{"id":4258,"date":"2013-04-30T15:11:42","date_gmt":"2013-04-30T20:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=4258"},"modified":"2013-05-03T11:37:54","modified_gmt":"2013-05-03T16:37:54","slug":"mason-inaugurations-through-the-years-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=4258","title":{"rendered":"Mason Inaugurations Through the Years, Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

University President, Dr. Robert C. Krug, at his desk at George Mason University, Fairfax Campus. Photograph is undated, but is most probably ca. 1977 or 1978. George Mason University photograph collection Box 2, Folder 15. Copyright held by George Mason University. Restricted to personal, non-commercial use only. For permission to publish, contact Special Collections & Archives, George Mason University Libraries, speccoll@gmu.edu.<\/p><\/div>\n

This post is a continuation of the the original post entitled Mason Inaugurations Through the Years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dr. Robert Krug became George Mason University’s third president although he never interviewed for it. The unexpected resignation of President Vergil Dykstra in April 1977 came as a surprise to many, but to none more so than Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Robert C. Krug.\u00a0 Krug was appointed Acting President immediately following Dr. Dykstra\u2019s departure having learned of his new position after returning from a short vacation.\u00a0 He accepted the position with the stipulation that he did not wish to remain President; he would only fill in until a new president was chosen.\u00a0 His official duties began without fanfare on April 1, 1977.\u00a0 Dr. Krug\u2019s most important goals during his short term as president were to effectively define and manage the budget and to oversee the emergence of the School of Law in Arlington, which he accomplished successfully. He also oversaw the completion of the first on-campus housing, and began the work of establishing a computer system for the university. Though his title was Acting President, Dr. Krug was later was named President Emeritus by the Board of Visitors at the end of his term.<\/p>\n

The ceremony hailing Dr. George W. Johnson as Mason’s fouth president on Saturday April 7, 1979 was Mason’s first-ever presidential inauguration.\u00a0 April 7 was also University Day, the day Mason celebrates its becoming an independent university beginning in 1972.\u00a0 The first inauguration of\u00a0 a George Mason president was also designed to be a celebration of a successful year at Mason.\u00a0 Just a few months earlier the George Mason University School of Law had been created, and Mason had been approved by the state legislature to grant doctoral degrees.<\/p>\n

The ceremony was held in the gymnasium of the Physical Education Building (today known as the Recreation and Athletic Complex or RAC). It began with a procession of Mason faculty, representatives from over sixty other colleges and universities, members of the Board of Visitors, Mason faculty, and students. The Mason Symphonic Winds Orchestra and Mason Chorus performed the music. Speakers included Dr. J. Wade Gilley, Virginia’s Secretary of Education; State Senator, Omer L. Hirst, who noted that Mason was “on the threshold of greatness”; alumni, faculty, and student representatives. Johnson’s inaugural speech entitled “Promise” stressed his desire to educate students to become “citizens” not merely professionals. Dr. Johnson was invested by Rector of Board of Visitors, Harriet “Happy” Bradley. The festivities ended with an inaugural ball held in the lower level of the Student Union Building (now known as Student Union Building I). A live band was on hand to play music from the 1940s through the 1970s.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. George W. Johnson at his inauguration, April 7, 1979, Physical Education Building, Fairfax Campus.George Mason University photograph collection Box 13, Folder 10. Copyright held by George Mason University. Restricted to personal, non-commercial use only. For permission to publish, contact Special Collections & Archives, George Mason University Libraries, speccoll@gmu.edu.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dr Alan G. Merten was inaugurated Mason’s fifth\u00a0 president on April 4, 1997 in Patriot Center.\u00a0 The event was a star-studded affair, as attendees included Virginia Governor, George Allen, U.S. Senator Charles Robb, and former Mason Presidents Drs. Vergil Dykstra, Robert Krug, and George Johnson.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

George Mason University Presidents from left to right: Drs. Alan G. Merten, George W. Johnson, Robert C. Krug, and Vergil H. Dykstra at Inauguration for Alan Merten, April 4, 1997. George Mason University photograph collection Box 80, Folder 3. Copyright held by George Mason University. Restricted to personal, non-commercial use only. For permission to publish, contact Special Collections & Archives, George Mason University Libraries, speccoll@gmu.edu.<\/p><\/div>\n

After his investiture by Rector Marvin Murray, Dr. Merten gave his inaugural speech, during which he urged all members of the university community to be advocates of the expression of dissenting views and to “hold George Mason (the man) in their hearts” for his commitment to freedom and human rights. A reception was held afterwards on the plaza near Mason Hall.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Alan G. Merten and wife Sally at his Inauguration, April 4, 1997. George Mason University photograph collection. Copyright held by George Mason University. Restricted to personal, non-commercial use only. For permission to publish, contact Special Collections & Archives, George Mason University Libraries, speccoll@gmu.edu.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post is a continuation of the the original post entitled Mason Inaugurations Through the Years. Dr. Robert Krug became George Mason University’s third president although he never interviewed for it. The unexpected resignation of President Vergil Dykstra in April 1977 came as a surprise to many, but to none more so than Vice President […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,198,94],"tags":[306,302,211,305,301,304],"class_list":["post-4258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-photography-collections","category-university-archives","tag-alan-g-merten","tag-angel-cabrera","tag-george-mason-university","tag-george-w-johnson","tag-inauguration","tag-robert-c-krug"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Ep5i-16G","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8976,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=8976","url_meta":{"origin":4258,"position":0},"title":"Presidents Series: 1977 \u2013 1978 \u2013 Robert C. Krug","author":"Amanda Menjivar","date":"December 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was written by Lana Mason, Processing Student Assistant. Lana has an Associate of Arts degree in Fine Arts from Piedmont Virginia Community College. She is currently studying Art History at George Mason University. Lana was the recipient of the University Libraries Student Assistant Scholarship for the 2018-19 academic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "George Mason University History"","block_context":{"text":"George Mason University History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=529"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2-1-computer-system-scaled.jpg?fit=924%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2-1-computer-system-scaled.jpg?fit=924%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2-1-computer-system-scaled.jpg?fit=924%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/2-1-computer-system-scaled.jpg?fit=924%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5144,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=5144","url_meta":{"origin":4258,"position":1},"title":"Mason’s Fairfax Campus turns 50!","author":"Bob Vay","date":"September 13, 2014","format":"image","excerpt":"George Mason University's Fairfax Campus turns fifty years old this Sunday.\u00a0 On September 14, 1964 George Mason College of the University of Virginia opened its doors to 356 freshman and sophomores.\u00a0 The faculty, which numbered fifteen,\u00a0comprised\u00a0seven full-time and eight part-time professors. The four original buildings were named North (now known\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fairfax History"","block_context":{"text":"Fairfax History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=194"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/R0120B01F16.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/R0120B01F16.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/R0120B01F16.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4175,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=4175","url_meta":{"origin":4258,"position":2},"title":"Mason Inaugurations through the Years","author":"Bob Vay","date":"April 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This past Friday, April 26 2013 marked the inauguration of Mason's sixth president, Dr. \u00c1ngel\u00a0 Cabrera. The event was a ninety-minute celebration of both old and new, both tradition and innovation.\u00a0 Beginning with a staid traditional\u00a0 procession accompanied by an orchestra and choir, the ceremony ended with a rousing recessional\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/cabrera_inauguration.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10312,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=10312","url_meta":{"origin":4258,"position":3},"title":"The Mason Experience: Past and Present","author":"Bob Vay","date":"May 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This post was compiled by the Mason Experience: Past and Present team, Charlotte Corneliusen and Bob Vay. As part of the University Libraries' celebration of George Mason University's 50-Year Anniversary last year, SCRC launched a digital project intended to help users understand a little more about their university by learning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Digital Collections"","block_context":{"text":"Digital Collections","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=557"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/R0152B01P11_037_new_sm.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/R0152B01P11_037_new_sm.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/R0152B01P11_037_new_sm.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/R0152B01P11_037_new_sm.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/R0152B01P11_037_new_sm.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7849,"url":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=7849","url_meta":{"origin":4258,"position":4},"title":"The Class of \u201968\u2019s Senior Year","author":"Bob Vay","date":"August 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This is Part 4 of a four-part series of articles pertaining to the George Mason University Class of 1968. The text is borrowed from SCRC\u2019s exhibition \u201cFirst Class: Mason \u201968 and Beyond\u201d currently on display through August 2018 in the SCRC Gallery. 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They were there to witness the Governor\u2019s signing into law Virginia General Assembly Bill H 210 separating George Mason College\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "George Mason University History"","block_context":{"text":"George Mason University History","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?cat=529"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Holton_gov_conf-scaled.jpg?fit=966%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Holton_gov_conf-scaled.jpg?fit=966%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Holton_gov_conf-scaled.jpg?fit=966%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vault217.gmu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Holton_gov_conf-scaled.jpg?fit=966%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4258"}],"version-history":[{"count":68,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4344,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4258\/revisions\/4344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}