By JENNY DERRINGER

derringer@crescent-news.com

The campus of Defiance College had a festive atmosphere Thursday as school officials celebrated the inauguration of president Mark Gordon, the college's 18th president. Numerous events were also held in conjunction with the annual homecoming activities this week.

Gordon, who took over the presidency on July 1, served as the former dean of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law and a former faculty member at Columbia University.

The Weaner Community Center was filled with hundreds of staff, students and community members.

Opening the ceremony, chairman of the board of trustees Philip Mallott noted that this inauguration was also a time of celebration of past accomplishments.

"We honor and recognize former leadership," said Mallott, "who helped build the foundation on top of which our future will stand. Defiance College has a rich tradition spanning 150 years and today our school on top of the hill is recognized nationally, even internationally for our model of education.

"Inauguration is also a time to shape our future expectations," he added. "Today, we begin the latest chapter in the life of our college."

Welcoming those in attendance was Barbara Silvis, a member of the board of trustees, who also served as chairman of the presidential search committee.

"We needed the very best," she said, concerning the search, "someone who exemplified the very best of the mission of Defiance College. We searched for someone we knew who would defy the ordinary." Trustees feel they found that in Gordon.

After the presentation of the presidential medallion and investiture, Gordon addressed the audience.

"For there is a truth about Defiance College which should be apparent for all to see," said Gordon. "While the canvas on which we write is extraordinarily broad -- whether we are sending students to Cambodia or New Orleans or places in between on service or preparing students for lives of meaning here at home -- while we write on a broad canvas, we do so with tremendous attention to each individual character. We are a place that impacts life beyond our halls and campus, but does so first through offering opportunity and compassion and caring, one student at a time.

"And so we direct special attention to helping students grow as individuals," stated Gordon. "As I have met and spoken with alumni, I have heard story after story about the ways that their lives have been guided, propelled and shaped by the personal and individual attention of particular faculty and administrators."

The president went on to mention well-known professors on campus over the years including Bernie Mikula, Zeke Frey, Randy Buchman, Calista Olds and Jan Younger.

He then stressed the college's responsibility in providing for the students' need for service learning and a strong foundation to be successful in the global community.

"We at Defiance College also believe in connecting students to the diverse community that more and more defines the 21st century in which they will operate," said Gordon. "It is a global community of continuing need. We help prepare our students for that community not just through teaching them to serve but also by, as a college, strengthening our own ties to the community -- both locally and beyond.

"We are committed not just to opening student's minds, but also their hearts; and to opening for them doors and opportunities," he explained. "As I tell our students when they arrive on campus, we want you to be successful in the classroom, successful on the athletic field, and successful in life. We are committed to expanding the ways in which we offer opportunity for our students, whether through networking with alumni, or greater exposure to internship and other opportunities."

Gordon went on to stress the diversity in the situation of him being hired as president of Defiance College.

"The very fact that I can stand before you today as the new president of Defiance College says something wonderful about education and our country," he pointed out. "And the fact that Defiance College would choose as its new president -- a Jewish fellow married to a Lutheran woman, who was dean of a Catholic law school and is now president of a UCC college -- well, that says something wonderful about Defiance College as well. When we at Defiance draw the circle of opportunity, we aim to include as many as we can."

Gordon replaces Dr. Gerald Wood, who stepped down as DC president in 2008. The hiring of Gordon culminated a five-month national search process.

He and his wife, Anne, and their two boys, Chris and Charlie, relocated to Defiance this summer from Michigan.

A reception and community barbecue was held following the inauguration ceremony in the McMaster Center. Proceeds from a free-will offering will be used for scholarships for DC students minoring in autism studies.

Festivities for the evening included a pep rally in the gym and two concerts featuring jazz and pop/rock music.