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Above, Kenneth Elmore, JD. in procession to his investiture ceremony at Dean.
It began on Friday afternoon with a procession down “Awpie Way” (named in honor of Dean Academy leader, Arthur W. Pierce – known colloquially as AWPie) and. marching to the cadence of a bag piper, to the Pieri Gymnasium. Dean Faculty and leadership, as well as key guests such as Town Council Chair Tom Mercer, were in full academic regalia and were joined in the auditorium by family, residents and others.
The occasion was the installation ceremony of Dean College’s 14th president, Kenneth Elmore, JD, and the school’s first chancellor, Edward M. Augustus, Jr. Although not directly addressed, there were many allusions to Elmore’s role as the first “of-color” president at the school.
There were several student performances and readings in the course of the event and Mark Boyce, chair of the board of trustees served as a sort of master of ceremonies.
An invocation was delivered by Rev. Beverly Waring, Minister of the First Universalist Society in Franklin and the ties between Universalists and the school were remarked on at several points – Oliver Dean and other Universalists founded the school and a Universalist church formerly stood near the center of the campus.
Levity for the event came from bubbly Jane Gagnon, a 40-year veteran of the school, currently director of logistics and campus engagement. She shared many light-hearted observations about the school over the years and brought down the house when she noted that recently departed president Paula M. Rooney was being replaced ---- by TWO men.....the point being missed by no one and taken in good humor by the day’s two honorees.
Rob Lawson, Ph.D., Professor of History and Director of the Honors program, in keeping with the tone of the event, delivered a high-energy romp through the school’s history, acknowledging the foresight and humanitarian impulses of the “Unitarians and Industrialists” (Oliver Dean, being both) that had created the school and citing many school events and honored alums that made the school so distinctive.
“Featured Speaker, Anthony P. Monaco, M.D, Ph.D., President of Tufts University, offered greetings and alluded to the religious and social impulse of Universalists that led to the founding of both institutions. Dean Academy was, in fact, originally designed to be a preparatory program for students intending to study at Tufts.
Chancellor Augustus discussed his roots in Worcester and his commitment to bringing that city back so that its citizens could see its potential and work to bring it to that potential. He promised he would do everything possible to help lead Dean with a similar degree of passion.
At the center of the ceremony, thought near the end, was President Elmore’s speech, which began with a reference to the jazz music of John Coltrane but veered deeply into his personal story of a rise from humble beginnings. He acknowledged a teacher in the audience who had helped him forward at Pomfret Academy in Connecticut and broke down momentarily when expressed appreciation that his parents were able to see their son’s investiture as president.
The “Dean Difference” was also mentioned by multiple speakers – the commitment to support students and not let them “fall through the cracks”. It was a message further strengthened by choral works and a final reading.
One other Franklin connection was a joint reading of the Alma Mater poem, written for Dean in 1940 by William H. Potterton and read, in its different sections, by alumni of different generations. The oldest reader was Franklin’s Victor Pisini, a local visual artist and proprietor of the shoe store on Main Street – and a 1947 graduate of Dean.
