Jonathan Alger was formally installed as American University’s 16th president at an inauguration event March 28 after serving as president officially for nearly nine months.
His appointment was announced a little over a year ago, after former President Sylvia Burwell said in August 2023 that she would be stepping down after the 2023-2024 school year. Alger took office July 1, 2024.
The ceremony largely resembled the University’s other formal events, such as convocation and commencement. AU Chamber Singers, Gospel Choir and the Symphony Orchestra welcomed guests. University leaders arrived in academic regalia with a color guard and a pipe-and-drum corps.
It was also a second chance to introduce himself to the community, after Alger’s welcome reception last April was interrupted by silent protesters who urged Alger to reverse Burwell’s ban on indoor protests, which he did in August. A protester was arrested at the inauguration after unfurling a flag in the bleachers at the back of the event. The University said it had banned flags from the ceremony and said the student threatened AUPD officers.
Burwell’s term lasted seven years, while her predecessor, Cornelius Kerwin, was president for 12 years, so most students will never experience such an event during their four years at the University.
The ceremony centered on Alger’s formal installation in office and the presentation of the chain of office, a metal chain embedded with the University’s seal that is bestowed by the Board of Trustees and grants him the power to confer degrees and lead the University.
It was a “Who’s Who” of AU, with attendees whose names most students know from the buildings named in their honor — names like Kerwin, Charles Lydecker, Marc Duber and Alan Meltzer. The event was a lot of pomp and circumstance, but it was also an opportunity for Alger to outline his vision for the future.
Alger spoke of Methodist bishop John Fletcher Hurst’s vision “to create a national university in the nation’s capital that would train the public servants of the future.”
His “American University dream” is based in “civic pluralism, embracing our differences even as we search together for common ground,” Alger said. “This dream of civic pluralism starts with the premise that inclusion and excellence are not competing concepts. They go hand in hand.”
Some speakers made nods to the unprecedented challenges facing the University from the Trump administration.
“You are beginning your tenure at a period in our history when our ideals and our daily responsibility to uphold them are increasingly challenged, scrutinized and debated,” said Gina Adams, the chair of the Board of Trustees. “In this time of great challenge and opportunity, we look to you to lead our university with commitment to these high aspirations and ideals, and for the needs of our campus, our community, our city, our nation and our world.”
Alger shared a similar sentiment, saying that D.C. was “in the heart of” Trump’s actions.
“In higher education and at American University, we face uncertain times,” Alger said. “Chaos and fear are all around us. The value and purpose of what we do is under relentless attack.”
Alger said that in this time of difficulty, especially in D.C., community members should practice the Methodist principle of radical hospitality, which calls for disrupting “cycles of brokenness” and “offering welcome to an outward movement to stand with others.”
“Those who hold onto hope will renew their strength,” said University Chaplain Rev. Eric Doolittle during his invocation. “They will fly up on wings like eagles. They will run and not be tired. They will walk and not be weary.”
Some students who attended the inauguration ceremony said they felt Alger has done a better job than Burwell at engaging the community.
“I think Alger does more to like, present himself to the community and be out there and meet people,” Sean Hanley, a senior in the School of International Service, said. “I’ve had chances to talk with him, and I had never really had a chance to talk with [Burwell], so I think to me he’s more present.”
Other students who spoke to The Eagle agreed that Alger has been more visible than past administrators.
“It feels like he’s more a man of the people,” Lucy Knoepflmacher, a senior in SIS who performed at the event with AU Gospel Choir, said.
She said she felt like Alger took an interest in the University’s arts community — another contrast to Burwell.
“I think that everyone in Gospel Choir, and probably Chamber singers as well, were very honored to be included,” Knoepflmacher said.
Hanley said he thought the event was important, especially for alumni, but he was worried about the price tag.
“It very much felt like it’s more so, I think, obviously for show,” he said. “I don’t know how much we need an inauguration, especially that we’re in the deficit.”
Just after the event’s midpoint while Alger delivered his inaugural address, a protester unfurled a Palestinian flag in the bleachers at the far back of the event. They were pulled out of Bender Arena by two plainclothes and two uniformed AU Police Department officers and detained, according to a bystander video obtained and reviewed by The Eagle and images taken by Eagle photographers.
The protester did not make any noise as they stood with the flag, according to the video and interviews with three students who witnessed the removal.
The protester, a graduate student in SIS, was charged with unlawful entry and two charges of threatening to kill police officers, according to documents filed March 29 by AUPD in D.C. Superior Court.
The student’s attorney did not immediately respond to The Eagle’s request for comment.
“Large flags and similar items are not permitted under event guidelines,” Assistant Vice President and Deputy Chief Communications Officer Elizabeth Deal said in a statement to The Eagle. “The student did not comply with this instruction and threatened University safety and security staff, at which point they were escorted from the arena.”
The event had notably higher security than Alger’s welcome reception in April 2024.
Guests at the inauguration were required to register in advance, and private security guards and AUPD officers checked badges at the entrance. The University prohibited “objects that impede visibility and air horns or noisemakers” from the ceremony, according to an email confirming guests’ registration.
Student Government President Arusa Islam said she watched the incident unfold from her seat on the stage. She said the level of force used by AUPD to remove the student was “awful.” She wasn’t aware the student was accused of threatening police when she spoke to The Eagle.
“After that happened, honestly, I feel like my body physically stiffened,” Islam said. “I was so uncomfortable by what they had done.”
SG Vice President Julia Comino said she thinks the removal was taken “to appease [the University’s] donors.”
“What was so disturbing was seeing the [plainclothes] officers putting their hands on a student,” Comino said.
This article was edited by Payton Anderson, Tyler Davis and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Olivia Citarella.
