Luther College inaugurates 12th president on Homecoming weekend

Organ music set the stage in the main hall of the Luther College Center for Faith and Life Friday morning as crowds filled the room, waiting to celebrate the official presentation of the Decorah university’s new leader.

By the time the procession began, bringing in higher education leaders from Luther and beyond, the sounds of a full concert band and the college’s Nordic Choir filled the air. Representatives from Wartburg College in Waverly, Loras College in Dubuque and more than two dozen more institutions led President Brad Chamberlain into the ceremony — part of Luther’s homecoming celebrations.

“It was really important to us that this was a Luther moment and not a moment just for me,” Chamberlain said in an interview. “I’ve talked a lot since October about (how) this is our next chapter together, not my chapter, and so we really wanted all part of the inauguration and homecoming to come together, all of the service itself to be about the group rather than an individual.”

Chamberlain was inaugurated as Luther College’s 12th president Friday after being chosen as president-elect nearly one year ago. The former provost and professor has been with the college since 2001, and is the first president in more than 100 years to be chosen from within the institution. He succeeds former president Jenifer Ward, who retired in the spring.

Each of his roles at Luther, from academic to administrative, have helped Chamberlain prepare for this moment, he said, but he’s spent the past months learning more about fundraising and engaging with the different elements of Luther College and its community.

Luther College has struggled with its identity in the past, Chamberlain said, not unlike when students would have a hard time with his organic chemistry class and start to question their dreams and whether they’re meant for what they want to do. Challenges facing Luther range from demographic, with fewer high school graduates heading to college, to financial affordability and people questioning the “return on investment” that college could provide.

The private university has worked to use its identity to face some of these challenges, Chamberlain said in the interview, by identifying its core values, revising its mission statement and crafting an identity statement.

“I think in times of stress, knowing that identity, knowing who you are, knowing what you do in your mission, knowing where you’re going with the vision, and knowing why you act with your values, they provide you the confidence to help make decisions when it’s not necessarily clear what the right step is going to be,” Chamberlain said.

One of the values Chamberlain committed himself to during his inauguration was inclusivity, which he said is grounded in the college’s identity. Ensuring access for all those who want an education is part of that commitment, he said, as well as building “bridges across difference” by exposing students to a variety of perspectives and experiences that could be similar or quite different from their own.

Chamberlain emphasized during his remarks that the solutions to problems facing the university can be found within it, and Luther doesn’t need to mimic other colleges or conform to a world the institution is committed to transforming.

As a liberal arts college, Chamberlain said in the interview Luther is uniquely positioned to handle all that comes with artificial intelligence. As AI becomes more commonplace, Chamberlain said, “you have to understand peoples and cultures,” as well as have the ability and knowledge to communicate, connect ideas and “ethically apply artificial intelligence.”

It’s part of the university’s responsibility to adapt when changes like this arise, Chamberlain said, so it can adequately prepare students for their future education, careers, and general lives.

Luther College has also worked hard in recent months to form connections with other institutions, both within and outside of higher education, and investing in the community, Chamberlain said, in order to support one another and strengthen everyone as a result.

“I think part of what’s going to be necessary in the challenges in higher education right now is to be thinking about what we can do together in ways that honor our distinct identities, but find ways that we can collaborate and work together to make each institution thrive,” Chamberlain said.

This article was first published by Iowa Capital Dispatch.