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February 2009
GW Has Front Row Seats for Historic Inauguration
By Julia Parmely More than a million people traveled to Washington, D.C., to celebrate Barack Obama’s inauguration as the nation’s 44th president last month, but for GW students and community much of the history was right outside their doors. The University was a hub of inaugural events and activity Jan. 16-20, including an official float in the inaugural parade for the first time in six decades and a sold-out black-tie inaugural ball. GW’s inauguration week events began on Friday, Jan. 16, with BBC Radio 4’s broadcast of its popular political show Any Questions? from GW’s Jack Morton Auditorium. Program host Jonathan Dimbleby discussed the inauguration and new administration in the 50-minute show, which was broadcast in the United Kingdom and online. Following the program, the GW inaugural float was on display in Kogan Plaza for the University community. Selected from 1,300 applicants as one of five inaugural floats to participate in the 56th Presidential Inaugural Parade, the 70-foot GW float featured symbols and students representing the University’s nine schools, including a judge for the Law School; a student-built, mini off-road Baja vehicle symbolizing the School of Engineering and Applied Science; and a television screen for the School of Media and Public Affairs. More than 30 GW students, faculty, and staff prepared the float for its official inaugural debut on Jan. 20. On Saturday afternoon, GW alumni gathered for a networking event at Founding Farmers, a restaurant owned by GW alumnus Dan Simons, B.B.A. ’92, near GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus. On the morning of Sunday, Jan. 18, students at GW’s Mount Vernon Campus enjoyed a special “Welcome Obama” brunch at Ames Dining Room, complete with games and fun facts about the historical weekend. In Mount Vernon’s Eckles Library, a unique art exhibition, “Lighting the Presidents,” featured lamps with designs and constructions represent various American presidents. The final projects of GW students of Erin Speck, professor of lighting design, the lamps will be on display until Feb. 16. An ongoing exhibition at GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus commemorated inaugurations past. Located in Gelman Library, the Darrell C. Crain Collection of Official Presidential and Vice-Presidential Inaugural Medals is one of the rare complete sets of inaugural medals. The collection, which begins with the McKinley medal of 1901 and continues through the second Clinton/Gore Inauguration in 1997, was assembled by Crain in honor of his father, who designed medals for Presidents Wilson, Harding, and Coolidge. Sunday evening at GW’s Lisner Auditorium, talk-radio host Bill Press moderated a three-hour live broadcast with some of the nation’s leading progressive talk-radio hosts, including Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller, and Randi Rhodes, for Obama Radio Nation 2009. Televised live on C-SPAN, the program celebrated the inauguration and the role progressive talk radio has played in past presidential inaugurations. On Monday evening, members of the GW community gathered in Kogan Plaza to send off the GW float at the Inaugural Float Pep Rally. The crowd danced with mascots Big George and George while the Mount Saint Mary Academy Marching Band, Colonial Brass, and GW Cheer Team pumped up the crowd. President Steven Knapp and Executive Director of the Student Activities Center Timothy Miller made remarks along with GW inaugural float project leaders senior Vishal Aswani, GW Student Association president, and senior Charlie Burgoyne, Student Association executive director of programming and activities. At the rally, Dr. Knapp and Miller praised the GW float team’s creativity and ingenuity. “It is an honor to be here to send off the float,” said Dr. Knapp. “This is a great moment in history and a great memory for the University and students. You make us very proud.” “The students did a great job, and I think very few people could have pulled this off,” said Miller. “The float is amazing, and whether you are on it or not, you’re all part of an amazing project happening at this University.” On Tuesday, members of the GW community gathered in Foggy Bottom at GW’s Jack Morton Auditorium, J Street, and Hippodrome, and on GW’s Mount Vernon Campus at The Pub to watch the swearing-in ceremony and the inaugural parade. The week culminated Tuesday night when more than 5,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and residents put on evening gowns and tuxedos and hit the dance floor at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Northwest Washington, D.C., for GW’s largest-ever inaugural ball. Guests dined on beef, roast turkey, and a dessert buffet while enjoying five rooms of entertainment including jazz, swing, and pop music. There also was a “student talent room” featuring music and theater performances by GW alumni and students. One of the rooms, the “urban lounge,” was added to accommodate an extra 1,200 guests due to the rapid sale of tickets. Executive Associate for GW’s Office of University Events Cattleya Wongkongkatap says events staff and the 25-member Inaugural Ball Planning Committee met regularly for three months to iron out every detail, from the complimentary coat check to free shuttles to the site from the Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon campuses. “It was definitely a highlight for me to plan an inaugural ball after such a historic election,” says Wongkongkatap. “I hope it was an unforgettable event that students will remember with happiness when they look back on their time at GW.”
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