At his inauguration, Chancellor Lyons thanks UC Berkeley, charts path for ‘the people’s university’

Friday afternoon’s inauguration of UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons was intended to celebrate the campus’s top leader, who’s been on the job since July 1 and a major presence at Berkeley for decades. But in his speech to a crowded Zellerbach Hall, Lyons insisted the day was for celebrating the past, present and future of “our university.”

“This is truly our celebration, for there is little, if anything, I can, or even want to, accomplish on my own,” Lyons said. “And that is exactly the way it should be here at the University of California, Berkeley, a place built by the people, of the people and for the people of our state, our country and our world. 

“This is truly the people’s university.”

The UC Regents in April named Lyons the successor to then-Chancellor Carol Christ. Since taking office, he’s been crafting his vision for improving the campus’s finances, diversity and employee morale. 

Friday’s formal swearing-in ceremony authorizes him to execute all of the top administrator’s roles, including conferring academic degrees.

But while the event was steeped in tradition — robes, speeches and the Chancellor’s Medal, which is passed to each new chancellor — it was also a celebration. 

Lyons didn’t play the guitar, as he’s been known to do on campus, but the inauguration was not short on music. The Cal Jazz Choir performed the national anthem. A string quartet played renditions of “Norwegian Wood” by the Beatles and “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones, as images spanning decades showed Lyons teaching students, playing with his children and dancing with Oski. The UC Berkeley Wind Ensemble and Cal Band gave a rousing performance to close the ceremony, while attendees recorded videos on their phones.

Janet Reilly, chair of the UC Board of Regents, praised Lyons’ efforts to elevate Berkeley’s pursuits around entrepreneurship and innovation. She also cited his lifelong commitment to teaching and mentoring as proof that he was the right person for the job.

“You embody the spirit of Berkeley,” Reilly said, “and we have unwavering faith in your ability to lead this institution to even greater heights.”

Upon learning that Lyons had been named chancellor, Amani Nuru-Jeter, a professor in the School of Public Health and chair of the Berkeley division of the Academic Senate, described needing to do some “recon to figure out what we were in for.” People sang his praises, she said, from his ability to unite people to his thoughtfulness as a leader.

“Rich, you are not in this alone,” she said. “We are here to support you, to encourage you to uplift you, and, yes, to challenge you.”

“I see this not as a personal ceremony, but as a communal one, an inauguration of another era of excellence for our university,” Lyons said. “For I am absolutely certain that together we can and will write a new chapter in the remarkable story of Berkeley’s never-ending quest to open and explore new horizons on behalf of the greater good.”

While optimistic, Lyons was far from pollyannaish. He acknowledged society’s polarization and deep divisions. He called out the rising skepticism of science, the increase in “online assaults on truth and the politicization of higher education itself.” 

These, he said, make essential the campus’s commitment to free speech, academic freedom, fostering a sense of belonging and “facilitating the constructive collision of ideas.”

“If I know nothing else,” Lyons said, “I know this: With strong, cohesive community, with unity of purpose, with respect for the eternal values and principles at the heart of our unique — genuinely unique — institutional identity, and with an unwavering commitment to excellence and access, there is nothing — nothing — that is beyond the reach of our university.”