Paige's
admonition, "Don't look back,
something might be
gaining on you."
Today is about the future.
It is about our work
with students.
It is about our work with ideas
and experiences that will change
and improve the lives
of our students,
just as their work will
change all of our lives
in deep and meaningful ways.
I'd like to talk about the
future knowing full well
that the effort of an incredible
faculty and staff coupled
with the energy of our students
will have a far greater bearing
on the future that
anything I could imagine
at this point in time.
Looking ahead is a pretty
risk-intensive activity,
but bear with me because what
follows is less about prediction
than it is about awareness.
And I promise that
the word "budget"
as I just said it will be the
only time you will hear it
in my remarks today.
My senses tell me that the
mixing complexity of issues
and challenges ahead
will sound quite
like an old record
played on a new machine.
That is, the problems
won't surprise us.
They haven't gone away
and like an old song,
we may remember the
melody and not the name.
But there's a new duo in town
who promises to take their act
to Sacramento and make
that change [laughter].
To set up my main point, I'd
like to take two examples,
quite simple ones, to get at an
idea that has been dogging me
for some time, and when I
tell you the two examples,
it's okay for you
to think, "Hmm,
where is he going with this?"
My two examples are
love and hunger.
Yes, love and hunger.
Now, remember, it's
my investiture
and I have you trapped
in here [laughter],
so please be patient,
listen, and give it a chance
to do a little thinking.
Love. I wonder if the
explosion of dating
and matchmaking services
will resolve an issue
about which Shakespeare
wrote so eloquently.
In today's blistering world of
technology, apps, smart phones,
a lot of dull phones, and
iPhones, we still write
about love and read about
it on paper and even
on our iPads and Kindles.
Some of those stories
come with illustrations.
These love stories will be seen
by a far greater proportion
of the world's society
whether in print or movie form.
Yes, we love to read about love.
We have become a
technological society
who will compile an even greater
volume of statistics about love.
We'll conduct and publish
research and even in some cases,
nowadays many cases, we'll
hook people up in the name
of love through technology.
That much stuff about love
has led to speed dating,
and many other more
nefarious dating games.
There are a zillion
pieces of software and apps
that help you look
for, find, and enjoy,
the person with whom
you hope to love.
There is so much out there
about and/or related to love,
I hope nobody in here
ever hears the following.
"With 98% confidence
derived from an assortment
of validated measures
at the .001 level,
we are a match [laughter],
and if we date 2.34 more times
we should consider marriage
and perhaps have children if
our confidence measure goes
up another .345 [laughter]."
I think the well-chosen
poem is far more effective.
Better yet, a game of AT
and T. Technology as good
as it is will not mediate
nor clarify the fundamentals
of love.
The danger is that we begin
to see the technical process,
and the numbers, and the
anecdotes, and mistake them
for meaningful knowledge
about love.
That is, it is too easy
to mistake volumes of data
in literature for
understanding the phenomenon.
You might expect
me to say, "Well,
love will always be a
mystery," or that we write more
about those things
we least understand.
Now, that's too romantic.
If we don't come up with a much
better and dynamic understanding
of human relationships
known as love,
the cost can be painfully high.
It is not a stretch of the
imagination that the bizarre
and catastrophic gun
attacks we witnessed result
from a complex mix of
psychological issues about love
and relationships, and, for
example, gun availability
which we need to
understand much better today
than we ever have in the past.
My point here is that we need
to cut through the massive stuff
and not be afraid to
ask better questions.
We need to think out of the box
on so fundamental
an issue as love.
Okay, enough about love.
Let's talk about hunger.
You would think by now that we
would be able to feed and care
for a greater proportion
of the human population
than we do today.
Shamefully even in
the United States,
access to the fundamentals
of a basic diet
on a regular basis remains
a challenge for too many
of our fellow citizens, and
it makes you think deeply
about what our responsibility is
to the least fortunate
in our country.
Surely, to eat and live free
of fear would rank up there.
We have thought deeply
about feeding each other
and I suspect we
know how to do it
and the solutions have been
known to us for some time.
But variables unrelated
to food production
and distribution
stand in the way.
Okay, don't worry.
I'm not going to review
that work here today.
Let's just reiterate a point.
We need to think out of
the box on this issue, too.
The point I am getting at
is the box which we need
to think our way out
of may not even exist.
Maybe it's within our abilities
as educators to ask students.
Here's how others have
constructed the box.
You have a choice
and the opportunity
to allow yourself to,
A; believe that you are
in the box and feel comfortable.
And, yes, it's okay
to be in some boxes.
Or, two; begin to understand
your need to figure out how
to get out of the box.
Or, three; you can take this
education you're getting
at San Francisco State
University and learn how
to throw the box away,
or deny its existence,
or even have the strength
to ignore the box.
Now, of course, the correct
answer, students, is...
>> [Inaudible response].
>> ...three [laughter].
Now, if you got this one right,
and I won't ask you if you did,
you must now commit
yourself to an educated life,
which I tell my students
is characterized
by dangerous thinking.
Throwing away the
box, denying it,
or ignoring it takes
the willingness
to engage a very dangerous idea,
namely, through this education,
it will force you, perhaps
challenge you, to think better,
to think differently and
to think without fear
and there will be considerable
forces who don't want you
to have this kind of power.
The San Francisco State
University education will give
you the power to throw the box
away to deny it, to ignore it,
or better, to change it.
But an effective
education is a prerequisite.
Without this education, the
walls of the box are thick
and greasy and the grip of
those who don't want you
to leave the box is firm.
A university education
that is most fundamental
and most powerful way provides
each participant the skills
and ideas to challenge the box
that everyone believes
you must be in,
but there is another
layer to this metaphor.
Your education will
give you the power
to choose the box
you want to be in.
This university education has
to be challenging and rigorous
so that you can free
yourself from the box
with vigor and intelligence.
And I become sensitive to
what we do so well here
at San Francisco
State and I am sure
that if we remember
the following guides,
our students more than most
will not be trapped in a box.
For example, the San Francisco
State University education must
be relevant so that you
can be taken seriously.
A San Francisco State University
education must be inspiring
because there will be times when
only you see certain outcomes
and dangers and you'll
need the courage
to speak up and to resist.
A San Francisco State University
education should be genuine
because we owe our
students the truth,
not only about their
performance but the means
by which they can
become better people.
And a San Francisco State
University education is
about becoming your best
and not as we see it,
but as students define it.
You can see that I
get pretty spiritual
about university education that
is student based, challenging,
rigorous, inspiring,
and liberating.
Owning your mind
comes at a price
and it requires significant
effort.
And I am not saying
that students
and professors should destroy
the important conceptual
frameworks that may very well
be needed, but we do need
to nurture creativity,
insight, and self-direction.
San Francisco State University
is pretty good at this
and I believe, that is why we
are among the best universities
on this planet.
We foster in our students the
passion to step free of boxes
for all the right
reasons and motives.
In closing, my expectation is
that a university education
at San Francisco State
University helps students
confront life's challenges
their way.
It would be too easy for
me to think or to refer
to an old Frank Sinatra song
about "Let's Do It My Way."
That would've been cool if
only I could sing [laughter].
But owning your own mind
is about leaving some
of these traditional and
unwanted boxes behind.
I believe our students will
put those boxes behind them
and if they do it, I also
believe that success leads them
to make a meaningful
difference in the lives
of others while making
a meaningful difference
in their own life.
It's a very simple maxim for
me because I firmly believe
that making a difference in the
lives of others enriches our own
in ways that no machine, no
software, no app could ever do.
And the romantic part
of me says, "Who knows,
love can't be far behind."
That is the power of a
university education,
the power to help students
own their own mind.
Now, I'll close by thanking
all of you for listening
to my addiction about students
and a university education.
I'll close with what I
think comes to closest
to how I have thought
about the future
of San Francisco State
University, and the students,
and the faculty, and the staff
who define this great
university.
If it sounds too simple or too
common for our great endeavor,
I apologize; but it
is one way I think
about my passion for what I do.
Again, back to Satchel
Paige, less known
but more relevant to me.
He is reported to have said,
"I ain't never had a job.
I just always played baseball.
For me, I have never had a job.
I just always taught."
Sometimes our deepest
passions are fulfilled
in the simplest ways.
I am deeply humbled by it today
by the presence of so many good
and brilliant minds
who share my passion
for learning and for students.
I never would've believed
that so many people would honor
a simple kid from Oakland.
[ Noises ]
[ Applause ]
I want to rededicated
myself to the students
of San Francisco
State University,
and to the generations of people
who will help our
students escape the box.
Every bit of gratitude
deservedly goes to my wife,
Phyllis, my boys, their
wives, and my grandchildren.
They are my box which I protect,
my family who keeps
my passions alive.
To the students of San
Francisco State University,
I expect you all to cut a more
meaningful path than I have.
That is the greatness
of a university
like San Francisco
State University.
Thank you all.
[ Applause ]
>> Robert Linscheid:
Thank you, President Wong.
Well, ladies and gentlemen,
that concludes our ceremony.
President Wong will lead
a recessional and we ask
that you remain seated until
we all have exited the theater.
Please join us in the Jack
Adams Hall located next door
in the Cesar Chavez
Student Center
for a reception immediately
following this event.
Who knows, we may convince
him to sing "My Way"
by Frank Sinatra [laughter].
We look forward to seeing
you all at the reception.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
[ Music ]