Read President Bergman’s Inaugural Address

Gustavus Adolphus College inaugurated Rebecca M. Bergman as its 17th President on Friday, Oct. 3 in Christ Chapel. The ceremony included remarks by Governor Mark Dayton, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, and President Bergman’s father, the Rev. Dr. Harold Weiss, among others.

Here is the full text of President Bergman’s Inaugural Address:

I am deeply moved by this moment. I stand here honored by the trust you have placed in me, inspired by the charge of this office, and grateful for your support and confidence. Thank you for the public affirmation of the work we are setting out to do together in support of the mission of Gustavus Adolphus College and for your collective commitment to higher education. I want to thank our trustees and former trustees, students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, retirees, parents, and friends of Gustavus who have helped and who will continue to help shape this institution. I particularly want to thank my four predecessors who are here today – I am grateful for the enthusiastic support you have given to me, and, more importantly, for what you have given to Gustavus. I am grateful to the members and leaders of the community of St. Peter, as well as regional and state leaders who are here today. I am touched by the greetings from our Chair of the Board, George Hicks, our honorable Minnesota governor, Mark Dayton, Rev. Heather Wigdahl, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and my father, the Rev. Harold Weiss. To all the delegates, including a friend from my own alma mater, Princeton University, as well as all the other special guests gathered here today, thank you for being here. To my husband, my children, and all the family members here with me today, thank you for the generous love and support you have given me as I have embarked on this new journey.

And so, with great fanfare, we start a new chapter of Gustavus history. We stand on a strong foundation and a history of great achievements, and, at the same time, we look forward with determination and renewed commitment to our mission and our purpose as an institution of higher learning. The words of The Rev. Dr. Edgar Carlson, Gustavus’s 9th President, struck me when I read his introduction to A Centennial History of the College. I believe his words are as appropriate today as they were over 50 years ago. He said, “A College is both what it has been and what it hopes to be. It is fruit and seed. It is the product of the planting and watering of other generations – their faith and dedication, their effort and insight, their hopes and dreams; and it is the potential of greater fruitfulness, larger service, and more fateful assignments.”

Our theme for the inauguration festivities is “Celebrating Community.” This was quite deliberately chosen, as I have a fundamental belief in the wisdom, the joy, and the creative power inherent in a true community. The theme has come to life in a symbol of community that you will see on your program that depicts a circle of people holding hands. In fact, note that their hands are not only connected – their hands are raised in celebration, and they stand, united, on the seal of the College. What a wonderful symbol of community!

So, allow me to expand a bit today on this concept of community. A community is generally defined as a social unit that shares common values. But it is much more than a casual collection of individuals. A healthy community is a group of people who have a deep and abiding commitment to each other, who communicate with authenticity, who celebrate together, who mourn together, who support and care for each other, who labor together, and who commit to a shared purpose. Suzanne Goldsmith, in a book on community service volunteers, says, “[Communities] are built of people who feel they are part of something that is bigger than themselves: a shared goal or enterprise, like righting a wrong, or building a road, or raising children, or living honorably, or worshipping a god. To build community requires only the ability to see value in others: to look at them and see a potential partner in one’s enterprise.”

But what are the factors that help build an effective community? David McMillan is well known for his theory of community psychology in which he emphasizes four pillars that work together to create a sense of community: spirit, trust, trade, and art.

First he emphasizes the importance of spirit – a spirit of belonging together, of being connected. In a community with spirit, members feel safe to speak the truth and to be themselves. People feel accepted by others. It is interesting that McMillan refers to this important factor in building a sense of community as “spirit”. It is well known to everyone associated with Gustavus that this community constantly refers to the “Gustie Spirit”. When asked, though, people have a hard time explaining exactly what is “Gustie Spirit.” While it seems difficult to adequately describe what it really is, everyone agrees that it is a unique part of the Gustavus experience, and it is almost palpable when a group of Gusties get together. Is it possible that this spirit is a manifestation of our sense of community? I would venture to say that it is. It reflects a sense of belonging, of being connected, of a genuine caring attitude toward fellow members of the Gustavus community.

McMillan’s second pillar in building a sense of community is trust. Members of an effective community must know what they can expect from each other. Roles and behavioral norms of the members must be well understood. A sense of order is established in which authority is understood and practiced in a way that reinforces trust because they follow established principles. The members can influence the community, and, in turn, the community can influence the members. Trust is an essential element of a cohesive community.

McMillan calls his third pillar “trade”, and by this he means that members find ways that they can benefit one another and the community as a whole. While people initially look for similarities when joining a community, an effective community appreciates differences and looks for the mutual benefits that are derived from living in community. Members leverage their individual talents and gifts, and they regularly and freely help each other. Once community members understand what they have in common and feel safe with each other, it is possible to share suggestions, criticisms, and differences of opinion. In this way, community members grow and learn from each other.

In today’s reading from 1 Corinthians, Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit gives us a diversity of gifts for the common good. He reminds us that all gifts – such as wisdom, knowledge, faith, teaching, and discernment – are received from the Holy Spirit. While individuals receive these gifts, they serve the common good. That is, the real purpose of these diverse gifts given to individuals is to serve the community as a whole. Hear again the initial verses of our reading: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” In this community called Gustavus, we each bring our gifts to the table and share them for the betterment of the institution, for the benefit of all who are associated with this College.

McMillan closes out his model for building a sense of community with a fourth factor that he calls, “art”. Art is the symbolic representation of shared experiences, particularly of dramatic shared experiences, that become part of a community’s story and part of the community’s memory. Through art, our values of excellence, community, justice, service and faith come alive and have meaning. Academic traditions, such as this investiture service or commencement ceremonies, music traditions such as Christmas in Christ Chapel, the various sculptures found around campus, – all these are examples of how this community celebrates its identity, its culture, and its spirit. Spirit, trust, trade, and art – the four pillars that give us a strong sense of community.

I have said often in my first weeks here that Gustavus is a special place. It is a community that has a strong and vibrant spirit; a place that values trust and a sense of belonging. Gustavus encourages its people to offer their diverse gifts for the common good. This is a place where shared experiences are felt deeply and become part of our collective story. We are blessed that “community” is one of our core values and is a part of the Gustavus culture.

But, you might ask, for what purpose do we build a strong and cohesive community? Why is it important that members of a community feel connected and have common values? All this talk about community for the last three days…what is the point, anyway? Should we just spontaneously break into a chorus or two of kum ba yah, and then go on our merry way?

So here is the bottom line – organizations with a strong sense of community are high energy organizations, and that energy is channeled toward greatness. They drive for achievement of organizational goals. They are innovative and are always trying something new. They set high standards of excellence in performance. They have a can-do attitude. They are willing to enter into constructive debate and are always looking to stay on the leading edge. They exude optimism and are resilient when things go wrong. They embrace change and boldly go where no one has ever gone before.

This is what matters.

We are all familiar with the challenges facing higher education today – the high cost of a baccalaureate degree, the mounting debt our students accumulate by the time they finish their education, the rapidly changing demographics of our nation, growing skepticism about the value of a liberal arts education, how to best leverage technology, the challenge of institutionalizing learning outcomes-assessment, and the question of how to measure the return on an education, to name a few.

We need innovative solutions to these challenges. We need bold people and bold approaches and we need the courage to implement changes. I believe Gustavus can be a leader in this effort.

Let us not forget that it is the students who are at the center of our mission. These young men and women are our future. They are our future leaders. They will become teachers, researchers, doctors, nurses, engineers, lawyers, musicians, actors, political leaders, entrepreneurs, or CEO’s. We need to prepare them for the challenges of the world they will enter when they graduate. We need to continually re-shape our curriculum to be relevant and more outcomes-based. We need to continue to emphasize the skills that employers are clamoring for – critical thinking, problem solving, strategic mindset, communication skills, and the ability to lead projects and people. We need to help students stay balanced and develop resilience in a world with increasing demands, growing complexity, and rapid change. We need to figure out how we might change the financial model of higher education to improve affordability and access.

And, how does this president plan to help in this process? I commit to tackling these challenges with you, to encourage and support innovation in every aspect of our work and every corner of our organization, to honor our past and push us toward a even better future, to listen to your ideas and look for creative solutions, to find ways to open up new possibilities, to foster a dynamic unity here that embraces diversity and encourages constructive debate, to inspire new levels of excellence in everything we do. But most of all, I promise that every day I will strive to commit my gifts to the collective work of this great learning community, to engage with all those who care about the Gustavus mission to make this organization a model for the future of the liberal arts.