“Reflecting honestly on our past while looking into the future with hope and promise, the choice isn’t between do we acknowledge the past or move into the future ... We must both acknowledge where we have come from and what we have come through as individuals in a community and we live forward into the hope of and for building the future.”
Brady said they look forward while they move into the future with confidence and the faith that it will “be well.”
“It may not be what we expected, may not be what we want it, but by planning and acting now, we will be ready to embrace what tomorrow brings. That’s the goal, the expectation that it will all work out and what we do today matters, for tomorrow,” he said.
“On this inauguration day, as we hope and move in faith to chart the future of Wittenberg, we must be firmly grounded in our past, in our mission, and to be and remain a liberal arts university,” Brady concluded with in his address.
The procession included delegates from colleges and universities across the country, as well as representatives from the university’s faculty, staff, students, alumni, the Springfield community, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Wittenberg, Germany—some of whom also spoke during the ceremony.
Bill Edwards, class of 1989 and chair of the University’s Board of Directors, welcomed attendees and spoke about how they found “the right leader” in Brady.
Last fall when they started searching for the next president, Edwards said they “did so with faith, fortitude and the knowledge that we had the strength of this incredible campus and community behind us,” all while colleges were facing challenges.
But they rose above the obstacles and found the right person to move the university forward, he said.
“We found a president in Christian Brady who personifies the innovative, faith-based, commission-driven leadership that Wittenberg needs to thrive in today’s higher education landscape. Dr. Brady’s commitment to academic rigor and his experience in building programs and cultivating philanthropic support are proving invaluable as he leads us on the Wittenberg way,” he said.
The Rev. Canon Hugh R. Page, Jr., the University of Notre Dame’s vice president for belonging, engagement, and mission, as well as an advisor to the president, provided the keynote address, saying the inauguration “signals something different — a pledge to support and accompany a new leader.”
“It calls attention to a critical season of growth in Wittenberg’s development as a nurturing, academic grove envisioned by Ezra Keller, the university’s founder and the first president,” he said. “You welcome your new president, Dr. Brady, into a community conscious of its rich legacy and excited about its future prospects as a sanctuary of learning.”
After the ceremony, a post-event reception was held on Chapel Lawn.
Several events have been held this week in celebration of the new milestone, including a student-focused Witt Way Wednesday, a faculty-led research experience symposium, celebration of service with alumni, a tailgate, donuts and fellowship and a workshop service.
Since beginning his tenure June 1, Brady launched a strategic planning process, partnered on new recruitment pipelines, secured leadership-level gifts, installed “a new sense of hope” in alumni, faculty, staff, students and families.
Before leading Wittenberg, Brady was the dean of the Lewis Honors College at the University of Kentucky, where he also served as interim dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and led the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University.
He has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a master’s degree from Wheaton College Graduate School in Illinois, and he is a graduate diploma and doctorate from the University of Oxford.
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