The Inauguration of Karen Lawrence

"She's one of us," literature faculty member Ann Lauinger said warmly of Karen Lawrence during the Inauguration ceremony on October 5. Though Lauinger was speaking as a faculty member–Lawrence taught comparative literature at the University of Utah for 19 years–the sentiment is broadly applicable. College staff can claim Lawrence as their own, since she served as the dean of the School of Humanities at U.C. Irvine for the past nine years. Originally from New Jersey, she has lived on both coasts, helping her relate with students and parents nationwide. And though she didn’t attend Sarah Lawrence, she shares the spirit of original thought and creative action that characterizes our alumnae/i.

Community is the flip side of the individuality Sarah Lawrence is so famous for, and community building–on campus, among the College’s neighbors, and around the world–promises to be a hallmark of President Lawrence’s administration. When Board Chair Robert Riggs put the presidential medal around her neck, she became more than the College’s tenth president. She also became, officially, one of us.

Congratulations, President Lawrence. And welcome home.

Cover photo by Don Hamerman