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Updated Thursday, November 05, 2009 9:36 PM
Hass takes oath as 15th president of Austin College
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CHRIS JENNINGS / HERALD DEMOCRAT
Former Austin College president Oscar Page and Robert Johnson place the Presidential Medallion on Marjorie Hass at the inauguration Thursday of Hass as the 15th president of Austin College. |
BY JERRIE WHITELEY
HERALD DEMOCRAT
SHERMAN -- Austin College made history Thursday night as it officially welcomed its 15th president, and first woman to fill the role, with an inauguration at Wynne Chapel.
Dr. Marjorie Hass thanked those who offered her both a job and a home in Sherman.
"I am overwhelmed with delight on this special day in honor of Austin College's remarkable past and glorious future," Hass said, noting that she, her husband Larry Hass, and their children, Cameron and Jessica, have been made to feel completely at home in Sherman, and in the Austin College family.
Dr. Peyton Randolph Helm, president of Muhlenberg College where Hass served as provost, said Hass holds particular traits that make her uniquely qualified to lead college students in their quest to find themselves and their purpose in life.
Hass is, he said, the daughter of two mental health professionals, the mother of two teenagers and the wife of a magician.
Hass said she and the Austin College family have already started working on a plan to help the college reach toward a boundless future. After the ceremony, Hass greeted well wishers as college alumni, staff and students prepared to enjoy a picnic under the stars.
She took a minute out of the celebrating to talk about the plans she and the rest of the Austin College community have begun to make to help guide the college toward the future. She said she anticipates that plan will be ready for public discussion sometime in the spring. The strategic plan, she said, will look five to 10 years into the future to see what the college can do to make sure it continues to matriculate students who are as well versed in the world around them as they are in academic subjects they study in class.
Though Thursday's ceremony was an official welcome to the college, Hass said she has felt very much engaged and welcomed there since she arrived in Sherman on July 1.
Hass started her career at Muhlenberg in 1993 as assistant professor of philosophy and was promoted to associate professor in 1998 before becoming a full professor in 2006. She earned a bachelor's degree, with highest distinction, in philosophy at the University of Illinois. She completed her studies there and obtained a master's degree and Ph.D. in philosophy.
 Comments ... 2 found!
It's Happy! : 11/8/2009
Sherman is proud of Austin College, and we welcome this warm and energetic family to leadership here.
Educated Liberal
It's sad.... : 11/7/2009
It's really sad that the college was so focused on getting a female or minority president that they had to settle for someone with less than 16 years in education and only 3 years as a professor..... Out of all the qualified people in the world, it's like they had to settle just to meet the imagined needs of the college, ie: a minority/female. Typical liberal actions from a liberal college.....
ACSUX
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