Ceremonial Conferral of President Albrecht

President Stan L. Albrecht was officially recognized as the 15th president of Utah State University at the 114th commencement exercise Dec. 17 in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. The brief investiture ceremony was conducted by State Board of Regents Chair Nolan Karras.

“One of the advantages of having foregone a formal inaugural event and doing, instead, this small investiture as part of our Fall Commencement, is that we get to skip long speeches,” Albrecht told thousands in the audience who came to celebrate the 550 graduates. “Chairman Karras and members of the State Board of Regents, as I noted on January 18 of this year when you granted me the opportunity to serve as Utah State University’s 15th president, I accept this assignment both joyfully and with great humility.”

 

Albrecht said he was “deeply honored” by the trust placed in him. “I am completely, totally, thoroughly, lock-stock-and-barrel invested in Utah State University.”

 

He referred to the tragic van accident in September and how the university has experienced “an enormously difficult and challenging” autumn. He said that the experiences of the last 11 months “have only amplified and made more inclusive my great love for Utah State University.”

 

The native Utah president expressed appreciation for the confidence placed in him and pledged to do all in his capacity to live up to that trust. He said each day would be embraced for the new opportunity it provides. 

 

“We will continue our untiring effort to build on the great foundation left us by others as we move this great institution forward,” he said. “I gratefully accept the charge given.”