Inauguration Day inspires community learning and national pride
January 23 , 2009
As President Barak Obama took the oath of office and gave his inaugural address, about 130 Corban students and 20 or more professors, administrators, and employees watched the event live on the two large screens flanking the Psalm Center stage. Corban’s President Hoff invited the College community by email last week to observe this historic moment together.
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President Obama gave a wonderful speech! I thought that was exactly what needed to be said at this moment in history. |
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Several faculty members planned their lessons around the inaugural proceedings. During a break, Assistant Professor of Education Sang-Eun Dyer brought her junior-level reading methods class to the Psalm Center, and Assistant Professor of Ministries Anne Jeffers canceled her “Women in Leadership” class so her students could attend.
Professors Marty Trammell and Stephanie Staley intend to utilize the inaugural address in their respective speech classes. Staley said, “We will be analyzing Obama’s inaugural address, considering how he employs certain speaking techniques and powerful prose. I used to do this with JFK’s inaugural address, but I'm hoping that President Obama’s will compete with the gold standard.”
Corban’s older employees, especially, appreciated the nation’s pride with this inauguration. Professor Jeffers explains, “My husband and I went to college in North Carolina in the early ’50s when separate restrooms and drinking fountains were still the situation. Then in the ’60s I taught in the public school system in Tennessee when the process of desegregation had been ordered—we were involved in it, up close and personal. Both of these made an impact on me. Life was very difficult for the African American. So to come to the historic occasion of inaugurating a young, African-American President is an amazing experience. I do want my students to be a part, even if it is by television.”
Director of Information Systems Brian Schmidt said the College chose C-SPAN to encourage students to witness history without all of the commentary.
“I came because it’s important to see,” states Junior Brian Swearingen, who noted the significance not only to the United States but to all Western nations in this election of a non-white leader for the first time.
National pride for Corban viewers included but was not only about reflections on Black history.
Vice President Mike Bates values America’s tradition of peacefully passing the baton of leadership. “It’s such a great statement of who we are as a country that we can transfer power, even between parties with distinctly differing perspectives and methods—with dignity and honor. It’s a beautiful thing.”
