[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 51 (Friday, April 8, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E669-E671]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INAUGURAL SPEECH OF PRESIDENT JOE URGO, ST. MARY'S COLLEGE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. STENY H. HOYER

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 8, 2011

  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I submit these inaugural remarks by an 
outstanding educational leader in Maryland's Fifth District, Joe Urgo, 
the new President of St. Mary's College.

  Inaugural Address as President of St. Mary's College--March 26, 2011

                             (By Joe Urgo)

       Thank you, Madame Chair, for your charge to me, which I 
     accept with pleasure and with full knowledge of the weight of 
     responsibility it entails.
       Madame Chair and board of trustees, Congressman Hoyer, 
     elected officials and their representatives, academic 
     delegates, alumni, faculty, staff, students, friends, 
     neighbors and family: I want to welcome each and every one of 
     you and thank you for the honor of your company on this day.
       It is traditional at this point in the ceremony for the new 
     president to deliver an inaugural address. We're going to do 
     that, but in a different fashion, which I will explain 
     shortly. I'd like my inaugural address to drive home three 
     linked points, and I'll need some help doing so. First, that 
     our past informs our present--we cannot be effective

[[Page E670]]

     agents of progress or change without an awareness of how we 
     came to be, and of what came before us. On the institutional 
     level, we know that the original St. Mary's school was 
     founded as a monument to freedom and inclusiveness. We may be 
     free, but we are not alone. This brings me to my second link, 
     that none of us exists as an island, even if we are 
     surrounded by water. On a personal level, we open our 
     awareness to full recognition of who worked to clear a path 
     for us to arrive here, on this spot, at this time. And third, 
     to reflect on our work over the past twenty-four hours, at 
     yesterday's symposium, work done by people who love this 
     place and this College, and by whose passion and dedication 
     we shall deliver on the promise of the liberal arts as a 
     public trust.
       These are the three links: (1) an acceptance of the ongoing 
     challenge of our profound origins; (2) a shared belief that 
     education is a collaboration; and
       (3) the conviction that it is passion that will move us 
     forward. Such is the essence of the inaugural, which is, 
     above all else, a readiness--to be prepared, together, in the 
     fullness of the present, inspired by an old verity: that our 
     love for St. Mary's College will move us to accomplish 
     something fine. Today marks a new beginning, and a 
     reaffirmation.
       But first, let's talk about me. Why me? Product of what 
     past, and by whose assistance, have I come to this podium 
     this afternoon? To help answer those questions, and to 
     illustrate that none among us stands alone, I have asked the 
     assistance of George Monteiro, professor emeritus at Brown 
     University, and Cecelia Tichi, William R. Kenan, Jr. 
     Professor of English at Vanderbilt University. These scholars 
     have built magnificent careers, about which you may read in 
     the program.
       In 1980, two years after my college graduation and two 
     years into post-baccalaureate wandering, Professor Monteiro 
     agreed to be my graduate school advisor and gave me the idea 
     that I might have an academic career. Some of it was spoken 
     but most of it was in temperament, sensibility, and an 
     assumption of inclusion. I would never have conceived of and 
     completed the PhD without George Monteiro's support--he'll 
     deny it, but that's the kind of support I am talking about.
       In 1988, I was three years past receiving my PhD, and in 
     the second of two contingent faculty appointments. That year 
     the English department at Vanderbilt University hired 
     Professor Tichi into a senior level, endowed professorship--a 
     signal accomplishment for her career. I was on a three-year 
     non-tenure track fellowship in the department and would be 
     gone in a year or so--a lowly accomplishment in mine. 
     Professor Tichi became a mentor and guide, and for reasons I 
     am not certain I know, took an interest in me, saw me through 
     difficult early career times, and continued as confidante 
     through the next decade of career decisions.
       I have asked George and Cecelia to help me once more, by 
     each taking a portion of the time allotted for this 
     inaugural. They are but two individuals who have made it 
     possible for me to be here today, as St. Mary's president; 
     many others are in the audience. My undergraduate thesis 
     advisor is one--Haverford professor of political science, 
     emeritus, Harvey Glickman; my collaborator from Bryant 
     University, Roger Anderson, professor of management; my 
     Fulbright host from Leon, Spain, Professor Manuel Broncano--
     que tal estas, Manolo?; my former colleagues and good friends 
     from Hamilton College, Art Massolo, Susan Skerritt (of 
     Kirkland College) Karen Leach, Dick Tantillo, Pat Reynolds, 
     Dave Smallen, Ellie Wertimer, William Billiter, and Mary 
     Lyons and Ed Bradley. These kind spirits inform my own--I 
     have them with me all the time; it is an honor to share this 
     installation with them today. I also note the love and 
     support of my parents, Joe & Rose Urgo--although not with us 
     physically, they accompany me today.
       I also share this day with my lover, my partner, and my 
     best friend, Lesley Dretar Urgo, as we have shared 28 years 
     of marriage, six job changes for me, at least that many for 
     her, nine household moves--and throughout the day-to-dayness 
     of our marriage, truly a partnership of mind, body, and 
     spirit.
       That 28-year partnership produced our son, George Urgo. As 
     every parent knows, we are also the products of our children, 
     who supplant our childhood and replace it with renewed life 
     as a parent. George has been a good friend since 1986, when 
     he was born in Syracuse one day before our health insurance 
     was to expire. His timing has always been dramatic and he has 
     been able to masterfully infuse that quality into his life's 
     passion. It is with a father's pride that I ask his 
     assistance this afternoon. And I could not ask for a more 
     suitable blues rendition on my behalf, as both a 
     representative of my love and of my confidence in the future.
       Professor Monteiro will speak first; followed without 
     further introduction by Professor Tichi. Once George has us 
     ready, I'll come back to the podium with my inaugural remarks 
     to follow.
       [Remarks were made by George Monteiro, Cecelia Tichi, 
     followed by a musical performance by George Urgo]
       [Joe returned to the podium]
       To borrow from the cadences of our students, ``I do, I do 
     believe, I do believe I am ready to be the president of St. 
     Mary's College''--and yes, I hope you are ready for me!
       In the past nine months there has gestated in me a love for 
     this college and a passion for its mission. And now I am 
     ready to talk to you about it.
       In the middle of William Faulkner's great novel, Absalom, 
     Absalom!, after repeated failures on the part of college 
     students Quentin and Shreve to understand the human 
     motivations behind events they seek to comprehend, Shreve 
     says, ``And now we're going to talk about love.'' At that 
     point, the roommates begin to realize that understanding, 
     unlike regurgitation, demands emotional investment, and more, 
     requires interpersonal, collaborative creativity. Yes, we 
     need data; yes, we need technical skills; yes, we need 
     assessment measures. But none of these processes and 
     admonitions will move us forward without emotionally invested 
     human beings. You have heard from individuals whom I have 
     loved, depended upon, learned from, and in turn, influenced. 
     As the president of St. Mary's College, I pledge to take this 
     model of personal interaction, of investment in collaboration 
     and influence, and make of it the the core value of what we 
     do here--in learning, in teaching, in research and 
     creativity, in daily work and in the responsibilities we 
     share.
       ``And now we're going to talk about love.'' I speak to all 
     lovers of learning, lovers of creativity, and to those who 
     simply love this place. Above all, the liberal arts is about 
     love: human passion, the engine of human emotion behind all 
     of human history. St. Mary's College of Maryland exists in 
     the public trust, offering the love of liberal learning--an 
     impassioned, dedicated, humanistic endeavor--to all segments 
     of society, supported by enlightened individuals in the great 
     state of Maryland. Where many of our nation's finest liberal 
     arts colleges were established as exclusive, private 
     institutions, this one was founded on the principles of 
     freedom and inclusiveness. As St. Mary's College trustee 
     emeritus J. Frank Raley has reminded me, our mission is to 
     provide an elite education that is not elitist. Our classes 
     are for all classes. Please join me in a salute to Mr. J. 
     Frank Raley.
       I am cognizant of the work of St. Mary's presidents and 
     principals who have preceded me, visionaries who have guided 
     us from 19th & 20th century seminary to 1960s junior college 
     to 1970s public four-year college--and to today's glimpse 
     into the future, of what will become an ``elite'' liberal 
     arts education, where ``elite'' refers to brainpower, not 
     family wealth. I follow men and women of remarkable 
     dedication and courage, and am humbled by their 
     accomplishments. With us today is the man whose vision of a 
     public liberal arts college animates us now as it has for 
     forty years--please help me acknowledge former St. Mary's 
     College President Renwick Jackson.
       My goal is to make the academic rigor of an elite 
     residential liberal arts education available to all members 
     of the coming generation who possess the will and the 
     capacity to meet its challenge. At St. Mary's College we do 
     not make class-distinctions for education deemed as 
     ``appropriate'' to the wealthy as apart from that 
     ``appropriate'' to the general population. Our mission is to 
     combine the two greatest educational accomplishments of 
     American civilization: public education, and the residential 
     liberal arts college. We seek to be an engine of class 
     mobility, helping to end the cycle of educational deprivation 
     that afflicts too many American families.
       Can we do this? Can we sustain this ambition in the face of 
     forces that will urge us to mediocrity, urge us to do 
     something cheaper, easier, something that in the name of 
     efficiency devalues the collaborative, humanistic educational 
     model of the residential liberal arts college? Former 
     trustee, U.S. ambassador, and friend of St. Mary's, Paul 
     Nitze, reflecting on his career, remarked, ``I have been 
     around at a time when important things needed to be done.'' 
     Embedded in that simple, humble statement is an attitude of 
     mind toward one's circumstances. ``I have been around at a 
     time when important things needed to be done.'' Students, 
     faculty, staff members, alumni and friends of the College, 
     there is important work to be done, right here, right now.
       With passion and a belief in the rightness of our charge, 
     we find there are important things to be done, and we are 
     around to do them--I feel within me a sense that this College 
     and this community are READY, ready for greatness. At St. 
     Mary's College we are the beneficiaries of one of the world's 
     most beautiful campus locations. Our natural surroundings 
     inspire our quest for sustainable living, ordered by a 
     responsiveness to the future of the land we occupy and the 
     waters that surround us. In months since arriving here, 
     Lesley and the College community have answered this beauty 
     with human hands, working to create an arboretum on campus, 
     further marking this site as a destination.
       The historical project of St. Mary's City reminds us of the 
     significant work done here in the past, and at the same time, 
     warns us with mortality. As well as live and thrive, things 
     die: they perish, they are conquered, they come to an end. 
     Our mission above all else is to embed our ambitions into 
     sustainable systems, so that the future is indebted to us, 
     and not in debt because of us.
       At a liberal arts college, ``education'' is the name we 
     give to intellectual endeavor, to creative expression, and to 
     the perpetuation of these impulses across generations. And 
     now we're going to talk about love. In Faulkner's novel there 
     is a concern that we are too quick to assign to human 
     motivation overtly rational, design-driven origins. One 
     character observes:

[[Page E671]]

       Have you noticed how so often when we try to reconstruct 
     the causes which lead up to the actions of men and women, how 
     with a sort of astonishment we find ourselves now and then 
     reduced to the belief, the only possible belief, that they 
     stemmed from some of the old virtues? (Ch 4)
       Faulkner called these the old virtues--love, passion, 
     sacrifice--the human qualities that produce what matters to 
     humanity, from the forging of a peace agreement between 
     contending nations, to the assistance offered a stranger in 
     need, to the mentoring of a student, a new colleague, or to 
     the simple preparation for class by professor and student 
     alike.
       At St. Mary's College, embedded in our mission and purpose, 
     is the premise that great things will come of following the 
     heart's desire. Learning to love what you do is a signal 
     achievement of a lifetime. Finding the important thing that 
     needs to be done, and investing yourself in that 
     significance, sacrificing for it, and loving where it leads--
     this is the essence of a liberal arts education. Once 
     immersed in poetry, in history, in science and mathematics, 
     you'll find that passion transferable to careers and 
     communities that will depend upon like-minded, invested human 
     hearts and minds for their perpetuation. And in that process, 
     forty years ahead, the community of 2051 will look back on us 
     and say, ``our way was made by the commitments of 2011, and 
     we inherit a college that was loved, nurtured, and cared for 
     by men and women of passion.''
       It is in this spirit that I ask all of us who work to 
     maintain and advance this college community on the banks of 
     the St. Mary's River to renew our commitment--to providing an 
     academically elite, liberal arts education that is inclusive, 
     public, and accessible; to fostering an egalitarian spirit on 
     campus characterized by collaboration and cooperation, 
     seeking methods of compromise over conquest; to installing 
     procedures and systems, as well as bricks and mortar, that 
     are sustainable beyond our lifetime; to considering future 
     generations to be our partners, not our creditors; to 
     maintaining the liberal arts in the public trust, dedicated 
     to the young people who seek the rigors of a liberal arts 
     education, in whose creative spirit and intellectual audacity 
     we entrust the future of this state, this nation, and the 
     world.
       I ask you, gathered here today: Are you ready? Because I am 
     ready--ready for the future of St. Mary's College of 
     Maryland.

                          ____________________