It's official: in an action-packed weekend that kept administrators on their toes, Christopher Meredith Thomforde was inaugurated this past Sunday.

It was an extraordinarily special time on campus. "It's not like we get a new president every year," said sophomore Kelsay Ludwig. Indeed, everyone felt the presence both of the excitement and the heat this weekend.

Preparation for this past weekend began on Sept. 12 when Thomforde accepted his new position. Planning then began for the inaugural events, including hiring extra staff and even picking the most appropriate maple tree for the Presidential Grove.

Festivities officially started last Thursday when the community of Northfield held an event at the Bridge Square. It was to celebrate the relationship between St. Olaf, Carleton and Northfield. On-campus celebrations started the following day with the chapel service and the student reception held by SGA to honor the Thomfordes.

"This is very exciting for us. It's kind of like getting married. It's a little scary but at the same time it is a lot of fun," Thomforde said. "Besides, there is reception after reception!"

Following the reception was a firework display with an unexpected finale when the SNAP fields behind Skoglund caught on fire.

Although the fire captivated onlookers, the highlight for many students was seeing President and Mrs. Thomforde dance a Swedish folk dance at the President's ball.

"It was refreshing to see our president show such enthusiasm and excitement to relate and have fun with the students," said sophomore Holly Steward.

The Thomfordes also showed off their dancing skills in the International Dance Festival held on Saturday afternoon. "It's amazing how good the students are at dancing here Š I can't wait until next year's ball," said Thomforde.

As part of the community involvement that Thomforde wanted, the St. Olaf music faculty presented a concert in his honor. "This is very much a community time," Thomforde said. "It's a celebration that everyone can take part and enjoy. I really wanted a lot of St. Olaf community represented in the festivities."

Sunday celebrations began with a tree planting ceremony in the Presidential Grove, a group of maple trees behind Old Main. With the addition of Thomforde's tree, ten maples now compose the grove, each tree representing a St. Olaf president.

Color and light played an integral part of the inaugural ceremony later that day. Thomforde views light as a key idea to the college, since the St. Olaf community is a city on the hill. With this in mind, "Lifted to the Light" was an appropriate theme for the weekend. As the ceremony proceeded, the garbed faculty processed into the auditorium, adding more color to the already bright display of international flags.

Highlights of a different sort included the performances of the St. Olaf Choir and the St. Olaf Orchestra. A special dance presentation, "Light," choreographed by Dance Professor Janice Roberts to the music of Professor Peter Hamlin's piece "Dances of Light," added to the celebration's ambience.

Leaders of Carleton and Northfield also took part in the ceremony. The Carleton College president gave a short speech and joked about the friendly competition between the two schools. He also presented Thomforde with his own begging bowl, saying that a main job of the president was to beg. The Northfield mayor welcomed Thomforde "to the neighborhood."

The inauguration continued with welcoming speeches by a custodial representative and Student Body President Nick Wallace. Following this was the guest speech from James Billington, the Librarian of Congress, and Thomforde's mentor and good friend. He spoke about technology and its roles in higher academia, but added that "books are the principal guardians of memory."

In the last inauguration, for Mark Edwards, the student body was not well-represented in the audience. The goal to increase student attendance in this inauguration unfortunately was not achieved, with fewer students than expected attending the ceremony.

During Thomforde's inaugural speech he addressed the features of curiosity, creativity and sacred passion. He said that through these, "I see St. Olaf as a community full of diversity‹not only race, but political, religious and economics‹that would resemble the nation and the world. I see us following social justice, continuing our closeness with the church and embodying prudence. It is through that prudence that we use nature's resources wisely and join resource to mission."

Thomforde ended the weekend's celebration with a strong challenge to the audience: "Let curiosity lead our way to see clearly and lead us to hope. We are like a city upon a hill. Let your light shine."