President Adela de la Torre: SDSU Students are Poised to Transform the World
In her inauguration, SDSUs first Latina president said the university will have a global impact that will start in its own backyard
*** Broken component ***
Promising San Diego State University will “push innovation boundaries like never before,” Adela de la Torre on Thursday was officially inaugurated as the university’s ninth president.“This is just the beginning of a great future,” de la Torre said during her investiture ceremony as part of an address that touched on SDSU’s contributions to research, the arts and education, its global impact and its importance as a transborder institution.
“Let’s gift the world the global citizens and the compassionate leaders and the ethical innovators that will transform the world,” she urged the audience.
De la Torre was installed by California State University (CSU) Chancellor Timothy White at Viejas Arena in a ceremony attended by SDSU faculty, staff, students, California higher education leaders, regional elected officials and tribal members, community members and other guests. White presented de la Torre with a unique, student-crafted medallion that carries the names of her eight predecessors.
Coming a few weeks after the university’s 122nd anniversary, de la Torre’s historic inauguration highlighted SDSU’s diversity, student research, the arts and its community connections.
De la Torre’s remarks spanned the arc of SDSU history and future ambitions—from its origins as a training school for teachers to its plans for a campus and innovation district in San Diego’s Mission Valley. She spoke of her own childhood and family, and she began and ended her address in Spanish.
H. Paul Cuero, Jr., vice chairman of the Campo Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, offered an opening prayer, blessing and song. The SDSU Symphony Orchestra performed several pieces, two of them with singers from the musical theatre program.
Inclusive leader and trailblazer
Keynote speaker Mildred García, president of the Washington, D.C.-based American Association of State Colleges and Universities, praised de la Torre as a “fearless leader who loves students first and foremost. She will advocate for you, open doors for you and ensure that all of San Diego State and its communities reach their highest potential.”
García placed the selection of SDSU’s first Latina and first permanent woman president into a broader context.
“How fitting is it that at this point in this nation’s history San Diego State has an inclusive, collaborative leader who not only listens and sees everyone she touches, she also listens to the silences,” García said. “Knowing that those who are silent and perceived as invisible are also part of this amazing institution, the amazing communities and the amazing nation that we are proud to live in.”
In her own remarks, de la Torre said SDSU creates “trailblazers who are breaking barriers, building bridges, and crossing borders every day.”
“Here’s what really excites me: Our students do not wait until graduation to make an impact on society. As part of their SDSU experience, they are solving tangible issues like hunger, homelessness and global warming,” de la Torre said.
She lauded student and faculty researchers who address such issues as health disparities, disease and the treatment of refugees detained at the border. And she said SDSU will have a continuing role in reducing social inequities and fueling economic growth.
Challenges and solutions
The growth of SDSU Imperial Valley and the planned campus and innovation district in Mission Valley are important parts of the university’s vision for a global impact that will “start in our own backyard,” de la Torre said.
“We will continue to address current challenges, seize creative solutions and uncover new opportunities to generate more revenue,” the president said. “Together we must push innovation boundaries like never before.”
White paid tribute to the “remarkable, undeniable momentum” of SDSU and its support from the community and formally introduced de la Torre during the investiture.
“I can think of no leader better suited to build upon this momentum than Adela de la Torre,” White said. “Her intelligence, her compassion, her willingness to listen and her unique ability to inspire a shared vision for a brighter future for all who comprise this diverse campus community and beyond make Adela the right leader for San Diego State University.”
An event for the generations
As tradition dictates, the investiture was held near the end of de la Torre’s first year as president and was marked by symbols and customs that date back to the Middle Ages.
More than 230 faculty, staff and students participated in a processional dressed in academic regalia of caps, gowns and hoods. University Senate President Marcie Bober-Michel carried the university’s ceremonial mace, a symbol of academic scholarship and dignity.
The sterling silver medallion conferred upon de la Torre immediately prior to her address also follows tradition. SDSU applied design student RexArthur Ramos crafted the medallion, which includes nine artistic “waves” as symbols of SDSU’s past and current presidents, as well as a representation of Hepner Hall.
Musical theatre students performed “Solamente Una Vez,” a song de la Torre said she learned from her grandmother and that “I have carried…within me all of my life as a reminder that that there’s only one time in our life to do something truly remarkable…to be part of something so meaningful that it can transform the world.”
The SDSU Symphony Orchestra and musical theatre students also performed “This Is Me” from the film “The Greatest Showman.”
It was SDSU’s first presidential inauguration in more than 20 years, and the historic nature of the ceremony was reflected in attendance from dozens of local and state elected officials, CSU trustees, campus presidents and other elected officials, as well as international representatives from Mexico, China and the SDSU campus in Tbilisi, Georgia. A partial guest list can be found here.
The day began with a showcase of 40 examples of student research at the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center. Hundreds of visitors listened to oral presentations and spoke to students with poster presentations, selected from entries in the 2019 Student Research Symposium:
Cassandra Tanks studied how Mao Zedong exploited the U.S. Civil Rights movement to expand and validate his Cultural Revolution.
Ethan Lopez studied eating disorders and other health issues within marginalized communities of transgender youth.
Nayeli Gonzalez examined the extent to which cancer patients in rural Imperial County engage in advance care planning for end-of-life treatment.
Following the Viejas Arena ceremony, a campus and community reception was held outside Hepner Hall with music and an array of internationally themed desserts, all selected from recipes submitted by students.
